May 16, 2017

Meet Anthony Marquez of EKF Martial Arts in Andersonville

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Marquez.

Anthony, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was four years old. I was visiting the Philippines, and my uncle took me to see, “The Chinese Connection”. This was the first time I saw Bruce Lee. Prior to that I was so into Batman, the 1966 version of Batman. I loved superheroes. I loved the power that Batman had, but I knew it was a comic book. But when I saw Bruce Lee, this was a guy that was tearing through everybody without a cape, without a mask. He was just a guy who did kung Fu. And from that point, I was sold.

So I kept bothering my parents to put me in a kung Fu school, because I had to do what Bruce Lee was doing. I kept bothering them, and they eventually put me in a school, and I haven’t looked back since.

I trained at a few schools, but the first school I fell in love with was the 7 Star Praying Mantis School. The master, or sifu, was Kwong Ming Ly, from Hong Kong. He was a very strict, very tough instructor, who taught traditional martial arts. I loved doing traditional kung fu, until Jet Li burst on the scene, with the movie “Shaolin Temple”.

Jet Li introduced to the world competitive wushu. Wushu is closely related to what we consider traditional kung fu, but there is a higher emphasis on the athleticism, and beauty, of the self defense movements.

There were only a few people in the US that taught wushu at the time. After studying with various coaches here, I knew that the only way to bring my training to the next level was to go to China. So once again, I kept bothering my parents to send me to China. This was only a few years after President Carter opened formal relations with The Peoples Republic of China. It was a hassle to even get a visa, but my parents eventually gave in, and I was off to China! I trained in Yangzhou, with Wang Jin Bao, a former teammate of Jet Li, on the Beijing Wushu Team.

Back in the US, a few years later, I met Guo Jinhua. He was the former head coach of wushu at Wuhan Sports University, in China. Ball State University is their sister school in the States. He taught there briefly, before moving to Chicago. It was from him that I received the majority of my wushu training. He was the one teacher that I refer to as my Master. I’ve been able to train with so many great martial artists, and coaches, over the years, but I still refer to Guo Jianhua as my Master.

I was doing well in national competitions, and even won a national championship in 1996. The group of friends that I grew up with were doing at least as well as I was, and it was at this time that we went on this crazy run of being martial arts champions, working on the Ninja Turtle movies, and the Mortal Kombat video games. To this day, I’m still known as “Kung Lao’.

At this point, there were two roads I could take. I could be an actor, so I took acting classes… and I also wanted to understand sports performance better, so I could be a better martial artist. So I got my degree in exercise science from Northeastern Illinois University. So those were my two paths, and I knew personality wise…I have to do things my own way. So, going to auditions, and playing the Hollywood game wasn’t something that I would do.

My life path has been martial arts, and that meant opening a gym, and trying to inspire other people to be better versions of themselves. Just like Bruce Lee, and all of my coaches inspired me, hopefully I could inspire the next generation.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Although running your own business is often quite fulfilling, it is never the easiest path. Instead of being a cog in a wheel, you are essentially the whole machine. You wear so many different hats in your own business that it is sometimes difficult to remember all of the different hats that must be worn.

One of our biggest struggles would be when our roof collapsed in the snowstorm of 2011. Over twenty inches of snow fell that day. Cars were stranded on Lakeshore Drive. The city was shut down for days. We were in a different location. It was an old building with an arch style roof. There was so much snow on the roof that the roof collapsed. Obviously, we couldn’t run a business if we couldn’t open our doors. We were scrambling, putting memberships on hold, reassuring people that we would reopen ASAP, looking for a new location. Within two weeks, we moved to our current location… and today, we are still here.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the EKF Martial Arts story. Tell us more about the business.
I run the business as an extension of myself.

I opened EKF Martial Arts in 2002. It was originally called Extreme Kung Fu, Wushu is like kung Fu, but the stances are lower, the jump kicks are higher, and the movements are faster. It’s kung Fu to the extreme. That’s why “Extreme Kung Fu”.

I always had one eye on the UFC, and mixed martial arts competitions. My wushu training included training in sanda, which is Chinese style kickboxing. It includes punching, kicking, sweeps, and takedowns. I said to myself, let’s see if we can be successful in mixed martial arts. I brought in one instructor to help with the ground game, or jiujitsu, and signed up one of my guys for his first cage fight. I knew that if we did well, we would continue with cage fighting, but if we were embarrassed, we would have to reassess the whole thing. Luckily, my guy won that match! I knew that we could be successful at this, but it meant that I would have to become better a boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, and jiujitsu. More importantly, I would need to bring in instructors that were better than me at these respective disciplines, and pro fighters who had experience in cage fighting, better known as MMA.

Although wushu is my base, I love all martial arts. I wanted a gym that encompassed all of that. Thus the change from Extreme Kung Fu, to EKF Martial Arts.

But we are not just a mixed martial arts gym. We have children’s classes, different fitness classes, and the mentality here is slightly different. I’m kind of a goofy guy, kind of a nerd, I like superheroes, I like Marvel movies, I like singing and entertaining. I like having a good time, and I want everyone else to walk in here, feel comfortable, learn something, and have a good time.

We try to use martial arts to help people develop into better versions of themselves. Whatever that happens to be- better physically, better mentally, more disciplined, more confident, or just feeling more comfortable about themselves. All of this is a byproduct of consistent physical training, development of a stronger body, and the knowledge, and empowerment, of knowing that one has the ability to defend oneself. This is true for both children, and adults. So, that’s what we do here.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’ve been lucky to always have been surrounded by a family and friends who care about me. No individual can be successful on their own. Everybody needs support, someone to listen to, and someone to listen to them. People need each other. Because you have training partners, who easily become friends, it makes it easier to work out here. So many people join big gyms, but if there’s no one to hold them accountable, if there’s no one to hang out with, they stop going. We’re all accountable here. We all help each other. I think that’s another thing that separates us from other gyms.

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