MASTER JOE COLVIN aka (kung fu joe) HAS BEEN IN THE MARTIAL ARTS FOR 43 YEARS, 40 OF THOSE YEARS STUDYING THE CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS. HE IS ORIGINALLY FROM WASHINGTON, D.C., BUT HAS BEEN RESIDING IN THE TEXAS AREA FOR A LITTLE OVER 2 YEARS WHERE HE IS BASICALLY STILL TEACHING. SIFU COLVIN HAS STUDENTS SCATTERED AROUND CERTAIN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHICH HE STILL TEACHES. THEY ARE IN ( WASHINGTON, D.C., CLEVELAND, OH., HARRISBURG, PA., AUSTIN AND LONGVIEW, TEXAS) . 3 OF HIS DISCIPLES AND ONE LONGTIME STUDENT OF 28 YEARS HAVE SCHOOLS.
COLVIN'S FIRST TASTE OF THE MARTIAL ARTS WAS IN THE KOREAN ART OF "TAE KWON DO" FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS BEFORE SWITCHING OVER TO A BURMESE MARTIAL ART CALLED "BANDO" UNDER TWO GREAT STUDENTS OF THE BANDO GRANDMASTER "MENG GYI" . THEY WERE " MASAHITO NISHIDA AND PAUL KWAN". IN THIS SCHOOL, HE WAS THE JUNIOR CLASSMATE TO A GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF HOY K. LEE, WHO INTRODUCED HIM TO THE CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS AND IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR INTRODUCING THE JOW GA STYLE IN THE USA. UNTIL THE FIRST JOW GA SCHOOL WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED, SIFU COLVIN WAS TRAVELLING TO NEW YORK CITY'S CHINATOWN FOR KUNG FU CLASSES EVERY WEEKEND. HIS FIRST STYLE WAS IN THE SOUTHERN PREYING MANTIS STYLE ( KWONG SAI JOOK LUM TONG LONG PAI) UNDER GRANDMASTER GIN FOON MARK. HE ALSO STUDIED FOR A SHORT PERIOD AT THE SHAOLIN WU SHU ACADEMY (NORTHERN STYLES) UNDER GRANDMASTER ALAN LEE IN UPTOWN NYC. COLVIN'S DEDICATED HUNGER FOR THE CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS HAD HIM TRAVELLING EVERY WEEKEND TO THE BIG APPLE FOR 3 YEARS BEFORE THE JOW GA KUNG FU SCHOOL OPENED UP ITS DOORS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA . HE THEN DECIDED TO JOIN THE SCHOOL IN HIS HOMETOWN, ALTHOUGH THE TWO STYLES WERE TOTALLY DIFFERENT, PLUS HE DIDN'T HAVE TO GO FAR FOR CLASSES AND HE WAS ABLE TO MAKE THEM REGULARLY. WHY TRAVEL MORE THAN 300 MILES FOR CLASSES WHEN YOU CAN WALK IT. WITH DETERMINATION, DEDICATION AND HARD PRACTICE, HE EXCELLED IN THIS UP AND COMING NEW SCHOOL AND BECAME ONE OF THE TOP STUDENTS UNDER THE LATE MASTER DEAN CHIN. HE STUDIED THIS SYSTEM FOR ABOUT 8 YEARS BEFORE TREKKING BACK TO CHINATOWN, NYC TO LEARN THE HUNG GA SYSTEM WHICH HE HAD A LOVE FOR. HIS FIRST HUNG GA SIFU WAS MASTER WAN CHI MING, WHO WAS A STUDENT OF CHEUNG TAI HING ( SIFU COLVIN'S SI-GUNG) WHO IS NOW RETIRED FROM TEACHING.
CHEUNG TAI HING WAS ONE OF THE DISCIPLES UNDER MASTER TANG FUNG, WHO IN TURN WAS A DISCIPLE OF THE LATE GREAT GREAT GRANDMASTER WONG FEI HUNG.
SIFU COLVIN THEN RECIEVED EXTENSIVE TRAINING IN THIS FORMIDABLE STYLE UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF LEE YAT MING (WILLIAM LI) AND TONY LEE. MASTER LEE WAS A LONG TIME STUDENT OF CHAN HON CHUNG. MASTER CHUNG WAS A DISCIPLE UNDER THE LAST LATE GRANDMASTER LAM SAI WING. SAI WING WAS THE LAST STUDENT AND DISCIPLE OF WONG FEI HUNG.
IN SIFU COLVIN'S EARLIER YEARS, HE HAD WON NUMEROUS AWARDS IN KARATE AND KUNG FU TOURNAMENTS. COMPETING IN BOTH WEAPONS, HAND FORMS AND FIGHTING CATAGORIES. HE HAS ALSO BEEN FEATURED IN SEVERAL MAGAZINES INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL "NEW MARTIAL ART HEROES" MAGAZINE WHICH WAS PUBLISHED OUT OF HONG KONG WHILE STUDYING IN THE JOW GA SYSTEM. HE HAS ALSO HAD THE PLEASURE OF TEACHING 2 WELL KNOWN FIGURES IN THE MARTIAL ART CIRCLE (MASTER DENNIS BROWN) WHO HAS BEEN IN A FEW MARTIAL ART MOVIES AND NUMEROUS MARTIAL ART MAGAZINES AND THE BLOND HAIRED FURY OF MARTIAL ART CINEMA ( CYNTHIA ROTHROCK).
IN 2001, HE WAS HONORED AND AWARDED THE "LIVING LEGEND AWARD" BY THE NIPPON KENPO KARATE DO JITSU-HA ASSOCIATION.
MANY MARTIAL ARTIST OF DIFFERENT STYLES AND WALKS OF LIFE HAD BEEN INSPIRED BY HIM TO PURSUE THE MARTIAL ARTS FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. AND AS OF THE YEAR 2007, HE HAS ANNOITED 4 STUDENTS AS HIS DISIPLES. HIS OLDEST SON, SHAWN COLVIN, WHO HAS STUDIED UNDER HIM FOR 26 YEARS BECAME (YUP SUT DAI GEE / BACKROOM SON) AND WAS GIVEN A SCHOOL NAME "LITTLE DRAGON FIRE" (SIU LUNG FAWN), WAYNE STEVENSON, WHO HAS STUDIED UNDER HIM FOR 29 YEARS BECAME (YUP SUT DAI GEE / BACKROOM SON) AND WAS GIVEN THE NAME "BIG CELESTIAL DRAGON" (DAI TIEN LUNG), KEVIN PRESTON- 17 YEARS BECAME (YUP MUN SANG / OVER THE DOOR) AND JEFF HUGHES -11 YEARS BECAME (YUP MUN SANG / OVER THE DOOR) AND 2 DEDICATED STUDENTS THOMAS BRAXTON AND DAVID STOKES, BOTH BECAME (MUN SANG / IN THE DOOR) OFFICIAL STUDENTS. MASTER COLVIN HAS RESTED UPON THE SHOULDERS OF THESE GENTLEMAN TO AQUIRE HIS KNOWLEDGE AND CARRY ON HIS TEACHINGS OF THE HUNG GA KUEN SYSTEM TO THE NEXT GENERATION.
TIGER------FU JOW
CRANE------HOK JOY
LEOPARD----PAO KUEN
SNAKE----SERE YING
DRAGON----LUNG JOW
MASTER JOE COLVIN'S BIOGRAPHY
