Meet Sean Wilson of Essential Elements Martial Arts in Tarzana

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Wilson.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I became interested in martial arts when I was about 9 years old living in Jamaica. Back then Kung Fu movies were extremely popular, and I dreamed of being one of those Kung Fu masters. It wasn’t until I was about 19 while I was in the US Army (82nd Airborne Division) that I took my first martial arts class. Once that chapter of my life began, I was hooked for life.

Though this school opened in April 2016, I’ve been training people for years in Florida and California – in my garage, at parks, at gyms, etc. Through this I’ve been accomplishing my main goal, which is to help people become the best versions of themselves they can be. Martial arts training helps people with things such as self-defense, confidence, self-esteem, discipline, and fitness. It can even help with substance abuse. I’m glad to be to make that sort of impact in people’s lives.

As far as my martial experience goes: I’m recognized as a well-rounded martial artist. I embraced the concept of Mixed Martial Arts since before the term was popular.  I have been studying martial arts since 1993 while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army. There, I went through the military’s hand to hand combat training. I needed more, so I went outside of that and began studying Ninjitsu with some Special Forces operatives.  After leaving the army, I started studying Wing Chun Kung Fu with Sifu John Melillo (1997).  During my Wing Chun studies in the years that followed, I supplemented my training with various grappling arts (Jiu Jitsu and Judo), kickboxing, and karate.  I’ve travelled nationally and internationally to test my skills against other martial artists (both stand up and ground fighters).

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some challenges I had to overcome:

– Getting to a point where I felt worthy of being teacher. Though I could have started teaching maybe 10 years ago, I needed to make sure I was fully ready. To do that I had to travel 2.5 hours each way to my Sifu to train at an instructor level. Currently my Kung fu brother at Yu’s Martial arts in West Palm Beach and I are the only ones certified under Sifu John Melillo.
– It was a challenge to start over in LA after already starting in Florida and gaining a student body there.
– Business startups are always hard. Thankfully we’ve found great people who support us.

Essential Elements Martial Arts – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Kung Fu means hard work in Chinese, and that’s what we do here. We make sure everyone feels welcome despite physical appearance, gender, etc. – though we make people physically stronger through our training, We show our students that physical strength is not what’s most important for self-defense and fighting. Here people learn how to handle people who are larger and stronger than they are. My students train to use their own particular strengths to their advantage. It’s not one size fits all.

Students come to us for different reasons. Some of these include self-defense, competition training, rounding out their other martial arts training, to look better on camera for fight choreography, and for fitness. We make it our goal to help them reach their goals.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment was when my first student since I officially opened in California earned his yellow sash. He was already great at boxing, and now I get to be part of his journey into becoming a well-rounded martial artist.

Contact Info:

• Address: 18421 Ventura Blvd
  Tarzana, CA 91356
• Website: http://www.fightingelement.com/
• Phone: (407) 900-4617
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fightingelement/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EssentialElementsMartialArts/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/fightingelement?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/essential-elements-martial-arts-tarzana