People often ask me what the Dragon symbolizes.

For that we have to go way back to 1991. The year the dragon was born.

We had alot of ideas. I even had lots of drawings of how to represent our image, to establish our identity.

We showed those to Doug Bernhardt. For those of you who don't know him, he's only one of the best sign makers in Ottawa. Specializing in Stained Glass in Gold Leaf, Embossed letters, the works.

He's made signs for big corporations and most of the old irish and english pubs in Ottawa. My father is actually very good friends with him for about 30 years. They both had their beginnings in the same building, 335 Catherine Street, where we still reside to this day.

We showed Doug our ideas and he says: "Those are great, the kid's got talent (me) but you've got to meet this guy, he's a master at developing Brands and a Top Notch Graphic Designer, his name is Don Wong.

To make a long story short, Don reveals 2 symbols that completely blow us away. He was able to nail it down perfectly. It's very hard to explain that day.

We finally had our own unique mark.

You must be wondering what the other symbol is and why we're not using it. The design was so complex to reproduce we had to put a hold on it.

In order to have it printed perfectly it had to be shipped out to western Canada. The process would be too labour intensive and very expensive. So we put a hold on it. Maybe one day we'll release it to the public. For the time being it stays in the vault.

To this day printers still have a hard time getting the dragon exactly "Bang On" as Don would say.

Filled with intricate details that most people don't really pay attention to.

Don said the Dragon would bring lots of success and would establish us as a premier force in the Martial Arts, how right was he.

The following is our interpretation of his work.

The circle represents infinity or never-ending. In life you will always be learning and evolving.

The red is a powerful color in oriental methodology. It brings luck and prosperity. It also represents sacrifice. In order to develop yourself fully you must make better choices and sacrifice some habits that dis-empower you.

The 6 teeth inside the dragon's mouth represents the 6 ranges of development in Fang Shen Do. (Psychological, Weapons, Punching, Kicking, Trapping, Grappling)

The dragon itself represents the art of combat.

Life is a combat.

You must fight to stay fit, stay focused, achieve your goals and dreams, find your place, to protect yourself and your family, to make a difference.

It also has both soft and hard lines, it follows the concept of Yin & Yang. We need both to find balance.

Now you know where the dragon comes from, now it's time you found out where it's going.

Click here for a location near you.

Aim Higher,

Sifu Martin

Labels: Fang Shen Do, Ottawa Kung Fu School, Patenaude Kung-Fu, Sijo Jacques Patenaude