Our Instructors & Staff Members

Our Instructors have spent many years devoted to training in the art of Kung Fu and other martial arts and have attained a certain level of expertise to qualify them as teachers and also mentors.

Through extensive testing, certification and tournament level competition, our staff has attained mastery in this martial art and now enjoy sharing their skill and passing it on to their students. Here are a few of Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy's instructors and other staff members, starting with William Laurin:

William Laurin  (Master)  Biography of Master Will Laurin, 4th Degree Master William Joseph Laurin was born on November 1, 1962, in Philadelphia, PA. He began training in the Southern styles of Shaolin Kung Fu in 1989 with Grandmaster, Dr. Steve L. Sun. A diligent student, he devoted many long hours practicing and perfecting the Forms and fighting techniques of the Southern style. It was during this time that Laurin's ability to teach martial arts were also recognized, and in 1991 he began receiving special training to teach and was named an Assistant Instructor. In 1991, Senior Instructor Will Laurin began assisting with the teaching of Grandmaster Sun's children and adult classes and he was eventually assigned to teach at a branch school of Siu Lum Studio at the Lee Ming Chinese Cultural Association, in Ambler, PA. By 1994, Grandmaster Sun asked him to take charge of another Branch school of Siu Lum Studio at the Main Line Chinese School, located in Radnor, PA. In February of 1995, Laurin tested before a panel of Masters at Siu Lum Studio and was promoted to First Degree Black Belt. By March of that year he established the Siu Lum Kung Fu Tiger-Crane Club, (Later to become Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy,) and signed four students to train under him. In August of 1995 he partnered with Tai Chi Associated Instructor, Harriet Thompson, and in December of 1996 they married. Over the course of his training, Laurin successfully competed in Regional, National, and International tournaments and developed a passion for competition. He also developed a free sparring class for the children of Siu Lum Studio, taught on Friday evenings. In June of 1997, Master Laurin was hired as the martial arts counselor by Tom Harris at Blue Bell Junior Camp, located in Blue Bell, PA. Each summer, for the last seven years, Laurin teaches for eight weeks at the highly acclaimed day camp and looks forward to his eighth season this summer. At Blue Bell Junior Camp it is a tradition that each counselor be called by the name of the subjects they teach. Since martial arts has always been referred to as "Karate" at the camp, Laurin became known as "Karate Will," a nickname that stuck. As a result of teaching at the camp he began to take private students and over the years he has successfully built a large private student base. In addition to teaching at his school, Laurin travels around to many homes where he teaches his private students in one on one lessons or in tiny groups. Laurin was promoted to the rank of 2nd Degree Black Belt in 1997 and then to the rank of 3rd Degree Black Belt in February of 2001. He has continued to train with Grandmaster Sun and also trained under Sifu Norman Smith, in Five Pattern Fist Hung Gar. In 2002, Laurin began training with 7th Degree Black Belt, Master Paul Sun, in Northern Seven Star Praying Mantis and continues this training with Master Paul Sun in private lessons, and has achieved Master ranking. Master Will Laurin's teaching methods have produced some of the finest Shaolin Kung Fu practitioners. Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy has the reputation as a winning school in Opened Martial Arts Tournaments. Over the last nine years, Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy has attended twenty-five Regional and National Opened Tournaments and has won 177 First Place Trophies and 6 Grand Champion Trophies, including hundreds of Second and Third Place finishes. Under the tutelage of Master Will Laurin, 52 different students of the Academy have become Champions and have banners hanging on the Academy's celebrated, "WALL OF FAME."

Harriet Laurin  (Senior Instructor)  Instructor Harriet Laurin oversees the Tai Chi program at Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy. Instructor Laurin primarily teaches Yang Style Tai Chi, as well as several Chen Style Weapon Forms. Instructor Laurin began her studies of Tai Chi on January 2, 1989, as a student of Grandmaster Dr. Steve Sun, a tenth-degree master. Over the years, Instructor Laurin began assisting in both the Tai Chi and Kung Fu classes at Grandmaster Sun's school; additionally, she taught for the Lee Ming Chinese Cultural Association at the Wissahickon High School from 1990 through spring of 1995. In 1995, Instructor William Laurin and Instructor Harriet Laurin formed a partnership, creating Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy in Philadelphia, where we offer training in Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan, Northern Preying Mantis / Eight Harmony Kung Fu, and Southern Five-Animals Kung Fu. Although Instructor Laurin's primary teacher is Grandmaster Dr. Steve Sun, she has also received training from other martial art instructors, such as Yang Jwing-Ming, Dennis Ho, John Painter, Norm Smith, and Daniel Lee (student of Bruce Lee), among others. Instructor Laurin has successfully competed in local, regional, national and international tournaments in various divisions – Forms, Restricted Step Push-Hands, Moving Step Push Hands, Tai Chi Sword, Tai Chi Other Weapon, and Full Contact Sword Sparring. She holds the rank of First Black Stripe in Tai Chi, the equivalent of a First Degree Black Belt. Instructor Laurin maintains a career in Information Systems for Independence Blue Cross as a Senior Systems Analyst. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Arcadia University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix. In August 2007, Instructor Laurin earned a Master of Business Administration from Villanova University.

For more information about the Siu Lum Martial Arts Academy staff or training programs, please contact us at 215-755-4010 or by clicking here.