City Wing Tsun Kung Fu, Astoria

At City WingTsun, chief instructor Sifu Alex Richter emphasizes the respect, discipline, and courtesy that is so important to traditional Chinese martial arts, but aims to dispel the hindrance of mysticism with modern teaching methods and training protocols. The result of his efforts—a kung fu program accessible to today’s youths and adults—has garnered the attention of media including USA TODAY and Harper’s Bazaar. City WingTsun’s classes welcome both casual and intense practitioners, shepherding all students toward greater confidence, levels of health, and the self-defense skills needed to acquire a belt from a monster-inhabited closet. The studio’s full schedule caters to women with female-only classes and expands from kung fu to include special programming. This additional programming ranges from kettlebell fundamentals to practical weapons training, which teaches students to defend themselves with everyday objects such as keys, magazines, or the anvils they carry around in their bag.