Master Pesina Martial Arts & Fan Academy
About Master Pesina
Master Pesina has been studying martial arts continuously since 1970, when he was introduced to Judo by his two older brothers.
He has trained under many masters including Guo Jian Hua (In door student of Wen Jingming and Lui Yuhua), Zhu Baozhen (Luo Chengli, He Zhong Xiang, He Zhong Qi), Hu Jianqiang (Shaolin Temple movie fame), Wai Lun Choi (Lui He Ba Fa grandmaster), and Lin Jian Hua (head judge for international Wushu federation), to name a few.
Master Pesina is perhaps most famous for his work as Johnny Cage and the ninjas in the first two Mortal Kombat games. He has also worked on films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze, Book of Swords, Press Start, and Mortal Kombat Fates Beginning, winner of the 2015 Urban Action Showcase Best MK Film award.
In addition to continuing his personal practice, he teaches weekly classes in Chicago, IL and travels throughout North and South America to teach seminars on martial arts and choreography.
FAN SHOUT-OUTS & PERSONALIZED CAMEOS
Experience a personalized greeting, martial arts inspiration, or Mortal Kombat shout-out directly from Master Pesina. Whether it’s for a birthday, motivation, or a special occasion, his Cameos connect fans with the legend himself.
Philosophy
Closed Door Training
In traditional martial arts schools, only a handful of students were chosen to learn the secrets of the master. This was known as closed door training. Unfortunately, the closed door mentality often meant that some students worked hard for years without ever being formally taught the deeper knowledge. These same students would then go out and try to teach others, completely unaware of what they themselves did not know.
Master Pesina’s Martial Arts was formed to teach this “closed door” level of martial arts to anyone who wishes to learn and elevate their understanding of Wushu and Kung Fu. If you are willing to put in the time to learn, there is no aspect of martial arts you cannot master.
“Everything is possible to a willing mind!”
Master Pesina draws on a lifetime of study to develop training programs in both Contemporary and Traditional martial arts.
Traditional Martial Arts
All traditional martial arts systems use the same basic principles of striking, kicking, joint locking, throwing, grappling, and weapon use. The culture and region each style came from determined which principles were emphasized based on the needs and abilities of its practitioners.
While it is generally no longer necessary to train these arts for combat as practitioners did hundreds of years ago, they remain valuable for physical well-being, discipline, self-defense, and personal development.
To the untrained eye, traditional martial arts forms may look like a strange dance. However, with proper study, their hidden applications are revealed. Along the way, one develops focus, discipline, and a calm, confident demeanor.
Northwestern Chinese Martial Arts & Internal Arts
Master Pesina’s training focuses on traditional Northwestern Chinese martial arts, known for their powerful, expansive movements, dynamic footwork, and battlefield efficiency. These styles are often considered the “mother” of internal martial arts, forming the structural and philosophical roots of systems such as Taiji (Tai Chi), Xing Yi, and Bagua.
While internal martial arts emphasize energy development, breath control, and refined internal structure, their foundations come from centuries-old Northwestern styles that combined practical combat with deep internal principles.
Master Pesina teaches these arts not only as fighting systems but as complete training methods to improve coordination, internal power, and mental focus—preserving their original essence while adapting them for the modern martial artist.
Cosplay
Master Pesina understands the amount of effort cosplayers put into building their costumes and getting each detail correct. After making your costume top notch, having the moves to make it come to life will take your cosplay to the next level. Adding a few traditional and contemporary martial arts postures, with weapons or barehand, to your posing repertoire is a simple way to make your photos second to none.
Or you can call on Master Pesina’s background in choreographing and performing action fight scenes to develop your own routines for demonstration or filming. Take advantage of his extensive experience to learn hints and tips about camera angles, blocks, stage combat, and more to make each of your photos the best they can be.
Chicago Wushu - Chinese Martial Arts
Chicago's Premiere Place to Learn Kung Fu and Taichi
Chicago Wushu, located on the North Side of Chicago, was founded with the purpose of opening a door to Chinese Martial Arts. Come in for a free trial class.
Whether you see yourself as a casual athlete or an extreme martial artist, whether you are looking for self-defense or self betterment, your thirst for knowledge and fitness will be addressed at Chicago Wushu.
What is Wushu?
The Term WuShu refers to all styles of Chinese Martial Arts Literally:
- Wu = War
- Shu = Art
The term Kung Fu commonly heard in American means something along the lines of “high skill achieved through hard work”, it is not specific to Martial Arts. A master chef could be said to have cooking kung fu.
Martial Arts is basically skilled fighting in which a series of movements using striking techniques with feet, hands, knees, elbows, and dozens of different weapons are used in conjunction in an effective and potentially deadly manner
The Legend
The usual story about the development of wushu is that it started in the Shaolin Temple. A Buddhist temple started for an Indian monk named Ba Tuo in 497AD. Another Indian monk Bodhidharma introduces movement to Zen meditation around 539AD. Many Shaolin Monks were retired generals and the Zen exercises become adapted by them in Martial Arts drills. The Shaolin Monks become famous for their wushu causing their temple no end of trouble. Temple burned to the ground 3 times!
The Reality
China has an incredibly ancient culture with a history of warring tribes. Early “recorded” history begins around 2600 BC known as the “Age of 5 Rulers.” China not unified until around 221 BC when Emperor Chin manages to conquer the many warring tribes and creates the Qui Dynasty. Between these two millenniums war arts were developed and refined, developed and refined… Fighting was still fierce during the next two Dynasties but there was more leisure time (221 BC – 220 AD)
Wushu began to appear in dance and the focus began to shift towards its entertainment and exercise value. Shaolin Temple brings next big step in Wushu history. Experts disagree about the actual existence of Bodhidharma. However, Shaolin develops a reputation for Wushu and which causes its cycle of destruction and rebuilding as it was now considered a military threat. Introduction of Firearms between 960 AD – 1279 AD slowly erodes Wushu as a military tool. It’s continued development moves almost entirely into the civilian field
During the last 1000 years Wushu moved from a military system to a family system. Skills passed on from father to son, disciples taken were considered part of the family. Even the term for teacher – Shifu, meant Father. Wushu was outlawed for civilians, after the last of the dynasties (the Chi’ang) fell, through to the end of the Cultural Revolution.
After the Cultural Revolution the Chinese government saw the need to bring back its cultural heritage and reinstated Wushu as a National Sport which it supported through its universities.
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For inquiries, contact: Master.Pesina@gmail.com