ABOUT

My favorite TV show growing up was Kung Fu, about a quiet Asian man going from town to town rejecting him wherever he went.  Each show found the actor, David Caradine, in an adverse predicament when there'd be flashbacks to him as a boy in China training with his Master asking questions about life: "Why does the white man hate me so much?" the master would reply "If your enemy thinks you are the enemy, then the enemy is your thoughts."  "Think before you speak." "The problem isn't the problem, your reaction to the problem in the problem."  another favorite was "Take the pebble from my hand."

Life hits us harder than any punch or kick.  

My mission in life is to teach the students exactly the way I was taught by Grand Master Dae Woong Chung at the studio pictured (to right) on Holt Blvd, in Pomona.  During the 1970's, Pomona was known for having the # 1 highest murder rate in the nation.  These kids that we taught were considered "at risk", but I never understood this philosophy "at risk" because I grew up in Malibu experiencing a different kind of chaos: fires, evacuations, floods, traffic fatalites, rich kids doing drugs, overdosing, suicide, partying, high winds, mudslides and high surf.  

Chaos is chaos, it doesn't matter WHERE a child lives; children only want 3 things: love, acceptence, and attention from their families.  I stayed teaching in Pomona until opening my own studio in Simi Valley, then due to Covid, in March, 2020, we closed our beautiful  2,500 sqft studio and moved it online and on the same beach back to where I grew up, Zuma Beach.  

Married, to wife, Julie, since 1991, enjoy soft sand beach runs, have completed 9-L.A. Marathons, ocean fishing, golf, and as a insurance and real estate broker for 30+ years at smithlife.com.

Published author as J.C. Burkesmith, book series:

The Matador and The Mustang Part 1 

"How to find purpose within a dysfunctional family" 

The Matador and The Mustang Part 2

"A Son Returns"

Fall  2024