Biography

Ricky Leturia (September 26, 1960) is one of the few Kung Fu Masters in the world today that was trained the traditional hard way. He began his training in the Cu Con Chau Chinese Martial Arts Temple,(no religion aspects)in Peru . He is of the second generation and a direct descendant to the world famous Grandmaster Wong Fei Hung. Master Leturia's Kung Fu is the strongest of any I’ve witnessed in the United States. He is committed to keep the styles and forms of Kung Fu strictly original, as they were taught to him. He works from morning until night, personally training each and every one of his students. For him the Kung Fu school is not just his business, nor is he in it for the money and fame. Kung Fu is his passion. He is dedicated to teach his students more than just their forms; he teaches them first and foremost the morals, principals, and depth of this beautiful art. He cares little about degrees and sashes he believes it is a way of life. I want to honor and mention him for his sincere dedication to the art of Kung Fu. He is probably one of the best and most loyal of any of those practicing and teaching the traditional instruction today.
Master Leturia's adopted father and teacher was Grandmaster Choy Fong Loong (11-20-1898 / 8-17-1980). Master Choy mastered the southern Shaolin styles, after five years, directly under the instruction of Master Wong Fei Hung, at his Po Chi Lam School in Canton China, after which he mastered the Wing Chun style, after two years, under the famous Grandmaster Chan Wah Shun at his school in Fatshun city. Master Choy, sadly, had no choice but to flee from China, leaving behind his wife and children. Put discretely, he had defended his people from the communists during an invasion, and they were looking for him to take his life. After securing the safety of his family he went to pay respects and to say goodbye to his master, Wong Fei Hung. Master Wong Fei Hung honored him by giving to him a medallion, which Master Choy cherished for the rest of his life, and then he fled to Peru. He settled in Lima Peru where, fortunately for Master Leturia, he began teaching in the Ku Kon Chau Chinese Martial Arts.
Master Leturia developed and great fascination for the art Kung Fu , at 13 yrs old he had finally convinced his father to take him to visit the Cu Con Chau, in Chinatown, where Grandmaster Choy Fong Loong was instructing around 200 students. Master Leturia was so excited, expecting to learn lots of cool tricks and forms, but was, actually, very disappointed, for the senior instructors only had him stand in short horse stance, for two hours a day during his first week. It was then that he finally met Grandmaster Choy. He had Ricky (Master Leturia) continue short horse stance but, at least, allowed him to add some straight punches. This continued for six long months. Finally, after six months, he started teaching Ricky his first form. For the next nine months Ricky practiced perfecting the form he had been shown, while, Master Choy observed. His master then invited him to practice at his house, on Sundays, with a small group, consisting of six of his best students. He practiced to the best of his abilities at Grandmaster Choy’s house for the next five years, during which they became very close, like father and son. At this time Grandmaster Choy invited Ricky to come and live with him in his home and train 7 days a week, morning and night. Ricky was honored and accepted the offer, leaving his very comfortable life for a much simpler one, where he had only his bare necessities. Master Choy took him in and adopted him as his son, yet trained him hard like a student. Master Leturia ate the same three simple and balanced vegetarian meals a day everyday with nothing in between. They had no hot water, of which he literally used while in horse stance and he bathed, very quickly, in a cold faucet outside. This was a drastic change for Master Leturia, whose father was a respected writer , army colonel , Doctor in economics and professor, and whose mother was a wonderful stay at home mom who had maids that helped with the house.
Seven days a week Ricky trained. While the other young guys were dating and going to parties, Master Leturia was dedicated to practicing anywhere from 6 to 8 hours a day. A break when practicing kung fu for Ricardo meant standing in cha ma stance (short horse stance) for a few minutes. Master Choy would come to check on him and would show him a few movements of a form, one time only, and Ricky was expected to have it perfected, through memory, by the end of that day. He would ignore the calls of girls and guys who stopped by, trying to pull him away from his training to go out with them, for he already knew what he wanted in life. Soon the only friend he had at this time in his life was his Chinese father. He was the youngest of all the students practicing under Grandmaster Choy. His training involved climbing a mile up a mountain every morning, at times with a 40 lb log on his back, long hours of horse stance, practicing forms with no breaks, until he literally would pass out (you can have a peace of mind that Master Leturia does not train any of the students in this way). Needless to say, it was a very trying time in his life of complete devotion and commitment, during which, he also completed his academic education as a Creative Publicist (Marketing).
When Ricky Leturia received the honorable title of master, it did not involve a fancy ceremony, a black sash, or the awards of excellence that we are accustomed to today. It was simply a sunny afternoon when Ricardo and Grandmaster Choy were enjoying a pleasant conversation while sitting outside. Ricardo said, "papa do you think I could ever become a Sifu one day?”, and Master Choy smiled and said,” Son you are a Sifu now, the masters are already with you.” Ricky was caught off guard and laughed, saying, “No, no it’s impossible I can’t be.” Master Choy got very serious and rose his voice saying,” I am the master and I’m telling you that you are a master now, regardless if you know it.” He then walked away, leaving Ricky shaken and shocked beyond comprehension. He was honored and enormously surprised for he truly had not foreseen this. All of this happened of course after five years of training. It was not long after, while at the temple, Master Choy was talking to his students about the qualities required of a Sifu when he acknowledged Ricardo as a master in front of the others. Ricky didn’t know how to act and he knew the others were probably less than happy for him, so, he simply hung his head and accepted this unexpected honor. Still yet, Master Leturia continued to humbly train and practice under the instruction of his master and Chinese father. In his early eighties, Grandmaster Choy soon became very ill with lung cancer and knew that he didn’t have much longer to live. It was at that time, that he took the opportunity to give Master Leturia the key to his personal chest. He didn’t say a word he only gave him the key. Ricky knew, though, where the key went, and accepted that his father wanted him to have whatever personal items were in his chest.
As a young boy Master Leturia had visited the states several times, until moving permanently at age 21, directly after his Chinese father died. He lived in California and Florida before deciding to settle in Oklahoma, where he has now lived for 13 years. He established his first Kung Fu school in Edmond Oklahoma where he taught for 8 years and has just recently moved it to Oklahoma City. The school offers Hung Gar Shaolin Kung Fu, Kid’s Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and a new class called Tiger Crane that emphasize the a deeper training for students that wants to be dedicated to the art. He developed the Tiger and Crane class for those who wish to be trained harder and for those who have committed themselves to master the art. He has not yet had a student acquire the title of master yet, but has a few very dedicated men, whom anyone of them could be the first; right now they have gotten the title of Si Hin that means older brother or instructor. These men have worked very hard. Master Leturia says,” It is, ultimately, up to them”. Master Leturia does not rush through training. He is concerned with slow, consistent progress, hard work and perfecting your attitude as well as your form. This is the way in which he was trained. He says, "it’s all about your inner growth, your deep understanding of the art, control of your mind, and most importantly, your respect for your life with each breath you take.” Master Leturia's efforts and talents have been a remarkable benefit to the patients at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Oklahoma City as well as many others.
Master Leturia has not trained for tournaments because he does not promote Kung Fu as a sport. What few tournaments his students have participated in, they have won.
Many students have won grand championships in sparring as well as in forms. Master Leturia has performed several masters’ demonstrations in different states and locally, and he performed a master’s demonstration at the International Tournament, Tai Chi Legacy in Arlington, Texas in 2000. When he performs he receives much respect from other masters and they are always very curious as to where he received his training. He has worked very hard to be where he is today and, even if not yet worldly recognized, he is definitely one of the world’s best Kung Fu masters. He radiates a power that I've never seen in any other Sifu, except for maybe, the movies with Wong Fei Hung. Now he is expanding the traditional teachings of Martial Arts in Europe, where he is taken roots, in the mean time he has highly trained , six dedicated and loyal students, to become his instructors, teaching the different disciplines, the school offers.