SIFU DAMIEN CHAUREMOOTOO
A Mauritian in Australia
A native of the Republic of Mauritius, I moved to Australia as a young man and it wasn’t long before I was studying with the famous Grand Master William Cheung. I was also a student of Sensei Alain Uppiah, Sensei Kooram Venkamah and Judex Jeannot, who passed on to me the knowledge of Karate, Aikido and Kickboxing. Now Operations Manager and Chief Instructor at the headquarters of the Global Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu Association in Melbourne (Australia), I, Sifu Damien, pass timeless lessons learned over the years to many followers and students around the world. Within the academy, I, along with other masters, including the great Grand Master William Cheung, train over five hundred people per week. This includes people from all walks of life, ages and professions.
Of key importance to me along with my assistant instructor, Emma Carr is addressing the issue of increased violence against women, both physical and emotional. Our message is that of ultimate empowerment. Nurtured through awareness, general counselling, training and encouragement, women young and old can start at any time and change their future. Through the programs, women build their own platform as a formidable force to push back against all forms of abuse, danger and bullying. On the other side of the equation, men who attend and train in the ways of Kung Fu develop a greater sense of self-worth and respect, which has a positive effect on those around them including women.
Over the years I have worked with and been inspired by the likes of Grand Master William Cheung, Hiroo Mochizuki, Scott Adkins, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Michael Jai White to name a few. I am fuelled by an intense drive and desire to succeed in order to get my message across to as many people and communities as possible. I believe that when people have someone who believe in them, someone that they can be inspired by and look up to, then they begin to believe in themselves; self-belief is a very powerful weapon. Low self-worth and fear are suffocatingly self-limiting.
My passion is to eliminate these barriers, turn hopelessness into hopefulness, strengthen self-belief and allow my students to realise their own capacity, to reach their own limits and then break them is my addiction. Self-realisation and inner confidence yield an improved version of a student as a whole and this gives me great pleasure as a teacher. The YMCA has allowed my team and I to deliver my program to so many women, ranging from teenagers to retirees and across the board extending further to disabled youth.
The disabled kids enjoy themselves through martial art movement whilst actively engaging in teamwork, self-help, independence and self-growth. You should see those smiles and their progression! This brings me to empowering women.