Sifu Richard Guerra

**8bit** · Posted On: 7/17/2008 4:58pm

Theres a guy in town named Richard Guerra. He apparently teaches Karate and Wing Chun. Whats the scoop on this guy? He has a youtube account named aquaflow72.

**NJM** · Posted On: 7/17/2008 5:05pm

Reported for move to ymas. This section is for serious investigation following investigation standards.

**geezer** · Posted On: 11/10/2008 7:38pm

Originally Posted by 8bit

Theres a guy in town named Richard Guerra. He apparently teaches Karate and Wing Chun. Whats the scoop on this guy? He has a youtube account named aquaflow72.

I have some minimal knowledge of this individual. He's a tough old guy who's been in the MA a very long time. I last spoke with him about twenty-five years ago. His Wing Chun is definately not his strong point. But I've got it on good authority that his Soryu Karate is freakin' awesome. He really has the authentic old stuff. And that 's from a very discriminating source. If I lived in your area, I'd definately check it out. Post back and let me know what you find out.

**ChickenBeakFist** · Posted On: 11/11/2008 12:18am

Originally Posted by 8bit

Theres a guy in town named Richard Guerra. He apparently teaches Karate and Wing Chun. Whats the scoop on this guy?

"Why don't they make the whole plane out of the black box?!"

**marcusdbrutus** · Posted On: 11/11/2008 12:21am

I see what he did there.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 11/11/2008 7:26pm

Originally Posted by ChickenBeakFist

"Why don't they make the whole plane out of the black box?!"

And what's the deal with the airline peanuts?

**Siniq** · Posted On: 11/11/2008 7:46pm

Chuners, who are these people? Oh, and _ing _ung is NOBODY's strong suite!

**Toulouseman** · Posted On: 11/11/2008 10:01pm

He's a former national karate champion (1970). He's a former Navy Seal.He was Leung Ting's representative for the U.S. He has published a book on Wing Chun. If you've got a chance to train with him, you'll be surprised to find out that he's also an excellent wing chun figther and a gentleman. Please let me know if you had a good experience.

**jvjim** · Posted On: 11/11/2008 10:06pm

I think my brother used to train with this guy (I think in Austin, Tx.) He told me that he was a little eccentric but knew his karate and wing chun. Said he was pretty brutal fighter, but that's all second hand information obviously.

EDIT: My brother's story is this:

Guerra supposedly has all the documentation, pictures, etc. for his Wing Chun (I have no idea what that means, so take it with a grian of salt.) I mean, it's Wing Chun so for whatever good it does there you go. For the Soryu, Bro says there's some dispute as to his rank, but not about his skill or his insanity. Supposedly, his karate is old school and great, but he rubs all the traditional Central Texas instructors the wrong way. My bro trained under Sifu Guerra for about four years during the early 90's. Bro backs up the SEAL claim, but of course has no documentation or evidence other than hearsay.

For an intial observation: it seems like the guy is legit for what he is. If you want "authentic wing chun" and hard style karate, most likely with a self-defense angle, you'll probably get what you're looking for. As to my bro's credentials: black belt in TKD from some organisation I think went belly in the 80's and a black belt in Hapkido under a Master Pham, with whom he trained with for a period of around seven years. (This is just in an effort of full disclosure on his background, not his fighitng ability.)

Suggested procedure: Check out the place. If it has what you're looking for, awesome. If not, I've heard Austin is the Mecca for BJJ in Texas. If it's really bad, write it up some more.

Conclusion: In all honesty, from what I understand the guy is old and crazy as hell, but used to be a great fighter and instructor. Whatever he's doing now is up to the OP or an Austin bully to investigate because I can't find anything on the guy other than old videos.

**Toulouseman** · Posted On: 11/16/2008 2:29pm

I've trained under Sifu Guerra from 1985-1996. I earned a Master degree 6th level in Wing Chun from him. Together we established the Latin American Headquarters in Monterrey, México in 1990.
Also, I'm a Clinical Psychologist with a Ph. D. from Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. I've been practicing psychoteraphy with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder patients for more than 20 years.

All that said, it is only to clarify that Master Guerra suffered from PTSD after his 3rd tour of duty in Viet Nam. He was wounded in action. I personally have seen the scars on his back. He received meritorious citation by the Navy. He was part of the U.S.S Jouette creww while in operations at the Mekong Delta. He participated in operations Linebacker I & II.

Thus, I'm confirming that he has been treated for PTSD. His personality traits may seem very odd to some people. He is a brutal, formidable and effective fighter. A former "unofficial" hand-to-hand combat instructor to the Navy Seals (Viet Nam era).
However, he will never show his fierceness to any of his students of Soryu Karate or Wing Chun. He can be very kind and refined in his manners. Nonetheless, do not expect a paradise when training under him, he is tough and demanding, but always encouraging and and sharing.

After I trained with Cecil Chu, Wu Kwong Yu (tai-chi chuan), and Moy Yat (Ving Tsun), Master Guerra added real street-wise applications to my 'soft' styles training. For that I'm very grateful.