About Us
Head of the Wuji I Liq Chuan (無極 意力拳) Mind Power Kung Fu System
Sifu Jimmy Heow resides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After many decades of refining his skill through his extensive experience in Chinese Kung Fu, both a teacher and a famed fighter, sifu Jimmy Heow formulated the Wuji I Liq Chuan (無極 意力拳) system of Kung Fu to unlock the mind power potential of martial artists everywhere. He has many students both locally and internationally and he enjoys spreading his art by generously sharing his wisdom with students of all ages and backgrounds. Sifu Jimmy Heow is committed to constantly improving his own skills just as much as he is committed to continually refining his system for the benefit of his many students.
Sifu Jimmy started learning Kung Fu at the age of eight. All his family members practiced Kung Fu, as Kung Fu was the talk of the town when he was growing up. Everybody in the his neighborhood practiced some form of Kung Fu. Sifu’s uncle, GM Chin Lik Keong introduced him to a few masters around the neighborhood and thus the lifelong journey began. His training begins with Master Len Gok, his neighbor, who taught him the Plum Bosom 12 Points System (十二点梅花), a form of Phoenix Eye Kung Fu (凤眼功夫) which emphasizes strikes to vital meridian points. He continued on to learn Chu Gar Gao (朱家教) from master Chin Yao Wan, Silk Reeling Staff (缫丝杖) from master Then Fatt, Cai Mei Staff (采眉杖) under master Lai and San Gong (神功) under Master Sang Chee Chong. He finally settled with Fung Yang Xing Yi Quan (凤阳形意拳) and Ru Yi Bagua (如意八卦) and the Lee style (李家拳) under the guidance of master Lee Kim Chow. Sifu Jimmy also studied diligently with his uncle, GM Chin Lik Keong to refine his skills and was fortunate to receive corrections in Ru Yi Bagua from master Lee Tian Kim. In his younger days, his training partner was his cousin, master Sam Chin.
In 1976, with the vision to further research, refine and promote master Lee Kim Chow’s martial arts, Sifu Jimmy and his uncle, GM Chin Lik Keong co-founded the I Liq Chuan Association in Malaysia with a group of master Lee Kim Chow’s students. This marked the beginning of I Liq Chuan as an independent and unique form of Chinese Internal (Nèijiā /內家) Kung Fu.
His fighting career began in 1974 against a Thai boxer. Over the next decade or so, he would go on to win many martial arts competitions, including International Karate Open Championship (1975) and Malaysian Thai Kickboxing Championship (1985). He placed the first runner-up in Hong Kong Open Champion of Champions Tournament, heavyweight division in 1980. From 1986 to 1990, sifu Jimmy Heow maintained an open challenge to any Taichichuan practitioner of any style or school of Taichichuan as a matter of defending the honor of Malaysian Kung Fu practitioners, after some public claims were made by foreign martial artists. Challengers, some very highly reputed, from many countries such as Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and even as far as Hawaii note to mention the many local practitioners from Malaysia itself accepted sifu’s challenge during the course of these years. Often, the challenges were highly publicized in the media and caused public sensation. In spite of the high level of skill of some of the challengers, sifu Jimmy Heow remained undefeated until 1990, where he withdrew the challenge and retired from the martial arts to focus on his family and his business interests.
Sifu Jimmy came out of retirement in 2006 to promote his art to the delight of many students. He introduced the Wuji I Liq Chuan system, which focuses on the development of “Yi Dao” (意道) for the purpose of unlocking the human mind power potential by refining “Yi” (意) - Mind Intent, Energy – “Hei” (气) and “Ging” (勁) – Power coupled with the intimate understanding of human mind-body mechanics – “Liq Hok” (力学). Sifu Jimmy Heow is always keen to work towards cultivating and fostering unity within the martial arts community and as such welcomes martial artists from various backgrounds to share knowledge and continually improve the arts.
Joey Nishad Herath
Level 5 Instructor (5级 导师)
Based in sunny Brisbane, Australia, Nishad is the first international instructor under sifu Jimmy Heow’s generous guidance. Sifu Jimmy has personally authorized Nishad to share the first five levels in the Wuji I Liq Chuan (無極 意力拳) internal Kung Fu system with an international audience. The system consists of nine levels (grades) in total, assessed and awarded at sifu Jimmy Heow’s sole discretion. Fulfilling his sifu’s wishes, Nishad offers focused, in-depth instruction to martial arts enthusiasts who wish to explore the wonders of this art. His training regime is being constantly refined and is custom tailored, so that a dedicated practitioner would safely reap the maximum benefits in the shortest possible time.
According to his family, Nishad has displayed a strong interest in martial arts from a very young age. Having been enchanted by Bruce Lee classics as a 5 year old, he spent much of his childhood learning different martial arts. He was known to spend countless hours perhaps better spent studying, watching Kung Fu movies and reading martial arts literature, sometimes to the dismay of his parents. While his focus had shifted to information technology in his late teens, through a successful career and a young family, Nishad’s passion for martial arts remained alive. That spark re-ignited in his late twenties as he began to explore Chinese internal (Nèijiā /內家) martial arts. In his pursuit, Nishad had the great fortune of meeting sifu Jimmy Heow in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sifu Jimmy was highly recommended by Nishad’s Qigong (Chi Kung / 气功) teacher, sifu Mark Rasmus. Despite having had some experience with high level internal martial arts practitioners, Nishad was instantly won over by Sifu Jimmy, with his gentle yet unmistakable display of highly refined skill not to mention his extremely personable down-to-earth nature and warm generosity. Couple of months later, Nishad returned to sifu and formally became sifu’s disciple.
Staying true to the open and accommodating spirit of his sifu’s mind power Kung Fu, Nishad is passionately focused on refining his understanding of Wuji I Liq Chuan by exploring the art with the greater I Liq Chuan family as well as brothers and sisters of other martial arts families such as Xinyichuan, Taichichuan, Baguazhang, Wing Chun, Tong Long, Silat, Aikido, Judo, Boxing, Wrestling, just to name a few.
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