I bet you can’t tell by watching who the highly trained and deadly Wing Chun actor Adam Burch is. It’s the one on the left, the quieter one in the suit. And this is a good thing!
You couldn’t tell that Clark Kent was Superman, Peter Parker was Spider-Man, or that young Luke Skywalker was the son of Darth Vader.
The same can be said about this classically trained actor and Wing Chun black belt, Adam Burch.
Adam has trained in Wing Chun for about five years, and his “extracurricular” activity is his acting career.
The clip above comes from the online web series, Tickets R Us. Adam writes, produces, and acts in the series. The inspiration comes from his experiences working for a prominent theater ticketing office in Los Angeles.
How Adam Burch got started with Wing Chun
Like many things, it was because of a girl.” I had always wanted to learn martial arts. But I suppose I never really settled on one that I felt fit my body and natural strengths until someone I dated got me a free Wing Chun class. Apparently, when she was backpacking through Europe, one of the girls she became fast friends with was getting married to a Wing Chun instructor. Little did I know, this turned out to be one of the best Kung Fu practitioners around: Sifu Joseph Sayah (the youngest Red Sash in the style of Traditional Wing Chun).”
Unlike his acting goals, his Wing Chun goals are more modest, or are they?
Adam says, “At this point I have achieved a black sash in my style and advancing my belt color holds very little interest for me. I have already learned the majority of the techniques in the Wing Chun repertoire. But that is a far cry from mastering them. Currently, it’s just about refining what I know and making sure it is consistent and can be utilized in real time situations.”
” As far as new stuff, I still need to learn all the forms in the style, including the weapons forms and dummy forms. And I would like to develop my Chi Sao and fighting skills to the point where I feel I can handle any kind of assailant regardless of their strength and physical stature. This would include gaining more control over my opponents balance and such, which has always been an area I struggle with.”
How acting fits in for Adam Burch
Adam is a classically trained actor and has appeared in a number of stage productions. Interestingly, he became an actor not because of a girl but because Return of the Jedi was the first movie he watched in a theater, and at that young age, he literally thought he was Luke Skywalker.
” I suppose I would like to combine my talents in classical theater and film the way that Peter O’Toole has. He’s one of my favorites (I think it’s because he’s so good at playing angry). But if I got the chance to do a little Wing Chun with Robert Downey Jr. on-screen, that would be pretty cool too. I can see how good his Bong Sao/Lop Sao really is!”
How Wing Chun helps his acting career
” Wing Chun has definitely helped my general athleticism and also been an instrumental part of developing a healthy and active lifestyle. I am in far better condition these days than when I started, not necessarily because of Wing Chun directly, but indirectly as a way to stay on top of my classmates in sparring. It doesn’t hurt having good cardio to outlast the other guy. Plus, you get the added benefit of liking the way you look.”
” Additionally, I’ve been in a number of plays now where I was involved in fight choreography. Though it’s quite a bit different than real fighting, having a basis in martial arts certainly helps.”
Learn about Adam Burch and ask him to audition in your next film, commercial, or play.
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