We were lucky to catch up with Zach Pearlswig recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zach, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

Sun Valley Shao-Lin Kempo works with traditional martial arts and values to help create a better modern world for everyone. Grandmaster Pearl continues this tradition into the 21st century and I help carry it forward as a master of the art.

We are living in an age where people lose their tempers and their morals fasters then ever. From road rage, to teenage violence, to people being assaulted while attempting to enjoy themselves.

I teach more then just fitness and flexibility, although that is why many get started. The art of Shao-lin has been keeping people in shape for 1500 years. We also teach real world self defense skills that apply to any situation, not just to competitive fights like that you see on TV or Internet. Below is the story of just how vital the skills and abilities we teach are.

We had a young women who studied with our dojo during her teenage years, and got up to the rank of Brown belt, just before the coveted black belt. She trained for years to refine her skills in training, working with our 4 aspects of fighting, punching, kicking, grabbing and felling. She started as a meek and timid young girl, and went off to college as a confident woman. She attended college and received her degree from there with astonishing academic success in the field of science. But the apex of our story wasn’t at her university.

As a young women, aged 25, she went our to a bar with a few friends. During her night of enjoying herself, she began to feel off. Something wasn’t right. She went to the bathroom and began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. Shortly after entering the women’s bathroom, she heard the door open and turned and saw a man enter the bathroom. Something clicked in her head and she knew, her drink had been spiked. The man approached her and put hands on her. As the drug that was slipped into her drink took hold, she went on instinct. Using the training from nearly a decade before, she defended herself swiftly. She delivered effective blows to her attacker and caused enough injuries that the man fled.

Her friends spotting a bleeding man running from the bathroom and quickly went to check on their friend, my student. They found her unconscious on the bathroom floor but unharmed otherwise. The blood on her hands belong to her attacker. They were able to get her home safe. The next day she called me up, and thanked me for what we had trained her in. If it wasn’t for the rigorous training that she went through as a teenager, the story would have had a much worse ending, and she knew it.

Almost a decade after her training, the skills were engrained into her still, the skills to last the rest of her life. The confidence to stand up to an enemy when seconds count and help was minutes away.

That’s what we do at Sun Valley Shao-Lin Kempo, and all the schools in the American Schools of Shao-Lin Kempo family. We don’t just teach a punch, kick or defense, but the skills to stay safe regardless of the circumstance. Our students travel the world with the confidence that they will be coming home safe that night.

That young lady is just one of many stories of how our martial arts helped people in their darkest hour. And it’s one of the main reasons I teach. Knowing that every person I help is a better person for it, and they are more likely to make it home safe no matter the odds against them.

For some people, they have already faced terrible circumstances, and we help them rebuild their confidence and strength so they may walk the planet without fear again. For some, we prepare for when that day comes to us. And the rest train in a fun and active art, for it is better to have the skills and not need them, then need them and not have it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Zach Pearlswig, Master of Shao-Lin Kempo. My father is Grandmaster Robert Pearlswig. He trained directly under Fred Villari who brought Shao-Lin Kempo to popularity in the 1960s-70s. Great-Grandmaster Villari trained with many masters, including under the legendary Master William Chow out of Hawaii.

Grandmaster Pearl has been a industry leader since 1976, almost 50 years. Before him, there were no full time dojos, most instructors had day jobs and taught martial arts when they got off work. He developed an honest way to teach the martial arts and make a living at it. Charge fair rates with no contracts, with the highest quality instructors. He only works with the best, which is why you don’t see Shao-Lin Kempo schools on every corner.

Shao-Lin Kempo is based on ancient Shaolin Kung Fu, known as Chinese Boxing or Shaolin long fist. Shaolin Kung Fu is the oldest and most famous civilian based martial arts founded in the 500s. During the 1100s Masters traveled to Japan, and begun spreading the artform there, long before artforms like Karate and Jiujutsu were formed. They added powerful moves based in self defense, to the complex and devastating yet beautiful Kung Fu. They translated the “Long Fist” into the “Law of the Fist” or Kempo. Hence the name Shao-Lin Kempo.

Masters from Japan traveled back and forth to the temple in China, which became a great library of knowledge in the martial arts, refining the artform and making it as well rounded and effective as possible. They developed more modern self defense tools as the world developed more dangerous weapons, such as guns. During the late 1800s to early 1900s it made it’s way from Japan, to Hawaii then to Boston where Grandmaster Pearl began studying it.

I began officially studying at 3 years old, taking a passion for my father’s art form. I slowly began to realize what a gift I had. I had one of the greatest master’s of our time not just as a teacher, but as a father. He helped me develop into an effective martial artist, a caring and understanding teacher, and a true master of Shao-Lin Kempo. We train in many aspects of the ancient art, from the 5 animals the Shao-Lin are famous for, the smooth flow of Tai Chi and Chi Kung, to the dozens of traditional weapons we come to master in our art.

In 2013 I was inducted into the martial arts Hall of Fame for my work, but that pales in comparison to a few years later. In 2019, at 29 years old, I had two great accomplishments back to back. I married the love of my life, and became one of the youngest masters ever in our art. Through the pandemic, I continued training, while 2 of my top students took over my dojo in Lake Havasu City. While I traveled fulfilling the role of master of our art, I was questing as well. Questing for a place to call my new home. I found myself in the Valley of the Sun, and set my sights on the East Valley. In 2023 I opened up Sun Valley Shao-Lin Kempo and have been building a steady student base from there.

Now our second school in the Phoenix Valley, the other being Tempe Shao-Lin Kempo, I look forward to being a reliable source for quality martial arts and self defense for decades to come.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the pandemic hit, many people were scared on how to proceed. Some wished to ignore the health crisis, others wished to hide away and never see people again. Being in a field where being close to people is the primary way to train, many martial arts schools went under.

I was able to quickly set up online learning portals and develop video teaching for my students, to the point where were only missed a week of training. Within 2 weeks, we had a full online class schedule that allowed those in quarantine to continue to train without concern of making others sick.

Shortly after that we developed testing standards and practices that made everyone feel safe, while adhering to our ancient standards of quality and skills.

In martial arts, we coined the phrase of rolling with the punches, and in 2020 we showed our skill with just that.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

In martial arts, I encourage people to focus on the art element. No one is perfect and anyone who claims otherwise is probably lying.

Even the most famous artists make mistakes, yet their work still sells for millions of dollars.

Many people, kids and adults, are obsessed with perfection. The perfect note, the perfect meal, the perfect punch, the perfect picture.

Our artform, and they way we teach it, encourage the mistakes. Mistakes are a key part of learning. We often learn more from our mistakes then we do our victories. When you miss a block you learn what needs more work.

If you are scared of making mistakes, take a deep breath and learn to let go. People make mistakes. And if you are looking to get in great shape, learn to defend yourself, or increase your mobility, it doesn’t matter your injuries or mistakes you have made previously. What matters is what your going to do next.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shao-linkempo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sun_valley_shao_lin_kempo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sunvalleyshaolinkempo
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/shao-lin-kempo-sun-valley-chandler