Al Bender’s Kung Fu Academy Of NJ

I’ve trained in several martial arts and under several instructors, but with Sifu Al Bender I have stayed around the longest and have learned and achieved the most.
The top reasons to choose Al Bender’s Academy for instruction in traditional martial arts would be, mainly:
(1) authentic and effective instruction in any or all of four styles of Chinese martial arts, Northern Shaolin, Taiji (Yang Family Style), Xingyi, and Bagua, with emphasis on the first two;
(2) instruction is conducted in English language, so you won’t need to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese to learn;
(3) his personable, humorous style (watch out for some killer puns, haha!) helps keep a low student turnaround, a camaraderie with and among his students, and a high number of his students who have been inspired to work long and hard enough to earn black-​sash promotions;
(4) his teaching strategy offers a balance of both form and proper technique and application for practical self defense.
Disclaimer: I’ve trained under Sifu Al for 13 years, during which I attained 2^nd degree black sash. My experience as his student inspired me to write the following lyrical adaptation of Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al:
You’re walking down the street
You’re feeling soft in the middle now
Why are you soft in the middle
Keeping fitness in your life is so hard
You need a Shaolin opportunity
You want a shot at full split
Don’t want to end up on a carton
In the trunk of a stolen car
Phone Sifu, phone Sifu! (Hmm! Hmm!)
Scared in the moonlight
Far away (Hmm! Hmm!) waits your well-​lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly (Hmm! Hmm!)
You want these thugs to leave you be
You know (Hmm! Hmm!) you can’t do without self-​protection anymore
You won’t need no bodyguard
For self defense, I’ll show you how
I will get you ready
Just come on in or call me
Call me Sifu Al
You’re walking down the street
You wonder why am I short of endurance
Got a short little span of endurance
And why do my walks feel so long
Where’s my life’s meaning
What if I die here?
You need a game plan
So far your game plan is
None, none (Hmm! Hmm!)
It’s dark there down the alley.
You want (Hmm! Hmm!) strategy, better balance, sir.
All alone, alone, (Hmm! Hmm!)
There’ll be incidents and violence,
There’ll be (Hmm! Hmm!) hits and allegations…
You won’t need no bodyguard
For self defense, I’ll show you how
I will get you ready
Just come on in or call me
Call me Sifu Al!
Call me Sifu Al.
(Instrumental)
You’re walking through the door
You’ve entered a new world
Maybe it’s an odd world
Maybe it’s your first time around
You’re learning the language
You’re learning the currency
You’re in a foreign land
Yet surrounded by support (Hmm!)
Support (Hmm!)
Fellows in a training place
Starting (hmm! Hmm!) with twenty methods
You look around, around (hmm! hmm!)
You see yin-​and-​yangs in the décor
Spinning in infinity (hmm! hmm!)
You say Amen! And Hallelujah!
You won’t need no bodyguard
For self defense, I’ll show you how
I will get you ready
Just come on in or call me
Call me Sifu Al!
Call me …
Na na na! Na na na!
Na na na! Na na na!
Na na na! Na na-​na-​na na!
Na na na! Na na na!
(Hmm! Hmm!)
(Hmm! Hmm!)
(You won’t need no bodyguard)
(oooh-​woooh-​woooh-​woooh!)
(I will get you ready)
(oooh-​woooh-​woooh-​woooh!)
(You won’t need no bodyguard)
(oooh-​woooh-​woooh-​woooh!)
(I will get you ready)
(oooh-​woooh-​woooh-​woooh!)

I’ve known Al Bender for over a decade. He has taught three of my children, and even I have taken classes there. I tried all sorts of martial arts over the years with my children. None stuck. Where some of the arts stress an almost military style, others are loose in their forms, others are more about belt ceremonies… I always came back to AL Bender’s Kung Fu Academy. It is home for my family. Everyone there is committed to teaching, and helping people grow, from 5 years old to 105, I would recommend ABKFA with no hesitation whatsoever.