Omaha Kung Fu Academy

Omaha Kung Fu Academy is one of Omaha’s best kept secrets. Walking through this door gets you quality instruction, intense workouts, and quickly learned self defense techniques.

Wing Chun Kung Fu is perfect for self defense, and Sifu Jacob Stiver’s lineage traces directly back to Ip Man, a Wing Chun legend known for training Bruce Lee.

Sifu Stiver is patient, friendly and kind. And with several decades of experience in numerous martial arts, in training and real world scenarios, he’s greatly knowledgeable as well.

The students are also respectful and nice, with more senior students taking the time to help novices. This is a cerebral group of men and women, with no aggressive meatheads throwing you around. (However, movie quotes are thrown around constantly.)

The classes are challenging as Sifu moves us along quickly, but he works with everyone to make sure we understand the proper technique and footwork. Also, he includes teaching videos in the cost of tuition, so you can practice at home too.

He teaches classes six days a week, including Wing Chun, Hung Gar (a powerful Shaolin style), and weapons classes. He also teaches lion dance.

When I started, I was out of shape. After three classes a week, my back, legs and core are much stronger, I’ve gone down a waist size, and I’ve become much more flexible.

Most importantly though, I’ve learned new defensive blocks, as well as effective arm strikes and leg kicks. And because Wing Chun isn’t as much of a force on force style, my joints don’t take a beating like they did in other styles.

I’ll leave you with one suggestion though: work on your leg strength before you start. They say here that every day is leg day. That’s no joke!

I visited Sifu Jake Stiver last year about this time and was deeply impressed. First off he is very knowledgeable about a wide range of topics in traditional Chinese martial arts. His personal kung fu ability has the very well rounded and lively quality that can only be gotten from years of serious and disciplined training. But best of all he is a great instructor. He has a clear and reasonable approach to training that takes the best of traditional and modern practices that shows through in that his students are uniformly strong despite their range of ages, sizes, and levels of experiences. If you are in the Omaha area and are even slightly interested in self defense, improving your health, or Chinese culture then you have to try out this school.

The school does a great job of teaching the theory and practical application of the different styles, which helps you understand WHY you are doing the different movements as well as HOW. It's also wonderful to be able to have access to both Wing Chun as well as Hung Gar, instead of being pigeon-holed into one style, and access to weight training and conditioning is a great bonus. I highly recommend this school.

In 2002 I was involved in a terrible car accident. The head of my femur bone was broken and as a result I had major surgery. Six pins and a metal plate was put in my right hip. During the cold months I am usually in pain and as a result I need assistance with a cane. I started training with Sifu Jake about 5 months ago and since then because of his expertise in Kung fu with Hung gar and Wing Chun and weight training I have had no pain or needed any assistance with the cane. Sifu Jake has a great compassion for teaching and he is great at it. I have never been so happy..A great place to train!

If you’re looking for an activity that’s challenging and different, come to Omaha Kung Fu. You don’t need past experience; Sifu Stiver ensures you learn basics first, giving you a solid foundation to build your craft. Lessons are full of value and connect the art’s rich history to proper form, structure, and posture; partner drills ensure you apply what you’ve learned. My flexibility, reaction time, and agility have improved greatly, and it’s awesome to see fellow students grow along with you in this fun environment.