Biography – Sijo Jacques Patenaude
Sijo Jacques Patenaude is the main founding member of Fang Shen Do (“Way of Survival”), the largest chain of kung-fu schools in Canada along side his wife Linda and their 4 children, Stéphane, Martin, Christine and Sîlvain.
He doesn’t view FSD strictly as a fighting art, it’s a philosophy you apply to every area of your life.
Finding what works has always been a passion of his whether in martial arts, personal development or in business and he believes martial art training is the best tool to over come any one of life’s challenges.
Since 1975, Patenaude has been mixing the best arts as well as his family’s private fighting system which spans several decades. A tendency that’s showing no signs of stopping, FSD is relentlessly evolving, constantly improving and looking for better ways to serve their students.
A contrarian by nature and a refusal to be put in a box has brought a lot of attention to Patenaude. Much intrigue surrounds him when it comes to how he and his wife managed to build such a large, successful organization, considering their very humble beginnings.
The odds have always been stacked up against him with first, coming from a small town in the middle of nowhere called Embrun with nothing to do but milk cows, grow crops, play hockey, and fight with the local neighbors. There wasn’t a martial art school to train at for miles.
Patenaude had but a brief high school education and didn’t speak English until he was 20 years old. He was told by his teachers he would never amount to anything and they recommended he join the Army when he was old enough or take up Boxing to control his temperament and give him some sort of outlet because since the age of 9, he was in constant trouble in the school yard.
Patenaude shows his students how he did it with a workshop called “Focus on Results” which is based on acting in spite of fear and to quote Bruce Lee:
“To use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it”
His biggest influence to date is Bruce Lee like so many great martial artists in the industry today. Patenaude also shares Lee’s philosophy on:
“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system”.
Among other things Patenaude holds annual training camps at his Japanese Style Compound set on 16 acres, he’s an avid firewalker, a practitioner with the Robbins Research Institute, he’s authored 4 books on the subjects of martial arts, power, and life direction.
Patenaude’s zest for life and adventure inspires his team of Sifus, students, and his clients to stretch out of their comfort zones and be bold enough to reach out for what they really want even though everyone around them might tell them otherwise.
Having built their school from scratch as a family, when the time came to expand in 25 Canadian cities, one thing had to stay identical to the original school he and his wife started in a church basement over 30 years ago:
The family atmosphere.
Each student is treated with the utmost respect. Is given personalized attention.
Each instructor within each school is trained to bring out the best in you, to push you out of your comfort zone and give you all the tools you require to succeed in all your endeavors.
We hope you will join us in the “Way of Survival.”
Here’s where to get started:
Click here for a FREE Training Session Now!
Biography – Sifu Stéphane Patenaude
(Sifu) Stéphane Patenaude was born on August 31st, 1975 in Ottawa, Ontario to Linda and (Sijo) Jacques Patenaude. He is the eldest son of four Patenaude children, Martin, Christine and Sîlvain.
Stéphane began training in the Martial arts at age 4 but officially started his training in 1986.
In a twist of fate, it was also at this time that he introduced one of his best friends, Patrick Marcil to the world of Kung-Fu.
Who would of thought that his best friend would climb the ranks along his side, and one day marry his sister and open 2 martial art schools together?
As a young child, Stéphane possessed an uncanny ability to learn techniques simply by watching and mimicking what adult students were practicing.
It wasn’t long before he learned an old, 108 movement, Wing Chun form called Sil Lim Tao by observation alone. This autodidactic quality would serve him later on in his career.
He along with (Sifu) Patrick Marcil opened their first Kung Fu school on St. Joseph Blvd, in Orleans on September 15th, 1994 and shortly after, to the opening of their second school in Gatineau, Quebec.
Sifu Stéphane’s present day school is located at 2035 Lanthier Drive and is at the cutting edge of what a professional martial art training center should look like.
There are 2 areas that Stéphane gravitates towards: Personal protection through effective street self-defense techniques, Muay Thai and Sanshou (Kickboxing) techniques. And, making a difference in children’s lives by offering an award winning Kids Program where they can learn to increase their confidence and self-esteem, as well as giving them a positive outlet to have fun and instill in them leadership qualities they can use while growing up.
Stéphane truly exudes the qualities of a martial artist:
He follows through on what he says he’s going to do!
Whether it’s making a difference in his community by supporting local events and charities or simply challenging himself and fulfilling a desire to compete and represent Fang Shen Do in a World Kobudo Federation, European Kickboxing match, or open a second location in Kanata or use the same principles and apply it to his construction business, or his other passion, Playing Professional Soft Ball and winning the Canadian Championship in Quebec City.
His dedication to Martial Arts and Soft Ball demonstrates his passion to commitment, teamwork and physical activity.
Stéphane offers this piece of advice to his students and uses it as his personal motto:
“I am more than I appear to be, all the world’s strengths and power rest inside me”
Stéphane believes in the power of these words. They allow him to believe that he has only just begun the journey to success in his life.
One of his future goals is to help make Competitive Sanshou an Olympic Sport and to train a new breed of Sanshou fighters to represent Fang Shen Do at local, national and world events.
His ultimate goal is to achieve greatness in business as well as within his personal life.
Biography – Sibok Martin Patenaude
Sibok Martin’s earliest memories involve Martial Arts. For as long as he can remember, right along with learning to walk and talk, there was Kung-Fu training.
All of Sijo and Linda’s kids were exposed to martial arts at a very young age, which helped forge a strong mind-body connection, instill core values, and give them the confidence to reach for their goals.
A tradition he and his wife Isabelle are upholding with their own kids; Justine, Vincent, Ève, and Annabelle.
Chances are you’ve seen Sibok Martin on a DVD, or perhaps you’ve read his blog posts and e-mail newsletters. You might have met him at a seminar or at a BBC meeting. Maybe you’ve caught a glimpse of him in action during a demo.
You might even be a member of his Inner Circle.
One thing for sure, he’s a dedicated martial artist. His main passion is passing down what he’s learned from Sijo in the martial arts and sharing the many life lessons one can learn from practicing it.
Since he is as old as the system itself, growing side by side with it, he’s very protective of the art his father created. All his family members would agree, this system represents who we are. The principles contained in the system are at the center core of everything we do.
Along with his parents he established the first FSD School in the Montreal area in 1996 after almost 10 years of talks of opening there.
There are now 11 schools in the Montreal area with other plans of expansion in the works.
Sibok Martin enjoys training and challenging himself. He lives by the principle of constant and never ending improvement.
The most fulfilling part of his work is seeing his students finally get it or seeing them reach high levels of skill and fitness.
Patience is the key, a trait he owes to his mother when it comes to teaching.
He was quoted saying: “Most people don’t know this but my mother was instrumental in helping me learn weapons. She was the one who patiently got me doing the double stick coordination drill at a very young age.”
He also credits his negotiation and business skills to her and even the size of his biceps!
He still manages to stick hands with her every once in a while to a draw.
A family wouldn’t be complete without an older brother, Sifu Stéphane, his brother in law, Sifu Patrick and 2 younger siblings, Sifu Christine and Sifu Sîlvain.
All of them compliment each other very well and time spent together is always filled with laughter and support. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his family.
Every school has what we call an “UKE” (Fall guy). A student that the Sifu of the school uses the most often to demonstrate techniques on.
Sibok Martin was lucky enough to be Sijo’s UKE.
This direct contact helps the student become very skilled because the energy is transferred from the master to the student.
Sometimes the student doesn’t even know this is happening until eventually he realizes the extra time spent working directly with the master has granted him special abilities.
In time the student becomes the instructor and the process repeats itself.
These special abilities are then transferred to another student, then to another and so on.
Such is the way Martial Arts have been passed down for generations and the Patenaude family intend to keep it that way for future generations.
Sibok Martin knows a special seed was planted and harvested within him and the rest of his family members, as well as the many owners of the Fang Shen Do Schools.
We sometimes only see the fruits, the abundant harvest we collect from that one seed while forgetting what it took in the first place to prepare the soil for it.
What you see today with the Fang Shen Do Organization is the result of 2 special people, Linda & Sijo, tending a garden that didn’t even exist until they first created it in their minds and eventually, blossom into this network of people working together to achieve a common goal:
Reaching the highest levels of health, wealth and success through the practice Martial Arts.
(Simo) Linda Patenaude
Coming soon…
Sifu Christine Patenaude
Coming soon…
Sifu Sîlvain Patenaude
Coming soon…
Sifu Patrick Marcil:
Coming soon…
