Meet Thornton Williams

Learn from Moy Yat's Grand Special Student and our school's Sifu.

Man in white kimono and black belt training karate over dark background

Thornton Williams

Thornton Williams has practiced martial arts for over 40 years. He started his training in judo at the age of 17, in 1970. As a Judo practitioner, some of his accomplishments were:

  • First-degree black belt.
  • Regional Judo Champion for over 4 years in his weight class.
  • State Judo Champ for Florida for over 4 years, in his weight class.
  • First Sunshine State Judo Champion in Florida for the first year of the games, in his weight class. (This is the Florida version of the Olympics.)
  • Taught Judo at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University for over 5 years as an accredited course.
  • Taught Judo at the FSU Judo Club for over 7 years.
  • Participated in two national judo competitions (pre-Olympic competitions).
Two men posing indoors with decor.
Two people practicing judo in a dojo.

Early Training and Influences

Thornton's initial instructor was Brian Carruthers. Thornton learned the basic system of Wing Chun from him. Thornton also spent significant time with Sifu Caruthers’s instructor, Rex Aperauch, during this time. Sifu Aperauch is recognized for bringing Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu to Florida.

Immersive Study With Grandmaster Moy Yat

It was in 1989 that Thornton began to travel to New York and acquire an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the Wing Chun system. Over the next 10 years, Thornton visited New York frequently and trained in Grandmaster Moy Yat's school and stayed at Grandmaster Moy Yat's home. While there, he would spend all day and night with Grandmaster Moy Yat and his family, living the “Kung Fu life.

Wing Chun is a system of concepts. Thornton was one of the few students, in the early days, to learn the complete Wing Chun system.

A Comprehensive Background in Martial Arts

Thornton has many students and branch schools throughout the United States.

After approximately 16 years of training in judo, Thornton began to study Wing Chun Kung Fu in 1983 in Tallahassee, Florida, called Ving Tsun by Grandmaster Moy Yat. Wing Chun is best known by its most famous practitioner, Bruce Lee. Brue Lee was taught by Yip Man. One of Bruce Lee's Kung Fu brothers and Yip Man student was Grandmaster Moy Yat. It is documented that Grandmaster Moy Yat, after becoming a student, had a very close relationship with his Sifu, the venerable Grandmaster Yip Man, for over 14 years. Yip Man called this “Kung Fu lifeâ€. After Yip Man passed away in 1972, Grandmaster Moy Yat moved to New York in 1973 and started teaching Wing Chun in America, in New York City.