Master Wally Bagot

Living on an Air Force Base in Japan, Wally Bagot began his extensive martial arts training with Judo classes at the tender age of seven.  A self-described “scrawny kid,” he resumed Judo lessons after returning to the U.S.  In college, a friend introduced him to Tae Kwon Do and he began his instructions in that along with classes in Transcendental Meditation.

Bagot went on to train in Tai Chi, Iaido (in which he received a 3rd degree black belt) and classical Kung Fu before discovering Kung Fu San Soo.  He entered into the study of San Soo early in 1984.  Bagot was made a master in 1997 by First Generation Master, Sifu Larry E. Wikel, one of Jimmy H. Woo’s original core of students.

States Bagot, “San Soo has everything I wanted: great form, fighting moves, it’s practical and it’s highly individual in choice of movement while building on a tried and true foundation of basics.  From this art’s vocabulary of physical movements you create your own ‘sentences’ or series of movements which work well for you and feel comfortable.”  Bagot believes that San Soo provides a system of self-defense completely applicable for everyday life, no matter the situation.  Having been assaulted himself, he is completely serious about the importance of learning self-protection.

“The power of San Soo has given me a template upon which to live my life. The real power of San Soo is that its effectiveness is built not only on developing great skill in physical movement, but that it attends to the development of the whole individual; complete integration of mind and body, balancing of temperament needed to develop effective self-discipline and an unwavering respect for life and one’s fellow human beings. In short, San Soo is a technique for not only self-defense, but for self-actualization as well. I believe that makes this art one of the most powerful ones in existence today.”

Master Wally Bagot has been teaching in classroom situations and privately since 1988.