ABOUT ME

My name is Viet Le. I was born in Torrance, CA and spent my most formative years in Southern California. I started training at the age of 7 in Northern Shaolin and Northern Praying Mantis under Shifu Clyde King III. He himself was an instructor under Shifu Duke Cheng of Buena Park, CA. Under my father’s direction, I studied Taekwondo and received a second degree black belt from Master Tom Vo at the age of 10 (1997). I then returned to studying with Shifu Duke Cheng and his system through high school and starting college at UCLA.

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At UCLA, I became interested in learning Taijiquan. At the time, Shifu Jason Tsou was teaching Yang Style Taijiquan as part of the Department of World Art and Culture. From that introduction, I began studying with Shifu Jason Tsou in the Wutan Association, mainly in the arts of Bajiquan, Baguazhang, Northern Praying Mantis, and Yang/ Chen style Taijiquan. I became Shifu Jason Tsou’s disciple in 2011.

While at UCLA, I also became interested in Vietnamese martial arts. I was the martial arts coordinator for the Vietnamese Student Union at UCLA, and wanted to incorporate Vietnamese martial arts into the group practice. Through a high school friend, Tony Le, I was able to find Master Nguyen Dang Khoa, who taught Vo Binh Dinh, a Vietnamese style from the central part of Vietnam. I also went on to study with Master Ha Kim Danh, a former South Vietnamese commando, and Master Nguyen Viet Bang in Han Bai Kung Fu.

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In 2009, I moved to Philadelphia to pursue a post-baccalaureate and then master’s degree in Medical Sciences at Drexel University. I studied Hung Gar with Sifu Landon Godsey, an instructor under the Yee’s Hung Ga Association. After getting into medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, I was fortunate enough to find my Tibetan White Crane teacher, Shifu David Cox.

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Other interests

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After graduating from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in 2015, I completed my Neurology residency at Garden City Hospital in Michigan (2019) and a fellowship in Behavioral/Cognitive Neurology at the University of Cincinnati (2020).

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Besides medicine and kung fu, I have also been learning to play the Erhu, a two-stringed fiddle. During the COVID pandemic, I first started learning the Vietnamese đàn cò with Thầy (the Vietnamese word for “teacher”) Châu Nguyễn. While working in Chicago from 2020-2022, I continued my music studies with Laoshi Kerry Leung.

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I currently reside with my wife in Kirkland, WA.