Biography

Jonathan has been obsessed with the martial arts since childhood, and has been involved in all types of martial arts, be they performance, combat sport, or self defense oriented. Dedicated to a martial artist's lifestyle, he is involved in continued martial arts education, action filmmaking, and holistic healing in the form of acupuncture. Started training Wing Chun in 2002, and between then and 2006 took up Chen Style Taijiquan and Cheung Kwan Do Tae Kwon Do. Jonathan ended up spending the majority of his training doing Taijiquan, winning numerous local and international forms competitions, slowly building up an appreciation for performance and athleticism, and moving away from self defense oriented martial arts. It was around this time that he started to train in the modern sport movement of Tricking, and strength training to complement the high intensity of acrobatic tricks. During his days at the Image Arts Film program at Ryerson University, Jonathan developed a thirst for combat sports, influenced by the swelling UFC trend at the time, and started taking classes for BJJ and Muay Thai, dabbling with other MMA related arts including Judo, Wrestling, and Boxing while continuing to be obsessed with acrobatics, and mostly lifting weights to work around injuries. Jonathan had no urge to compete in the amateur circuits, choosing to prioritize strength and performance at the time while focusing on his studies. After graduating, Jonathan found himself disillusioned with combat sports and took a few years off of formal training to focus on building strength, tricking, and finding work. In this time, he discovered rhythm and timing through shadowboxing, and dabbled in Capoeira and Olympic Lifting. Through a series of serendipitous events, Jonathan was inspired to find a JKD school, and ended up at the Fighting Arts Collective of Toronto, where he had previously attended a few Throwdowns, bimonthly sparring events inspired by the Bullshido Forums. At this time he also began his education at the Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, coaching gymnastics at Gyros Gymnastics briefly. Some general goals on the horizon now include leveling up his overall fighting ability, creating fight choreography as an assistant instructor of the FDC community, leading Chen Style Taijiquan classes at a number of locations, and practicing Qigong and Tuina, traditional Chinese breathing exercises and massage techniques.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jonathan Pang