Al Bender Kung Fu Academy Celebrates 30 Years in Business

When you first enter , you’ll notice students – all decked out in their red school garb – of all different ages.

“We get a lot of people who’ve done other martial arts,” says Sifu (which means “FatherTeacher”) Bender, whose school celebrated its 30th anniversary on July 11. “Most of the students are adult professionals who want exercise and to learn self defense, but don’t want to go home with black eyes and missing teeth. This is self-defense, not sparring.”

The goal at Al Bender's Kung Fu Academy, the primary basis of what he and his staff teach, is control of yourself first, and then you can control another’s body in self-defense. “Control over oneself is the goal,” says Sifu Bender. The location teaches both Kung Fu, the forefather of all martial arts which dates back over 5,000 years, and Tai Chi, which in Sifu bender’s words is an “amazing martial art, the highest martial arts school.”

And Al Bender's Kung Fu Academy has excellent instructors pass along this knowledge and technique. Sifu Joel Elkins and Sifu Barry Sharpe have both earned a Black Sash (equivalent of a black belt in karate), which takes about 7-8 years to attain. Also on-site are Sicu (female instructor who has not yet earned a Black Sash) Susan McCallen and Sicu Janine Delaney, the latter who teaches the children's class, called Wu Shu Wonders. Tara Murphy, age 13, is a student who also helps out with the latter class.

Kung Fu is the hardest martial arts school to find in the Garden State. Bender’s school serves a niche in the area, according to Per Sifu Bender. “We bring a different way of training in martial arts. We train the mind and body, the whole philosophy that goes with Kung Fu.”

The experience is there. Sifu Al Bender has been training for more than 35 years, and it all started the day when he was a youngster when he went to James Caldwell School to sign up for a creative writing course. “I was waiting in line to register,” he recalls, “and I saw a sign on the board for Kung Fu.” An avid reader of martial arts magazines, but never having stepped into a class, he joined. “I was very small. I started school at 4, was the smallest in the class. I was not good at sports, and I had anger about being small. I wanted to learn martial arts, so I decided to take the eight-week course. While I was there, I turned to two guys in the class and said, ‘What do you say we open our own school one day.”

Sifu Al Bender, the prophet. “It clicked right away,” he says with a smile and, while the other two didn’t go into ownership with him, he continued his training. In 1976, he trained at a school in Clifton, and eventually became one of that school’s instructors. Then, in 1981, he took a $1,000 advance on his credit card, and opened his first school on Bloomfield Avenue in Verona. From there, he arrived permanently in Bloomfield, again on Bloomfield Avenue, from 1982 through 1985. He’s been at the current Liberty Street spot since 1986.

There are adult classes at Al Bender's Kung Fu Academy, but offered as well is a Wu Shu Wonders class for children ages 5 to 10. “It’s not about fighting,” continues Sifu Bender, “but coordination and control. At age 10, you the move up into the regular program.”

Tito Rodriguez and his family have lived in Bloomfield for eight years. His children, 10-year-old Melanie and 8-year-old Armando, are enrolled in the academy. “It’s in Bloomfield,” he responds when I ask why he chose Al Bender's Kung Fu Academy, “and I like to support a local business. It’s like an art itself, what it presents and teaches.” The family also took advantage of the $20-for-Two-Lessons the school offers. “It helps you gauge as parents whether they like it. When the two sessions were over, we asked, and they (Melanie and Armondo) wanted to do it again. Now it’s a year.”

Sifu Al Bender loves what he does: being a teacher. “To be a teacher is about what I can do for other people.” But he also loves being a family man. Married almost 28 years to his wife, Nancy, the couple has two children. 25-year-old Al Bender III is in his second year at Virginia’s George Mason School of Law, and 21-year-old April is a singer-songwriter attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. April recently released her first CD. “She is very disciplined in her art, and he (Al III) is doing amazingly well.”

Al Bender's Kung Fu Academy, 260-262 Liberty St., Bloomfield, (973) 743-7744, http://www.albenderskungfuacademy.com/