Instructors
Who teaches you
Dragon Martial Arts has never been a one-man school. Sifu Gilbert Leal founded it and still leads it; a large part of the class instruction is now carried by his senior student, and a bench of assistant instructors and technicians teach alongside them.
Michael Contreras
Senior InstructorOne of Sifu Leal’s senior black-belt students, Michael Contreras now leads a large part of the class instruction at Dragon Martial Arts.
Founder & Chief Instructor
Sifu Gilbert Leal
5th Level Master Instructor in Wing Tsun Kung Fu. He opened the school in 1983 and has taught in San Antonio continuously ever since.
Sifu — Chinese for teacher — Gilbert Leal began training in 1970 in Tae Kwon Do, and went on to study Wing Tsun, Shaolin Kung Fu, Wushu, Tai Chi Chuan, Pentjak Silat, Filipino Kali/Escrima, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
In 1982 he met Wing Tsun Grandmaster Leung Ting — the last student of the legendary Grandmaster Ip Man — and became one of his first American students. He was the sixth American to be granted the rank of Primary Level Technician, received the title of Sifu in 1985, and served as the Texas representative of the American branch of the International Wing Tsun Martial Art Association from 1984 to 1990.
He considers himself extremely fortunate to have been accepted as a student by five martial arts grandmasters. In June 2015 Grandmaster Carson Lau awarded him the rank of 5th Level Master Instructor in Wing Tsun Kung Fu. Since 2018 he has taught as an independent instructor.
The full lineage, year by year
On the floor
Taught, not sold
What students write about most often is not the grading or the equipment, it is the teaching. “You not only learn how to do something, but why you do it that way. You get history and you get stories as well.”
Another put it this way: “My son is doing great and learning how to properly defend himself, not win a tournament.”
Read the reviewsThe bench
Assistant instructors & technicians
Wing Tsun grades its students as Technicians. These are the school’s senior students — the people who will be correcting your stance while the Sifu takes the class.
Call (210) 658-7639 to ask who is teaching the hour you are coming to.
