Michael is head instructor for the Blanchardstown School. He started Wing Tsun in 1993 while living in England and upon his return to Ireland that year continued his training in the Dublin City Centre School under Sifu Aidan Canavan. In 1995 Michael entered a competition under full contact Sanshou rules. While he won his fight decisively, the experience highlighted for him the difference between a sporting competition and real life self-defence and the latter has been his area of interest ever since. In 1997 Michael travelled to Hong Kong and trained for just under three months in the headquarters of the "International Wing Tsun Association" (IWTA). He returned to Ireland and received his Primary (Instructor) Level certificate later that year and from there acted as an assistant instructor in the Dublin City Centre School. He received his 2nd Technical Grade (TG) in 1999 and in 2002 became a direct student of Dai-Sifu Rainer Tausend, the national instructor for Ireland.
In 2004 Michael opened the Blanchardstown school which has grown significantly producing a number of instructors some of whom have gone on to open up their own schools in Belfast, Maynooth, Sligo and Wexford. Michael provides seminars and gradings for these schools on a regular basis as well as teaching both students and instructors in the Blanchardstown school on a weekly basis. Two of his students, Chris Donnelly and Declan Brennan were recently awarded their 1st Technician Grades in Wing Tsun having trained hard for the last seven years.
In December 2006 Michael received his 3rd TG from Si-Gung Keith Kernspecht, the head instructor of the "European Wing Tsun Organisation" (EWTO). Michael is now working on the syllabus for his 4th TG which involves further training on the wooden dummy, the relevant applications and chi-sau sections. Michael who has been training in Wing Tsun for nearly 20 years sees himself just as much a student as a teacher and remains committed to his own personal training under Dai-Sifu Rainer Tausend.
