Maurice Novoa
| Maurice Novoa | |
|---|---|
 Novoa in August 2016 | |
| Born | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Other names | Mauricio Novoa Ruiz |
| Residence | Melbourne, Australia |
| Ethnicity | Hispanic |
| Style | Wing Chun Arnett Sport Kung Fu |
| Teacher(s) | Anthony Arnett Felix Leong Terry Lim(Arnis) |
| Rank | Shifu |
| Occupation | Martial artist Actor |
| Notable relatives | Carmen Novoa |
| Notable students | Lucia Hou|Xiao Shīmèi-Lucia Hou |
| Notable club(s) | Melbourne Sport & Street Wing Chun Kung Fu |
| Website | Sifu.Maurice.net.au |
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Maurice Novoa Ruiz (born 22 March 1974) is an Australian-Uruguayan martial arts instructor and founder of the Melbourne Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy. With over 32 years of experience in martial arts and 12 years as an instructor, he holds a Level 10 Gold Sash in Wing Chun Kung Fu, the highest rank in the International Wing Chun Academy system. Novoa has trained under renowned martial arts figures, including Grandmaster Anthony Arnett and Grandmaster Felix Leong. He is known for his dedication to the philosophy and practice of Wing Chun and has gained recognition for his students' consistent success in martial arts tournaments. In addition to his career in martial arts, Novoa is an advocate for community welfare and has contributed to various charitable causes.
Early life
Novoa emigrated to Australia in 1978 with his parents and older brother from Uruguay, where he was born. Novoa's first years in primary school were in a private school, there were many immigrant children there, but when he was transferred to a public school Novoa was the only immigrant at his grade level, this caused him to be marginalized and on the first day of school he received a black eye in a fight. Things got worse when Novoa began public high school, as there were no other Latinos and ethnic groups were divided into the respective gangs, so he was marginalized again. This was the reason for studying martial arts.[1]
When Novoa was in year 11 in high school, his problems were severe and his parents were advised by doctors that he should quit school for the sake of his health. So he decided to search the yellow pages directory to find a Martial Arts club that offered the most lessons per day and it turned out to be Wing Chun Kung Fu.[1]
Work history
By 2002, Novoa had worked at more than ten different corporate companies, the last of which was Sensis in Yellow Pages as an account manager. Novoa decided that he no longer wanted to work for companies and chose to pursue a career in Wing Chun Kung Fu.[1]
Martial arts career
In 2011, Novoa opened his own Wing Chun Martial Arts club in Melbourne without the help of any Wing Chun masters in his state of Victoria. Fortunately, in 2013, the Wing Chun Grandmaster Anthony Arnett came to Melbourne to teach for three months and trained Novoa during the time he was there and graded him to level 7, then invited him to train and test in United States so Novoa traveled to Jacksonville in early 2013 and there he competed in two major martial arts tournaments, he won first and third-place trophies. He was awarded the last rank of Level 10 as Wing Chun Master and Honorary Black Belt in Arnett Sport Kung Fu by Arnett.[1]In 2014, Novoa participated in a state-level full contact martial arts tournament and, although head contact was not allowed, he achieved second place in the black belt division and his students also placed in various divisions. Then in 2015, after meeting Grandmaster Terry Lim at a competition, he began participating in the Loong Fu Pai tournaments organized for the last 30 years by Terry Lim. Novoa's students placed in many divisions at Lim's tournaments.[1]
Novoa was the first in Australia to create a grading structure which meant that students would have to compete in tournaments to earn a grade by sparring and executing the form in front of the judges.[2][3]
In 2015, Lim held a seminar for Kali Stick fighting (Arnis) at CrossFit Riseup owned by Ben Poon, this CrossFit center was where Novoa trained and hosted the seminar for him, then In March 2016, Novoa hosted another Kali Stick seminar for Lim at Essential Defense Academy.[4] In October 2016, Lim's Loong Fu Pai Martial Arts Academy celebrated its 35th anniversary with a wide range of demonstrations and its Tai Man Jo ceremony to honor the disciples of highest rank. Novoa was among the VIP guests.[5]
Novoa was a special guest for Leong's Rebirth ceremony after the fire at his academy in 2015, Novoa had donated two traditional wing chun wooden dummies to Leong after learning of the devastating fire, although he was not Leong's student at that time.[6]
Martial Arts Philosophy
Maurice’s approach to martial arts transcends physical combat. He emphasizes the importance of discipline, respect, and perseverance in shaping character. His philosophy revolves around continuous learning, humility, and self-improvement. Maurice believes that martial arts is not just a physical pursuit but a lifelong journey of personal growth. He instills these values in his students, encouraging them to strive for excellence both on and off the mat.
Major Achievements and Awards
- Founder and Head Instructor of Melbourne Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy
- Level 10 Gold Sash in Wing Chun Kung Fu, the highest rank in the International Wing Chun Academy system
- 1st and 3rd place in U.S. martial arts tournaments
- Number 1 Account Manager in Australia at Sensis
- Sensis Yellow Pages Fast Forward Award winner
- Inducted into the Commander Australia Hall of Fame for sales achievements
- Led the "Fighting Tigers" to consistent top placements in Loong Fu Pai’s MATA tournaments for nearly a decade
Philanthropy
Novoa worked with the Community of Uruguay, Sydney and Melbourne, called Uruguayan United, who raise money through a festival in Sydney once a year. He traveled to Uruguay and visited a primary school that in honor and gratitude Australia is called the Australia school, there he worked with the Uruguayan press and the school for future charities towards Uruguay.[7][8]
In 2001, Novoa traveled to the Hospital of the Military base in Mildura which had closed down in Victoria for the auction of the hospital items. On that occasion, Uruguayans United filled two large trucks with everything purchased to send to Uruguay. Novoa was the appointed Uruguayans United public relations and IT manager for Melbourne, Novoa and his father plus other volunteers from the group were in charge of loading the merchandise into trucks that were sent to Sydney, from there the containers of the goods were sent as charity to Uruguayan hospitals with the help of the Uruguayan Consulate in Australia.[9]
In 2015 a fire started in the basement of Grandmaster Leong's Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy at 12:13 p.m. September 2, where he had been operating his academy for more than 3 decades. The fire spread throughout the building, Leong was uninsured and lost AUD$100,000 in equipment, including 5 wooden dummies. Five months later, Novoa drove 800 kilometers to bring his donation of two special handmade wooden dummies (crucial for teaching Wing Chun) to Leong's Academy. A child-sized wooden dummy was one of 5 manufactured in the world exactly the same as the adult size. After spending some time with Leong, Novoa became his student.[10][11][12]
Filmography
In 2002, Novoa met Agnez Mo, a famous Indonesia celebrity when she was 16 years old, her film crew were in Melbourne preparing to shoot a special episode of Cewekku Jutek. Since Novoa was fluent in Indonesian, he was offered a supporting role playing the music producer for Agnez's character, Zie.[1]
| Television | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
| 2002 | Cewekku Jutek (Indonesia) |
Music producer for Zie[1] | TV series | ||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Diaz, Raquel (5 May 2016). "Uruguayo con grandes logros". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Raquel (28 July 2016). "Compartir en torneos para recibir su rango y cinturón". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Raquel (24 November 2016). "Broche de oro para culminar el 2016". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Raquel (9 June 2016). "Continua la jornada". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Raquel (9 February 2017). "Aniversario prestigiosa academia Loong Fu Pai en Melbourne". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Raquel (10 November 2016). "Ceremonia del renacimiento de las cenizas en Adelaida". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Toja, Enrique (1999). "Comunicado de Uruguayos Unidos de Melbourne Australia". Jubicerro noticias (Print edition in Uruguay). Jubicerro. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Del Rio, Marta (1999). "Otro Uruguayo de regresos". El Ecco (print edition in Uruguay). El Ecco.
- ↑ "Hostpital goods Uruguay bound". Sunraysia Daily (Print edition in Mildura). Sunraysia Daily. 3 March 2001. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Kelton, Sam (22 January 2016). "Martial heart as phoenix rises from the ashes". The Adelaide Advertiser (print edition in Adelaide). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Hamish, Blair (20 January 2016). "Club offers helping hand after fire". Leader Newspaper (print edition). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Raquel (26 May 2016). "Donación de Mauricio al maestro de Kung Fu en Adelaida". The Latin Australian Times (National print edition). LAT. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
External Links
- Official website
Media related to Maurice Novoa Ruiz at Wikimedia Commons
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