Kung-Fu for Christ isn’t a typical martial arts program. Walk through the doors, and instead of an atmosphere marked by silence, you’ll hear bustling conversations fill the rooms as kids neatly tuck away their shoes and rush down the halls barefoot to hug and greet their friends. Across all ages, students and leaders share their highlights from the week before class begins. 

This is just a usual night at Kung-Fu for Christ, a not-for-profit organization run by Dr. Morgan Braganza and her husband Alan Braganza offering a free Christ-centred martial arts program in Kitchener. This is a completely volunteer-run organization with 26 volunteers leading through martial arts instruction, administration and board governance. 

Braganza, an assistant professor of social work, has had a heart to serve and volunteer in her community since she was a child. With a lifelong commitment to community service, she was recently nominated for the Women of the Year Award in Kitchener Waterloo in the community service category: “For generously volunteering her time to programs and services that make our community a better place. This award honours women who makes volunteerism and community service a way of life, demonstrating compassion and dedication to their chosen cause(s). Often working behind the scenes, their contributions help to connect citizens and solve community problems.”

Martial arts is very intentional in trying to develop virtues like respect, discipline, self-control, perseverance, kindness and peace. You’re advancing the fruit of the spirit.

Braganza feels “blessed and honoured to be recognized,” especially since it was one of the families in Kung-Fu for Christ who nominated her, although she usually shies away from the spotlight.

The dream to start Kung-Fu for Christ began more than 13 years ago as Braganza describes a pivotal moment for her and her husband. They were sensing a call to start a ministry where they could offer the gifts that God had given them. They were both involved in martial arts and experienced the benefits of the sport, and Braganza, a social work researcher, loved to design programs. 

“Martial arts is very intentional in trying to develop virtues like respect, discipline, self-control, perseverance, kindness and peace. You’re advancing the fruit of the spirit,” she says. And so they wondered, “What if we could create a martial arts program that specifically has Christianity as the foundation, where we would incorporate faith into the program?” They did not want the usual cost of martial arts to be a barrier to students, and wanted to offer a program that was completely free and accessible to whoever wanted to participate. 

Kung-Fu for Christ took root in September 2013, welcoming its first students and has been growing ever since. They recently experienced a God-ordained move to a larger commercial building to accommodate the growing number of students, creating more openings for those who were on a waitlist.

So you hear their stories and sometimes their stories are really hard, and they’re willing to share those stories and that’s beautiful.

The program has a community development focus, where friendships and relationships are prioritized, and there is dedicated time and activities for people to connect before and after classes. 

“So you hear their stories and sometimes their stories are really hard,” Braganza says, “and they’re willing to share those stories and that’s beautiful. That’s what community work should be so that you can journey with people through life’s struggles, and also hear exciting things to celebrate the excitements of life.” 

The Christ-centred foundation is unique to this martial arts program, creating the space for participants and leaders to share life and faith together. At the end of each class, there is time for a devotional that connects Bible teachings to principles of what students learned in the kung-fu class. Students then explore how to apply these lessons to everyday life. 

The program is open to everyone of all ages and backgrounds. Whether Christian or not, all are welcome, and it is an introduction to the Gospel for many.

Throughout the week, there are kung-fu classes for children and adults, Bible studies, youth leadership training and ceremonies to award children with chevrons for their Bible readings and other achievements. Braganza describes the powerful open prayer time at the end of each kung-fu class where children and adults are invited to lift up their voices in prayers all at once.

Through Braganza’s lived experience and investment in her community, she brings this knowledge into her classes at Redeemer. She equips her social work students to recognize the value and importance of community work, research and evaluation.

In her social work research methods course, Braganza highlights that excellent program planning and rigorous evaluation are essential for accountability and effective service. Braganza has conducted research and evaluation on Kung-Fu for Christ and has seen it demonstrate improved participant outcomes in areas including mental health, self esteem, spiritual development, relationships, conflict management skills and critical thinking. 

By intentionally weaving together faith, sport and community development, Braganza says, “Kung-Fu for Christ offers a holistic approach to mental, physical, spiritual and social health.” And this summer, Braganza will be presenting on Kung-Fu for Christ at Canada’s top social work education conference.

In her social work community and diversity courses, Braganza exemplifies what it means to serve the community. Redeemer students learn about the active listening and specialized skills required to work with families, diverse groups and partner organizations. Her social work expertise proves instrumental through intentional conversations with families. Her deep understanding of mental health, trauma, addictions and crisis management has been invaluable to the program’s success. Braganza instills these skills, concepts and postures in her students through her exemplary volunteer service.

Go and be in the community through volunteering … Be ambassadors for Christ by going out and loving our neighbours, serving our neighbours.

She is honest with her students about the emotional weight and difficulty of the work. She explains that while much of social work is “downstream” helping people in crisis, she educates her students to see the vital importance of “upstream” prevention work through community development, often supporting individuals and communities before crisis occurs. 

Braganza says that the need in communities is massive and encourages her students to, “Go and be in the community through volunteering … Be ambassadors for Christ by going out and loving our neighbours, serving our neighbours. Go be the hands and feet of Jesus and meet people where they are. Biblically we are called to do this.”