How Wutian Martial Art Institute and Kidwise deliver services to help participants in their programmes grow and thrive
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For Jai Chan, growing up in Limerick, martial arts was an escape.
As the only Chinese person in her school, she was a target for bullies, but found empowerment by throwing herself into the discipline of Jiujitsu training as a teenager.
“My family came from Hong Kong and we moved to Ireland when I was eight months old,” said Jai, founder of Wutian Martial Art Institute, based at South Quay Plaza on the Isle Of Dogs.
“They were business owners running restaurants and takeaways – the usual stuff.
“I was always into martial arts because my dad’s side of the family were all policemen and they were all into self defence.
“I had a bit of a struggle, because they didn’t expect a girl to be interested in martial arts – my background was very traditional – but I really wanted to do it.
“I’d been doing a bit of Kung Fu at home and I didn’t start in a club until I was 13 – I took it seriously and paid for all my training myself.
“I even had to walk half an hour to get the bus.
“In martial arts, it doesn’t matter what culture you’re from, what your background is or whether you’re rich or poor.
“I found I had a talent for it – if someone showed me a move, I could repeat it immediately, so the instructors loved teaching me.
“It only took me two years to become an assistant instructor.”
the student becomes the teacher, then a founder
With instruction in Hong Kong mostly taking place on an informal basis in private apartments, Jai’s parents warned her against pursuing a career in martial arts, but by 15 she was already teaching children and adults.
A storied journey of training in multiple disciplines, competition and growth eventually led Jai to London with the aim of opening her own martial arts club.
However, her dream was initially deferred, as soon after arriving, she fell ill with Tuberculosis.
But Jai wasn’t ready to give up, taking on three jobs and launching her club, initially on a part-time basis.
Having successfully built her business over a decade, today Wutian is located on the Isle Of Dogs at South Quay Plaza.
“We offer kickboxing and Jujitsu sessions for children and adults and, when students reach higher levels, they also train with weapons,” said Jai.
“My instructor was the martial arts choreographer for the movie Ip Man and they have come over to help us with that sort of stuff too.
“We also offer a life skills programme to help children build confidence and develop their character.
“Parents love it because it deals with things like manners and cleanliness.”
creating Kidwise
However, this is not just a story about Wutian, there’s a second strand to the South Quay facility.
Having trained as a lawyer and developed a successful legal career, Jai’s business partner, Valerie Shao, had started to become more involved.
Feeling unfulfilled by the law, she decided to make a change, quitting without a concrete plan.
Then, inspired by the after-school clubs she attended growing up in Hong Kong, an idea came together.
“I always enjoyed them, perhaps more than school – learning music and art skills, for example,” said Valerie.
Together she and Jai created Kidwise in 2023, which offers holiday camps and an after school programme from the South Quay Plaza base, intended as a supplement to children’s time in the classroom.
Working with business mentors in the US, the duo spent time developing their offering.
“We’ve created something complementary to the school curriculum,” said Valerie.
“Formal education is a framework where one size fits all, but we go beyond that.
“Our programmes for kids aged five-12 are not just about having fun, they’re also about learning new things.
“For example, we have a partnership with waterside market Canary Garden where the children can try running a stall to learn about business, understanding marketing and creating things they want to sell to parents and friends.
“There’s also the chance to specialise in sports including martial arts, dance, gymnastics, dodgeball, rounders, football and more and we employ specialist coaches to run those sessions – it’s essential they are high quality.
“Our approach is the same with other activities. I was a bit shocked to hear that arts and crafts at some camps were not well supported.”
“We are constantly surprised by how creative the kids are,” added Jai.
“One of the tasks is we give them lots of materials, put them into groups and challenge them to make boats that can hold marbles while afloat.
“In one session, the oldest team put everything together and it held about 20 marbles.
“The middle group only used tinfoil and elastic bands and their craft held 60.
“But the youngest kid built a boat just from folded baking paper only and it held 90.
“Not only was it a great design, but she was also able to convince her team that it would work and they should try it.”
equipping individuals with skills
And that’s really at the core of everything Wutian and Kidwise do.
The aim is to equip those attending sessions with skills they’ll be able to use throughout their lives.
But there’s fun to be had too, as well as lessons in how to conduct themselves.
“At Kidwise, children can earn free time to play board games, classic Gameboys or Nintendo through exemplary behaviour,” said Jai. “We call it cave time and we have a room filled with activities.
“If there’s poor behaviour, we always start with warnings – we never want there to be bullying in our sessions.
“Some children don’t know they are doing it and we help them understand the effects their behaviour can have on others.
“As someone who was bullied, I want to make sure all the children in our care are safe at both Kidwise and Wutian. That’s our first priority.”
key details: Wutian and Kidwise
Wutian Martial Art Institute and Kidwise are based at South Quay Plaza on the Isle Of Dogs and offer a wide variety of services including date night childcare and birthday parties.
Readers can find full details of classes and activities can be found for martial arts here and childcare here
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