Teachers
Katri Liikonen
“Harmony is found in balance, strength in relaxation.”
Katri has practiced wushu disciplines since 1996, with taijiquan and taijijian as her main disciplines. Katri is a student of Master Zhang Fang and has been teaching taiji since 1997.
Katri also has training and experience in teaching other disciplines (including Pilates), and she holds teaching pedagogical qualifications.
1998 European Wushu Championships, Athens: 1st place in taijiquan
Taina Pääkkönen
“You can always learn something new.”
Taina has practiced wushu disciplines since 2004, with taijiquan, taijijian, taijidao, and qigong as her main disciplines. She has participated in instructor courses organized by the Finnish Wushu Federation since 2009 and has been teaching since 2010. Taina is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
Taina has also completed the Chinese Wushu Federation’s taiji proficiency tests (2010, Beijing) with a grade of 4 duan. Additionally, she has completed the International Qigong Federation’s proficiency test with a grade of 3 duan (2014 and 2015, Kuortane).
2008 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Oulu: 1st place in team events (Wu sabre form, in the Helsinki Wushu team)
2010 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Jyväskylä: 2nd place in Yang 40 and Wu sabre forms. 1st place in team events (Yang style sword form, in the Helsinki Wushu team).
2013 European Qigong Festival, Mons, Belgium: 2nd prize group (Yi Jin Jing and Da Wu)
2014 European Qigong Festival, Mons, Belgium: 1st prize in Wu Qin Xi team competition (in the Finnish Wushu Federation’s Health Qigong team)
2015 6th World Health Qigong Tournament, Porto, Portugal: 3rd prize group (Yi Jin Jing and Wu Qin Xi). 1st prize in Wu Qin Xi team competition (in the Finnish Wushu Federation’s Health Qigong team, which was also the best European team).
Tommi Ryyppö
Tommi started practicing taiji in 2001 under the tutelage of Zhang Fang at the Cable Factory. His teachers have also included former taiji world champions and wushu 7th duan level achievers Li Fai and Hei Zhi Hong from Hong Kong.
Niila Hasko
“Taiji develops the body and nourishes the mind”
Niila has practiced wushu disciplines since 1995, with nanquan, nangun, and nandao as his main disciplines. Since 2020, he has shifted entirely to taiji, with chen taijiquan and chen taijijian as his main disciplines. Niila is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
2003 Hong Kong International Wushu Festival: Silver medal
2004 Dutch Open Wushu Championship, Rotterdam: Gold medal and Silver medal
2005 I Finnish Wushu Open Championships, Helsinki: Silver medal
2006 European Wushu Championship, Italy: Silver medal and Bronze medal Finnish National Wushu Championships, Helsinki: 2 Gold medals II Finnish Wushu Open Championships, Helsinki: 2 Gold medals
2007 The 5th Hong Kong Wushu International Festival: Gold medal and Silver medal Nordic Champion Championships, Oslo: 2 Gold medals The 2nd Hong Kong International Wushu Competition: 3 Gold medals
2008 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Oulu: 2 Gold medals VII International Wushu Championships, Helsinki: 2 Gold medals
2010 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Jyväskylä: 3 Gold medals Wushu International Competition, Madrid: Silver medal
2011 2nd Wushu International Competition, Madrid: 2 Silver medals
2013 Baltic Open Wushu Cup, Tallinn: Silver medal
Minna Vehma
”Be your own hero!”
Minna has practiced wushu disciplines since 2001, with taijiquan, taijijian, and qigong as her main disciplines. She has completed instructor training courses organized by the Wushu Federation and has covered substitute teaching mainly on the qigong side. Minna has been a student of Zhang Fang.
Minna has completed the Chinese Wushu Federation’s duan taiji proficiency test, as well as the International Qigong Federation’s proficiency test. Her background also includes sports industry education, authorized Personal Trainer certification, and Eslu coach training (VOK1).
Iines Talarmo
Iines has practiced wushu disciplines since 2015, with Changquan and Jianshu as her main disciplines. She has been teaching since 2017, primarily in children’s wushu kung fu classes. Iines is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
2019 Wushu International Competition, Madrid: Silver medal (Changquan)
2019 Nordic Open Wushu Championships: Silver medal (Changquan)
Tomi Laitinen
Tomi has practiced martial arts since 1999. He started at Wushu-Kung Fu as Zhang Fang’s student in 2010.
Over his years of practice, he has also had the opportunity to train in different parts of the world, for example in Hong Kong and Portugal.
Tomi has been teaching children’s and adults’ wushu classes since 2016. As his main discipline, Tomi practices traditional wushu kung fu styles, such as Tang Lang, Fanzi Quan, and Ying Zhao Quan.
Tomas Heiskanen
“Faster, lower!”
Tomas has practiced wushu disciplines since 2002, with Changquan, Daoshu, and Gunshu as his main disciplines. He has been teaching since 2008. Tomas is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
2008 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Oulu: Two silver medals (Changquan, Daoshu)
2010 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Jyväskylä: Silver medal (Daoshu) and bronze medal (Changquan)
2012 Hong Kong Wushu Festival: 2 silver medals (Changquan, Daoshu)
Substitute Teachers
Jaana Meriläinen
“Practise doesn’t make perfect – perfect practise makes perfect.”
Jaana has practiced wushu disciplines since 2000, with taijiquan, taijijian, and taijidao as her main disciplines. She has been teaching taiji since 2008. Jaana is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
2007 Nordic Champion Championships in Oslo: 2 gold and 1 bronze.
2008 Finnish National Wushu Championships: 2nd place in taijijian.
2009 Hong Kong Wushu Festival: 1st place in taijiquan and taijijian.
2010 Finnish National Wushu Championships: 1st place in taijiquan, taijijian, and sabre.
2019 Nordic Open Wushu Championships: Gold medal (Taijiquan) and Gold medal (Taijijian)
Jaakko Hutchings
“No pain, no gain.”
Jaakko has practiced wushu disciplines since 2006, with Changquan, Jianshu, and Gunshu as his main disciplines. He has been teaching since 2009, including in children’s wushu classes. Jaakko is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
Finnish Open Wushu Competition: Silver medal (Changquan)
2010 Finnish National Wushu Championships, Jyväskylä: Silver medal (Jianshu) and gold medal (Changquan)
2011 IV EST Open Wushu Championships: Silver medal (Jianshu)
2012 Hong Kong Wushu Festival: Bronze medal (Changquan) and gold medal (Jianshu)
2019 Nordic Open Wushu Championships: Bronze medal (Changquan) and Bronze medal (Jianshu)
Satria Sutisna
“To be good, you must become better.”
Satria has practiced wushu disciplines since 2008, with Nanquan, Nandao, and Nangun currently as his main disciplines. He has been teaching since 2011 in children’s wushu classes and later also the advanced wushu kung fu group. Satria is a student of Master Zhang Fang.
2010 Wushu International Competition, Madrid: Bronze medal (youth category, Nangun)
2011 IV EST Open Wushu Championships: Silver medal (youth category, Nangun)
2019 Nordic Open Wushu Championships: Bronze medal (Nanquan) and Bronze medal (Nangun)
Shifu Zhang Fang (1958–2025)
The founder of our club, master and head coach shifu Zhang Fang was an excellent teacher who recognized his students as individuals. He taught sports, especially wushu disciplines, since 1980. In Finland, shifu taught from 1990 onwards and he was our country’s only professional wushu teacher.
In addition to coaching our club, shifu served as the head coach and instructor trainer for the Finnish Wushu Federation. He taught wushu disciplines regularly throughout Finland in addition to Helsinki, and worked as a visiting teacher in several European countries.
Shifu Zhang Fang passed away suddenly in July 2025.
Master Zhang Fang specialized in teaching taijiquan, changquan, nanquan, and weapon disciplines. In addition, he was qualified to teach health qigong with health benefits.
Zhang Fang started training wushu at the age of 12 at the Dongchen and Shi Sha Hai Ti Xia sports schools in Beijing under the guidance of renowned wushu masters (including Wang Huai (王怀), Li Bing Ci (李秉慈), Wu Bin (吳彬), and Xie Zhi Kuei (谢志奎)).
From 1977 to 1982, shifu studied at the Beijing College of Physical Education, completing a bachelor’s degree in sports sciences.
In addition, shifu Zhang Fang received teaching qualifications in the Yang and Chen styles of taijiquan in 1989 from the respected masters of the Yang and Chen families, Yang Zhen Duo (杨振铎) and Chen Xiao Wang (陈小旺).
Highlights of Master Zhang Fang’s personal competition career include, for example, winning the Chinese youth wushu team championship in 1974, in the same team with the now famous movie star Jet Li.
In 1997, shifu Zhang was awarded the “Outstanding Judge Award” by the International Wushu Federation in Rome.
In 2010, the China National Wushu Association awarded Zhang 7 duan in a proficiency test held in Beijing.
In 2011, the Association of Overseas Chinese awarded Zhang an honorable mention for teaching and making wushu disciplines known outside of China.
As head coach of the Finnish Wushu Federation, Zhang actively developed Finnish wushu expertise. He has also made the disciplines known in Finland through television, radio, newspaper articles, and numerous demonstrations and events.
Shifu Zhang’s students have won numerous medals in several international competitions.