Sifu Keith got his start in martial arts at the age of 16 in Tang Soo Do karate. He obtained his First Degree black belt at age 19 and helped his instructor teach at YMCAs and Parks and Recreation departments in the Detroit, Michigan area. He served in the Michigan Air National Guard until he was honorably discharged in 1975. A few months later, he moved to Arizona. 

In Phoenix, Arizona in late 1975, he stumbled across a person who was learning Wing Chun from a Tucson instructor, The Tucson instructor and him were about to open a Wing Chun school in Phoenix. Keith stayed with and trained at the school until the instructor and this new acquaintance convinced him to open a Wing Chun school. The school lasted until 1979 when Keith sold it to a student and moved to Orange County California to start a new business. 

During this time, Keith had been contacting Master Leung Ting in Hong Kong with the ambitious idea for him to come to America to teach. He got a phone call one day to meet Master Leung Ting at the Los Angeles Hilton Hotel! 

Eventually Keith found himself back in Arizona where he took part in a Wing Tsun seminar he had arranged for Grandmaster Leung Ting. Leung Ting was beginning his national tour to teach his version of Yip Man’s art, he called “Wing Tsun.” 

This was the beginning of Keith’s life-long passion for Wing Tsun. 

In the late 1980s, the late GM Rene Latosa began to teach the American Wing Tsun instructors his style of Filipino Escrima, also known as the native stick and knife fighting of the Philippines. Sifu Keith gained an interesting perspective on yet another martial art, this time with the emphasis on weapons.

Keith Sonnenberg has taught in several major cities in his long career including Scottsdale, Tempe, Phoenix, Gilbert, and now Mesa. 

Today he is a 4th Level Technician, certified by Great Grandmaster Leung Ting’s International WingTsun Association and its North American Section.

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"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."

- Sun Tzu