Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting Thomas Gohring teaches his Kung Fu and Tai Chi students that energy. like fire, seeks something to burn. Gohring's students harness their energy by kicking, sparring and meditating. Gohring, a sixth-degree black sash master of Kung Fu, burns off his energy in other ways. The 37-year-old fireball is always seeking his next challenge--whether it is opening his own Kung Fu and Tai Chi school or building his own coffee shop (Kick Butt Coffee) from scratch. The native Austinite first began Kung Fu when he was 14, and eventually took over mentoring new students in his teachers' classes. He began teaching Kung Fu professionally in his backyard, and opened his own school on Airport Boulevard in 1996. "Watching Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies (as a kid) I thought. 'I want to do that,' " Gohring says, "But after a year or so training, there was some talent noticed in me. Not necessarily for my capabilities in martial arts, but for my capabilities in communicating. I've now learned to call it tuning in to what's going on with someone." It's that intuitiveness and passion that has set Gohring and his school apart. "He's identified that people learn in different ways," says Mary Grabhorn, an Assistant Instructor at Master Gohring's school. "He has a talent for very politely and concisely making a student feel comfortable." Gohring says that people seek out Kung Fu and Tai Chi for various reasons. Some enjoy the physical fitness and meditative outlet it provides. Others are admittedly in it for the thrill of learning how to wield nunchucks. But no matter their motives, Master Gohring's school (which includes four instructors) helps them all, with a special focus on beginners and people with learning difficulties or physical handicaps. Some 200 students, ranging in age from four to 79 years old, choose from 30-plus classes each week. Master Gohring's also has become popular for entire families who learn Kung Fu and Tai Chi together. "It's not what you get to do. It's what you get to become." Grabhorn says about the process of learning Tai Chi and Kung Fu. "It really adds to people's lives."