Meet the UMF Instructors
Sifu Pablo Cardenas
Pablo has been serving the community of Townsville since 2005, offering Wing Chun Kung Fu training with a lineage back to Grand Master William Cheung, lifelong friend and mentor to Wing Chun legend, Bruce Lee.
Sifu Pablo was present in the Henan Province of China November 9th 2013 when the Art of Wing Chun Kung Fu was returned to its birthplace within the Shaolin Temple. Grand Master William Cheung met with the Abbot Shi Yongxin to officiate the prestigious return of Wing Chun with the celebratory unveiling of a black marble plaque placed within the temple courtyard.
Pablo is the owner and principal instructor of UMF Academy, formerly NQ Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy. Pablo has trained in martial arts since he was 14. He began his training in Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu under Grandmaster William Cheung.
Pablo served 21 years in the Army:
- Selected for EX LONGLOOK an exchange program with the UK Ministry of Defence.
- Deployed on International Force East Timor (INTERFET), with a mission to restore peace and security to East Timor.
Pablo has trained with numerous military units around the world:
- US Army,
- US Marine Corps,
- UK Royal Marines,
- UK RAMC 16 Armoured Field Ambulance,
- UK Territorial Army,
- Gurkhas to name a few.
Pablo remains active in the Australian Army as a reservist.
As a professional martial arts instructor, Pablo has obtained many qualifications to provide a richer student experience. These are not limited to technical and training courses, and include community service.
Pablo’s qualifications include:
- Instructor Level 10 (examination by Grandmaster William Cheung)
- Martial Arts Australia Certified Instructor
- Registered Martial Arts Professional
- Diploma in Sports Coaching: Martial Arts
- Level 1 Boxing Coach Queensland
- Street Edge Krav Maga Instructor
Emilio Cardenas
Emilio Cardenas, Pablo’s son, has grown up living and breathing martial arts at UMF Academy. He has dedicated himself to his art, spending many hours per week training and assisting his father with his teaching.
Emilio has a natural gift in being able to relate well to his students and bring out the best in those he works with. His students trust and respect him and his easy-going natural flow and depth of knowledge allows him to instruct in both a friendly and effective manner which is great for children and adults alike.
Emilio’s qualifications include:
- Level 7 Wing Chun Kung Fu
- Level 1 Fundamentals of Kettlebell Training
- Level 2 Advanced Concepts in Kettlebell Training
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt
- Community coaching – General Principal AIS
- Certiï¬cate III in Sports and Recreation
- Level 1 Boxing Coach Queensland
- AMACS’ Martial Arts Certified Instructor
- Muay Thai Kickboxing Coach
Emilio has trained with numerous remarkably qualiï¬ed instructors such as:
- Fari Salievski – Hapkido
- Combatives & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
- 2017 No 1 Rated coach Asia, Took Martin Nguyen to history making 2 division World Champion, Took Theo Christakos to 3 time Australian Champion, Brian Ebersole MMA champion & former UFC ï¬ghter
- Colin Crosby – has trained ï¬ghters at State and National and international level
- Paul Johnston – Street Edge Krav Maga. During 23 years of military and law enforcement he has had assignments in Counter Terrorism Intelligence, Protective Security Intelligence for the Australian Prime Minister, Federal & International Investigations and High Risk Warrants
- Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen – First ever two division title holder in Featherweight and Lightweight Division training under Fari Salievski
- Brian Pearson – Over 90 Professional ï¬ghts
- Grand Master Toddy (Over 50 years teaching experience and has trained over 40 world champions over 5 decades)
- Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez: 63 Wins, 57 KO’s 0 Losses
- Hock Hochheim – Hock’s Close Quarter Concepts. Former Military, Police Investigator, detective and Private Investigator over 3 Decades.
- Dave Kovar – Instructor of instructors
- Paul Cale – Kinetic Fighting, Australian Army for 30 years
- Peter Sciarra – Integrated Combat Systems
- Kim Gray
- Jean Jacques Machado
- Eddie Bravo
- GM Wilson Pereira Mattos 9th (red belt)
- Matthew Tesla
- Oriol Gaset
- Pedro Sauer
- Bernardo “Trekko” Magalhaes
- Rener Gracie
- Minol Tutida
- Rigan Machado
- John Will
- Brett Johnston – Muay Thai Kickboxing WORLD Champion
- John Danaher
Master Fari Salievski
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Combatives & Muay Thai Kickboxing Mentor
Master Fari is UMF’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Combatives and Muay Thai Kickboxing mentor.
Master Fari is the No. 1 rated coach in Asia 2017. Fari’s internationally acclaimed Top Team is made up of World Champions. Our amazing network includes:
- Dual Weight Division World Champion, Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen
- 3-time Australian Champion, Theo Christakos
- American wrestler, multiple UFC fighter and MMA Champion, Brian Junior Ebersole
Paul Johnstone
Paul is the designer of the Street Edge Krav Maga training. He is the official Australian representative and only instructor to personally train and be qualified under Nir Maman. Paul has unrivaled experience, making Street Edge Krav Maga Australia’s #1 Defensive Tactics program
He has dedicated the past 30 years to the martial arts and defensive tactics. He has trained with several distinguished martial arts masters and defensive tactics subject matter experts.
Paul has qualifications in:
- law enforcement firearms
- defensive tactics instructor,
- investigations and security contingency preparedness at both the state and federal levels.
- Master Firearms Instructor,
Paul is a former Firearm, Defensive Tactics and Officer Survival Instructor (Operational Safety Trainer) for the Australian Federal Police, New South Wales Police Service and he is a certified Officer in Charge/Range Safety Officer for the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan.
He has also received black belts in Karate and has accreditation as an instructor in:
- Israeli Special Forces Krav Maga
- Kapap (Israeli Combatives)
- SFC Combatives
- Edged Weapons
- and is the founder and chief instructor of Street Edge Defensive Tactics.
Street Edge Krav Maga is profoundly well designed and developed in the needs for real world self-defence and draws on the success of its founder for depth of understanding and effectiveness. It is number one for that reason.
Come and train in the number one self-defence program at UMF Academy.
Ultimately, at UMF Academy, it’s all about YOU! Rest assured, we are dedicated to YOUR SUCCESS by sharing our success formula with YOU and YOUR FAMILY.
United Martial Arts and Fitness, UMF Academy, was established in 2005 by Pablo Cardenas. UMF Academy hosts martial arts and combat experts from across the globe, and regularly offers special events for students and the general community of Townsville. Our expert instructors have decades of knowledge develop your skills.
You can trial one of our many classes, book yours today
The best way to see if any of our classes are for you, is to experience it first-hand. See our Academy, meet our instructors and emerge yourself in the UMF culture.
To register for your trial class simply check the class schedule, then click the link below to fill in the registration form.