About Us

Robert Bartkowski

Instructor Robert Bartkowski has been studying martial arts for over 17 years. Robert holds an Instructor’s certificate in Wing Chun (Ving Tsun) kung fu from the prestigious Ng Family Chinese Martial Arts Association headquartered in Chicago’s Chinatown.

NOTE: The lineage of Wing Chun taught at the Ng Family Martial Arts Association is worth mentioning, as it comes from a man named Wong Shun Leung. For those who may not be aware, Wong Shun Leung was the man directly responsible for instructing a young Bruce Lee in Hong Kong. In fact, Wong Shun Leung’s own experience as a street fighter (undefeated in some say hundreds of bare knuckle no-rules challenge matches in Hong Kong) as well as his direct, no-nonsense philosophy of personal protection (having survived several street encounters against both armed and unarmed attackers, and almost always outnumbered) inspired Lee in his evolution of his own personal style of martial arts which he termed jeet kune do, translated as way of the intercepting fist.

Robert also holds an Apprentice Instructor certificate in Intense Defense Systems Close-Quarter Combat under Sifu Joseph Goytia of Chicago, IL as well as a Phase III Instructor rank in the Proactive Personal Security system of Self-Defense from Empower Training Systems, in addition to a 1st degree black belt/instructor status in taekwondo through the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), one of the oldest and largest martial arts organization in the country.

Robert currently divides his time between training and teaching at Lee’s Academy of Martial Arts in Oak Forest, IL ( www.leekungfu.com  ) and conducting seminars to various community organizations, specializing in women’s self defense courses. Robert is a Charter Member of the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Coalition (TCMAC) of Chicago, and is an ACE-certified personal fitness trainer as well as a licensed clinical massage therapist. Since January 2007 Robert has held the position of Health & Fitness Center Director for the Oak Forest Park District.

Robert created the White Collar Warrior Self-Protection Skills System and corresponding Home Study Course in 2008 to help educate the general population as to effective, efficient and easily applied self-protection skills, ensuring that decent people everywhere never need to feel helpless again as well as hoping to educate people that one does not need to study martial arts for years and years in order to learn how to protect oneself and one’s friends and family.

If you have any questions, or would like information regarding training, seminars or workshops or simply to let Robert know what you thought of this course or website, Robert can be reached via the Contact Us section of this website.

Danny Lee

Danny Cichocki, a.k.a. Danny Lee, has taken over the everyday operations at Lee’s Academy of Martial Arts / Martial Arts Supply since 1998. For as long as he can remember, Dan has trained in martial arts privately with either his family or friends of family. Whether it was with his uncle Jong Yi (7th degree black belt taekwondo master and former Republic of Korea Marine) or his mother Mrs. Lee, Dan has always been involved in training through most of his life.

Going outside his family for training is something he has always been exposed to through contacts of the martial arts supply business, so from a very early age Dan had been fascinated by many different styles of martial arts and self defense. This experience ranged from Tai Chi and Wing Chun (Chinese) to Tae Kwon Do (Korean), to Pencak Silat (Indonesian) and Kali/Escrima (Filipino) as well as Jeet Kune Do. To this day he feels his martial arts experience is a positive influence to his everyday life and will continue to do so as long as his body allows.

Beyond his martial arts lifestyle, Dan was first and foremost an accomplished athlete at the Grammar School, Prep and Collegiate levels. Excelling in such sports as Football (16yrs.), Baseball (11yrs.), and Basketball (5yrs.), Dan was always seen as a leader from a very early age. While prepping at Mt. Carmel H.S. he was recognized as the Captain of his Football teams 3 out of 4 years and Baseball Captain 2 out of 3 years. Each year being recognized as either an all conference or honorable mention player, Dan was always known as one of the better players at his position. In his senior year at Mt. Carmel, Dan was named team Captain as well as Most Valuable Defensive Lineman and 1st Team All-Area.

While at Mt. Carmel, Dan played on the defensive line of the 1991 State Championship team. In fact, Mt. Carmel’s football team won State Championships 3 out of 4 years during Dan’s career. Playing and leading teams with future NFL players such as Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles), Simeon Rice (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and Matt Cushing (Pittsburgh Steelers). His style of play then carried over to his collegiate years at North Central College in Naperville where he was a 4 year letterman and 3 year Captain in 5 years of play. He has always attributed his talents on and off the field to his martial arts training and family upbringing.

Hard work, consistency and focus has always been a staple towards his views on lifestyle and it is his great honor to share this with the surrounding community. He currently resides in the south suburbs of Chicago in Oak Forest with his rottweiler Indigo.