Kung Fu Kendra on QR 107 FM: Kung Fu Principles for Motivation, Winning, and Presence

Morning Radio, Big Principles

At 6:06 on a Monday morning, QR 107 FM brought Kung Fu Kendra — Kendra Mahon — on air to talk about her book, her martial arts philosophy, and the practical principles that help people take genuine control of their lives. Hosts Andy and Sue introduced her as a martial arts expert who believes the pen is mightier than the sword — a fitting description for someone who has distilled over 20 years of Wing Chun mastery into an accessible, actionable guide that anyone can use immediately. The segment covered the core principles from her book Push Your Way Through: How You Can Use the Ancient Principles of Kung Fu to Get What You Want, and the response from listeners was enthusiastic from the start.

Andy opened by asking what attracted Kendra to kung fu in the first place. Her answer was honest and resonant: "For me it was to find a better balance in my life — learning to have more control over myself and my outcomes." Control. Not domination of others. Not aggression. Control of yourself and your direction. That desire — and the discovery that Wing Chun was the tool that delivered it — is the origin of everything Kendra has built.

How the Book Came Together

Sue asked Kendra how she made the leap from martial artist to published author. Her answer was grounded and vivid. She was walking through a mall, noticing herself instinctively applying Wing Chun principles to everyday friction — the inefficient queue, the conversation that wasn't flowing, the moment where assertiveness would have served her better than patience. She pulled out her phone and started recording voice memos. "I just decided I'm going to start documenting situations and how I navigate them efficiently," she said. "And I thought: this is very powerful information I could share with the world." The book grew from those daily observations into a comprehensive framework for living with the efficiency, purposefulness, and presence that Wing Chun trains.

The result is a book that reads nothing like a traditional self-help manual. It is concrete, specific, and grounded in centuries-old martial arts wisdom that has been pressure-tested in real-world application. Every principle Kendra shares, she has lived — on the training floor and off it.

The Five Principles That Hit Home on Air

Andy and Sue walked through several of Kendra's motivational principles live during the segment, and each one landed clearly with the morning drive audience. On starting the day with intention: "Wake up and look at every day as an opportunity. Put the intention in to get what you want out of your day and do it." This is not motivational-poster language — it is the same mindset a Wing Chun practitioner brings to every training session. Show up with purpose, or the session is wasted.

On approaching goals: "Look at your goals as small challenges — not one giant 'I need to get from zero to level ten overnight.' It comes as a journey." In Wing Chun, nobody attempts the wooden dummy on day one. You build layer by layer, principle by principle, form by form. The same architecture applies to any significant life goal. Trying to see the whole mountain at once is how people freeze. Seeing the next step is how they climb.

Learning to Say No: Don't Get What You Don't Want

One of the most discussed principles from the QR 107 segment came from a chapter Kendra calls "Don't Get What You Don't Want." Andy asked about it specifically, and her explanation made immediate sense to the morning audience. "So often we're chasing what we want, but we need to identify what's important to us and what's not. Things such as learning to say no help us become leaders, not followers. You want to be assertive." In Wing Chun, energy conservation is sacred — you never waste a technique on a target that doesn't serve the goal. Every movement has purpose. The same principle applied to your schedule, your relationships, and your commitments is transformative.

Learning to say no is not selfishness. It is the discipline to protect your most valuable resource — time — and direct it toward what genuinely matters. Kendra teaches this not as a tactic but as a philosophy: assertiveness without aggression, direction without force.

Redefining Winning — and the Power of Presence

Andy asked about the motivational tip around "focusing on winning," specifically for people who don't consider themselves competitive. Kendra's answer reframed the concept entirely: "Winning is having the control to do what you want in your life — to do more things that you love and do less things that you don't want to do. It's being a leader and showing up and being present. To me, that's winning." No trophies required. No scoreboard needed. Just the daily practice of living intentionally, directing your energy, and showing up fully.

On presence itself — which Kendra calls one of the most powerful gifts a person can offer in any situation — she told Andy and Sue: "When you are listening to people, when you're engaged fully — you are completely in the magical moment. You'll have an energy of confidence, respectfulness, and honour." This quality — fully present, fully attentive, not half-elsewhere — is something Wing Chun training develops over time. It is also something you can begin practising right now. Push Your Way Through is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Everything else is at KungFuKendra.com.

Turn these principles into daily practice — explore Kung Fu Kendra's Wing Chun certification course — the world's first fully accredited online Wing Chun curriculum, available to students anywhere in the world.

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