About

Sijo Jacques Patenaude is the main founding member of Fang Shen Do (“Way of Survival”), the largest chain of kung-fu schools in Canada along side his wife Linda and their 4 children, Stéphane, Martin, Christine and Sîlvain.

He doesn’t view FSD strictly as a fighting art, it’s a philosophy you apply to every area of your life.

Finding what works has always been a passion of his whether in martial arts, personal development or in business and he believes martial art training is the best tool to over come any one of life’s challenges.

Since 1975, Patenaude has been mixing the best arts as well as his family’s private fighting system which spans several decades. A tendency that’s showing no signs of stopping, FSD is relentlessly evolving, constantly improving and looking for better ways to serve their students.

A contrarian by nature and a refusal to be put in a box has brought a lot of attention to Patenaude. Much intrigue surrounds him when it comes to how he and his wife managed to build such a large, successful organization, considering their very humble beginnings.

The odds have always been stacked up against him with first, coming from a small town in the middle of nowhere called Embrun with nothing to do but milk cows, grow crops, play hockey, and fight with the local neighbors. There wasn’t a martial art school to train at for miles.

Patenaude had but a brief high school education and didn’t speak English until he was 20 years old. He was told by his teachers he would never amount to anything and they recommended he join the Army when he was old enough or take up Boxing to control his temperament and give him some sort of outlet because since the age of 9, he was in constant trouble in the school yard.

Patenaude shows his students how he did it with a workshop called “Focus on Results” which is based on acting in spite of fear and to quote Bruce Lee:

“To use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it”

His biggest influence to date is Bruce Lee like so many great martial artists in the industry today. Patenaude also shares Lee’s philosophy on:

“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system”.

Among other things Patenaude holds annual training camps at his Japanese Style Compound set on 16 acres, he’s an avid firewalker, a practitioner with the Robbins Research Institute, he’s authored 4 books on the subjects of martial arts, power, and life direction.

Patenaude’s zest for life and adventure inspires his team of Sifus, students, and his clients to stretch out of their comfort zones and be bold enough to reach out for what they really want even though everyone around them might tell them otherwise.

Having built their school from scratch as a family, when the time came to expand in 25 Canadian cities, one thing had to stay identical to the original school he and his wife started in a church basement over 30 years ago:

The family atmosphere.

Each student is treated with the utmost respect. Is given personalized attention.

Each instructor within each school is trained to bring out the best in you, to push you out of your comfort zone and give you all the tools you require to succeed in all your endeavors.

We hope you will join us in the “Way of Survival.”

Visit Our Website: www.fangshendo.com