Coach Megan Westerman:

Coach Megan Westerman has trained in Kung fu, Tai ji, and Sanda under Shifu Salazar since 2007, and currently serves as Kung fu and Sanda instructor for both adults and kids classes at Mt. Song. She  is also Mt Song's Demo Team leader as well as lead performer and has been performing with demo team since 2009.

Coach Megan began her training in traditional martial arts in 1995 at the age of 9, in the study of traditional Shorin-ryu karate. She earned her 1st degree black belt in from the Okinawan Shorin-ryu Karate-do school in Orlando in 2004. She began training as an assistant Karate instructor at the age of 13, and later worked as assistant Karate instructor from 2001-2005 before moving to Tampa.

After graduating from USF with a degree in Biomedical sciences in 2009, Coach Megan moved to China where she lived, worked and studied Mandarin Chinese. Before moving back to the US in 2011, she spent one month of intensive training at Grandmaster Shi De Yang's school in Deng Feng, China (Shaolin Wu Senf Hou Bei Dui). At the end of her training, she was personally honored with the title of “Jiao Lian” (Coach) by Grandmaster De Yang.

Coach Megan is a multiple-time Gold-medalist in the ICMAC kung fu circuit, and ICMAC Grand Champion in women's traditional Northern kung fu forms and weapons in 2011, 2012, and 2019.

In both 2019, 2021, and 2023, she was a finalist and bronze medalist in the NTD TV station sponsored International Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Tournament. In 2019, she qualified for the USA Traditional Kung fu Team for the 9th World Kung fu Championships, and in 2023, competed in Emei Shan, China, representing the US team for the women's group D (18-39yo) Shaolin category (tournament rescheduled from 2021 due to COVID pandemic).

Coach Megan is also group leader and coordinator of Mt Song's annual Cultural Exchange Trip to China, in which students tour famous sites and train in kung fu and/or tai chi.

Coach Megan has over 50 gold medals, and has competed in over two dozen tournaments. These are simply outward evidence of her hard work and dedication to the martial arts. She uses this experience to encourage her students to believe in themselves, and to work hard for achieving personal goals with a positive mindset.

 “My goal as a coach is to help students challenge them selves and constantly improve in their physical abilities and mental character.”
-Coach Megan