• May 14, 2024
  • Wichita Eagle
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  • by Taylor Edlridge

A longtime Wichita resident recently received one of the country’s most prestigious honors in martial arts.

Grace Wu-Monnat, who has taught martial arts in downtown Wichita since 1986, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on May 5 at the Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com competition in San Jose, Calif.

Wu-Monnat, an internationally renowned master, teacher and judge of professional Chinese Martial Arts competitions, has judged the Tiger Claw Elite competition for the past 18 years. She has critiqued kung fu, modern wushu and tai chi, as well as other styles and disciplines.

The award was presented by event organizers to recognize Wu-Monnat for her lifetime career as an international competitor and judge, as a master instructor in her own school and for her contribution to promoting the spirit and practice various styles of Chinese martial arts.

“Studying Chinese martial arts has brought physical health, mental strength, joy and better character to me,” Wu-Monnat said in a release. “Wherever I am, it is always my honor to share this treasure of Chinese culture with the world.”

Wu-Monnat is best known locally as the founder of the Grace Wu Kung Fu School, located at 122 N. St. Francis, where she has taught shaolin kung fu, tai chi and bagua to children and adults since 1986. She also works as the office manager for the law firm of Monnat & Spurrier, which her husband, Dan Monnat, co-founded in 1985.

She was born in Shanghai, China, and began training at the age of 3 with three of China’s most famous and influential martial artists: her grandfather, Gradmaster Wang Ziping, and her mother, Madame Wang Jurong, a national martial arts champion and first generation woman wushu grandmaster, and her father, Dr. Wu Cheng-de, a prominent wushu master.

Wu-Monnat earned a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Martial Arts from Shanghai Teachers University. After emigrating to the United States, she received a master’s in sports administration from Wichita State.

Full story at Kansas.com

  • May 13, 2024

WICHITA, Kansas — Wichita’s Grace Wu-Monnat – an internationally renowned Master, teacher and judge of professional Chinese Martial Arts competitions worldwide – was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on May 5, at the 2024 Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com competition in San Jose, Calif. Tiger Claw Elite is the largest, most prestigious Kung Fu and Tai Chi tournament on the West Coast and one of the most important competitive arenas in the U.S.

Wu-Monnat has judged the competition for the past 18 years, critiquing Kung Fu, Modern Wushu, Tai Chi and other styles and disciplines. The Life Achievement Award was presented by event organizers to recognize Wu-Monnat for her lifetime career as an international competitor and judge, as a Master instructor in her own school, and for her contribution to promoting the spirit and practice various styles of Chinese martial arts and wude (martial ethics).

Locally, Wu-Monnat is best known as founder of the Grace Wu Kung Fu School at 122 N. St. Francis, where, since 1986, she has taught all forms of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Bagua to children and adults. She also serves as Office Manager for the law firm of Monnat & Spurrier, Chartered, which her husband, nationally known criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat, co-founded in 1985. It was through the law firm that Grace and Dan began to share the philosophy of Chinese martial arts beyond the sports world, incorporating the concepts of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” into the firm’s successful courtroom defense strategy.

Taking the concept a step further, the two developed a continuing legal education program to share the strategies and practical legal principles with thousands of lawyers across the country in their seminar, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Kung Fu Strategies for Trial.” The event is standing-room-only each time it is featured at national and regional legal conferences offered by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and others.

“Studying Chinese martial arts has brought physical health, mental strength, joy and better character to me,” Wu-Monnat said. “Wherever I am, it is always my honor to share this treasure of Chinese culture with the world.”

Wu-Monnat, whose family lineage of martial arts prowess stems back generations and multiple Grandmasters, is the daughter of Madame Wang Jurong and Dr. Wu Chengde, two of the earliest pioneers who brought Chinese martial arts and Traditional Chinese Medicine to the United States. Wu-Monnat began training under her mother and her grandfather, Grandmaster Wang Ziping, at age 3. She received her bachelor’s degree in Chinese Martial Arts from Shanghai Teachers University. After emigrating to the United States, she earned a Masters’ Degree in Sports Administration from Wichita State University.

  • May 03, 2024
  • KAKE TV
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  • by Jocelyn Schifferdecker

VALLEY CENTER, Kan. — The Valley Center police department says it will be wrapping up its investigation into the Valley Center boys’ varsity baseball team in about a week.

Police Chief Lloyd Newman told KAKE News the investigators have basically gathered all they can and should be finalizing their findings soon. He says the department is working on getting a presentation scheduled with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, but it will be about a month before they’re able to meet and the office could possibly set charges.

Dan Monnat, a defense attorney at Monnat & Spurrier, says it might seem like there’s a delay in the process, but this is because the district and city attorney’s offices get hundreds of cases each year that they have to go through and not all cases have the same timeline.

“The case being investigated that poses the greatest danger to the public has to be investigated and charged first,” said Monnat.

Monnat explains there’s no rush for the DA to possibly make charges because there’s no threat to the public and the Valley Center Police Department said there’s no one in custody.

“If a person is imprisoned, then the investigation and charging has to be concluded that much more quickly because you may be incarcerating an innocent person,” said Monnat.

Newman and Monnat say for a case with no threat to the public this timeline isn’t bad or unusual. Especially since there’s a major backlog in the criminal justice system nationwide.

“It cannot be underestimated how backlogged and taxed our national and local criminal justice systems are because of the backlog from the pandemic,” said Monnat. He said low staffing is another reason there’s backlog.

The Valley Center Police Department said it will be wrapping up its investigation into this in about a week.

Last month it said it was investigating the Valley Center boys’ varsity baseball team after getting a report about animal cruelty. Police said a chicken was killed on the baseball field before the team left for an away game.

See the full story at KAKE.com

  • May 01, 2024
  • KSN TV
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  • by Craig Andres

WICHITA – It’s still illegal. Even if the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration moves forward with reclassifying marijuana to make it considered a less serious drug, some point out this will not immediately make weed legal on the state or even federal levels.

“Today’s reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III substance makes good sense. Right now, it’s lumped in with heroin and LSD as a substance with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use,” said KSN legal analyst Dan Monnat. “On the other hand, in the modern world, we know it has a lower potential for abuse than Schedule I or Schedule II substances, and it has accepted medical uses.”

Why Kansans can’t put marijuana on the ballot

Monnat points out this is only a reclassification by one part of the federal government, the DEA, and it’s not a done deal yet. He also says existing drug convictions will still stand.

“It’s important to remember what has been recommended today has been reclassification,” said Monnat. “However, even if reclassified, this is not going to throw open the doors of the penitentiary.”

Law enforcement says marijuana will still be illegal in Kansas.

“That’s still illegal here, so them changing it to a Class I or Schedule I doesn’t make it legal to use any time you want,” said Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter. “It’s still illegal here in the State of Kansas. So I really don’t see any changes to it. You know, most of the marijuana we get here is the high-grade marijuana coming out of Colorado or Oklahoma, which is the black market. It’s not like it’s being sold legally there, either. That’s the black market stuff that’s coming here in hundreds of pounds.”

Kansas won’t have legal medical pot or expand Medicaid for at least another year

Sheriff Easter says the concern with many law enforcement officers remains the strength of the marijuana being sold on the streets. He says many of the “vape pens” containing marijuana will have a THC content as high as 90%.

“The folks that want to see this stuff passed and the medical marijuana and those types of things, they don’t see the back side of what we see every day. Whether you legalize it or not, we are still going to have drug addicts, robberies, and shootings over it because you are still selling it illegally. And what we’ve seen in these other states is those crimes have gone up. In my opinion it comes down to marijuana is somewhat, I get the argument, is like alcohol especially the old kind of marijuana. Is alcohol addictive? Yes, it is. And so what you’re trying to introduce here is another addictive drug that could be detrimental to society,” said Sheriff Easter.

See the full story at KSN.com