Antonio Cassiano da Silva is from Dona Inês, a municipality in Paraíba, he was born on May 21, 1970. He went to the city of São Paulo with his parents when he was four years old, during his childhood and adolescence he lived between the state of São Paulo and Paraíba. After becoming an adult, due to greater identification, he chose the city of São Paulo to live and develop his work.

He was always interested in fighting, as a child it was common for him to get involved in disputes with children of the same age to test his limits. Interest in kung fu came through the films of its time, just as most martial arts aficionados of the seventies and eighties were influenced by the success of Bruce Lee (and lookalikes who piggybacked on this success). Films generally showed the superiority of kung fu over other arts, and despite exaggerated representations, kung fu managed to stand out in popular culture, and in fact influence people to this day. Antonio had the opportunity to train in bodybuilding, enrolled and trained for just a month, but soon found a suitable school where he could explore the kung fu he so desired.

He started his training in São Paulo, in the Campo Limpo neighborhood. During his martial life he had important teachers who helped him in his training, including: Sifu Francisco Nobre, with whom he took classes for a short period, was one of the supporters of his desire to open an academy and seek professionalism in the area; Sifu Sérgio Queiróz, a professional for whom Sifu Antonio has a great appreciation both for his performance in martial technique and as a teacher teaching classes; Sifu João Batista Soares, the teacher with whom he spent the longest time developing Garra de Águia, worked on a very important part of Sifu Antonio’s training, from brown belt to first Duen; and finally master Li Wing Kay, with whom he spent many years training directly. Li invested a lot in Sifu Antonio’s martial technique, helping him immensely in his evolution and placing him in high-level competitions.

He had his first contact with master Lily Lau in the mid-nineties, where he took a Chi Kung course with her. He soon sought to find out more about the work carried out by the master. In 2009, he took another course with her in Rio de Janeiro, and seeking a refined specialization of the Eagle Claw system, he joined the Lily Lau Kung Fu International Federation, Eagle Claw in 2010 and began his graduation in the Lau Fat Mang lineage (the relationship degree can be found at the end of the text).

Competitions:

It is important to mention the importance of competitions in Sifu Antonio’s life. He started competing late, only when he was already at an advanced level, the taste for competitions cultivated since his childhood gained space to manifest itself in kung fu. The challenge of winning and being able to give better demonstrations were the necessary fuel. In his words, “Competition is a motivation to train with more determination and strength. The possibility of winning, losing or failing makes me train harder.” He has always competed in the advanced category, the main category of competitions, and even after the age of 36 (the age limit for performance in this category) even today, at the age of 46, he still collects titles in important competitions. Sifu Antonio attributes his health, skills and physical shape to competitions, “I fight with my body to do my best”, he explains.

When competing, you consider yourself aggressive, you go to win, you push as hard as you can. He is primarily known for his free hands and ease with the spear, however it was with Kuan Tao that he left his biggest mark in competitions.

Sifu Antonio currently continues his martial training with master Lily Lau, teaches classes, trains students of all levels and high-level competitive athletes. Below is a list of important championships where he won titles, professional training, among other achievements.