Interview with Sifu Lamar Burno
Interview with Sifu Lamar Burno
Interview with Sifu Lamar Burno
Keshia Richmond speaks with Sifu Lamar Bruno, owner of Elizabethtown, North Carolina based, The Shaolin Experience / Onpoint Executive Protection. They discuss his martial arts lineage and the start of his work as a stunt coordinator in film.
Keshia: Hi Sifu Bruno [Sifu Lamar Burno].
Sifu Lamar Burno: Hello, How you doing. How are you?
Keshia: Burno! I’m sorry.
Sifu Lamar Burno: That’s alright
Keshia: I’ll get it right. Forgive me.
Sifu Lamar Burno: You’re forgiven.
Keshia: Okay. So I just wanted to come on to this live and introduce Sifu Bruno. Burno. Oh Gosh. Sifu Burno. He’s going to be joining us as a guest instructor Oh Do Kwon Tae Kwon Do – Tazewell Tae Kwon Do.
I am the owner of this martial arts school that my father founded in 2005 as a sister dojo to his Bluefield, West Virginia location and I inherited it once he passed. And, my first act as the new owner is to have Sifu Burno come and give a workshop. And I’m just really excited to be able to work with you.
Sifu Lamar Burno: Well I’m honored. I’m honored. Definitely I’m honored that you would even contact me to invite and give me the opportunity to carry on your father’s [Grandmaster Roy Richmond] legacy.
Keshia: Well you have so much great experience in martial arts and what makes you so unique in your experiences is that you didn’t just train in a dojo, you actually have practical, practical use of those skills in so many real world environments. And, that is so impressive. And that is why I think that you are a great benefit to myself and to anybody who trains with you which is so important in these times, obviously.
Sifu Lamar Burno: Well, thank you. Thank you. Being raised in an upper middle class home, my parents made it a great asset to train hard and be the best at whatever we did. We were in to martial arts. I was into gymnastics. I always made that a part of everything that I’ve done and in some of my activities.
Keshia: I just want to tell everybody a little bit about you. I want to brag on you a little bit. Because sometimes its better for other people to brag on you a bit because I know you are super, super humble as you said most martial artists should be. But, one of the reasons why is that you have a great, great, long impressive resume. And what I’ve learned from knowing you, coming to know you some things about you is that your father himself, he was a black belt in judo. He signed you up for courses for you to study Tae Kwon Do and you became a 6th dan black belt in that and from there you went on…
Sifu Lamar Burno: Yes.
Keshia: to study and become…
Sifu Lamar Burno: Hung Gar Kung Fu
Keshia: Black Sash that you are under Shaolin Kung Fu, right?
Sifu Lamar Burno: Yes. That is correct.
Keshia: And then after that you became an electric knight in Ninjutsu.
Sifu Lamar Burno: Yes.
Keshia: So overall you’ve been studying martial arts for forty years.
Sifu Lamar Burno: Yes.
Keshia: Okay. And so tell us a little bit about you being like, applying that to your body guard work because you were a celebrity body guard with some well known celebrities.
Sifu Lamar Burno: Correct.
Keshia: You were also a stunt coordinator on some movies that we all know and love. So we want to hear about your experiences in those areas. You also worked with the Guardian Angels as a regional director and you also were a Philadelphia police officer and a military policeman. So, we want to hear a little bit about that. All of that.
Sifu Lamar Burno: Wow, you have my whole resume.
Keshia: I do. I know who I be working with.
Sifu Lamar Burno: I started out learning Tae Kwan Do under my Sensei Madison Nelson. After I reached my black belt I still had a hunger that wasn’t being fulfilled in the art. My brother came home, Kenneth, came home and said, “Hey man, look, I have this man that you need to train with. You hungry. He will bring the hunger out of you.” I said well look. I met Sifu Romeoletti (Sifu Rome). Me being a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I thought I was the man. And, when I start training with Sifu Rome, I realized all that I knew, I didn’t know what I thought I knew.
Keshia: Okay.
Sifu Lamar Burno: So through blood, sweat, and tears. I must add tears. I realized that karate works in straight lines and kung fu works in a circle. So I started utilizing the things learned prior to Sifu Rome. And on my free time, I would study and apply what I’ve learned before to what he was teaching me. I would go to class an hour and a half early and after class I would train and extra hour and a half later. And he always asked “Why do you do that?” I said because I want to be the best in whatever lineage I’m in. And he said, “Okay, you want to be the best? I’m gonna train you to be the best.” Sifu Rome is the one who introduced me to the movies. He started working on the Last Dragon. Took me along on the set with him. He was the actual stunt coordinator and he made sure I assisted him on the movies that he did. So, I was learning to apply…you know, I was an actor but I wasn’t a stunt coordinator. So he a said, I’m going to bring you in to see the other side of things so that you can see how they are.
© 1991 - 2020 Grandmaster Roy Richmond
Comments (33)
Daniel Sierra
June 7, 2020 at 11:50 amGreat interview! It is really amazing to learn more about Sifu Lamar Burno. Such an inspiration for many!
Brianne
June 7, 2020 at 12:46 pmThis guy is absolutely amazing! I can’t believe all the disciplines he’s mastered! Sifu Burno is going to be a great teacher.
WorldInEyes
June 7, 2020 at 1:26 pmoh wow..Keshia did a great interview with Sifu Burno. He really seems very amazing and interesting..Loved it..Great work..🙂
Ave
June 7, 2020 at 2:52 pmWhat an interesting person! Sifu Lamar Bruno has had an amazing career, but he is still humble. I really like how he promotes hard work to achieve your goals.
Kuntala Bhattacharya
June 7, 2020 at 3:17 pmLoved hearing and reading the interview. Very inspiring. Forty years of learning martial arts, an amazing journey it is. Keshia, you have done such a great job by conversing with such a hardworking person.
emidiv24 @ham intellectual-group
June 7, 2020 at 6:01 pmThis is very interesting, I am hearing about Sifu for the first time, and I can tell he has lot’s of experience in this.
Stephanie Stebbins
June 7, 2020 at 7:19 pmVery interesting. I feel like I’ve learned a lot! Would love to know more about Keshia, too.
Ebony Robinson
June 7, 2020 at 10:11 pmGreat interview! I never knew karate was more about straight lines. It was also great seeing Sifu Rome taking Sifu Bruno under his wing so he could train him to be the best. Awesome story!
Lyosha
June 8, 2020 at 4:41 amVery interesting interview, Keshia! Thanks for posting, it learned a lot. Sifu Burno is a great inspiration for martial artists!
marcos k
June 8, 2020 at 9:01 amI would have never imagine so much goes into mastering this art. Going back to lineage makes it more personal and interesting.
Marie Phillips
June 8, 2020 at 9:22 amI love that Sifu Lamar Burno has been involved in so many really different things. What a well-rounded life!
Cyndi Buchanan
June 8, 2020 at 10:27 amVery interesting interview! Always cool to see what goes into mastering an art like this.
Karen Smedley
June 8, 2020 at 12:57 pmInteresting, I didn’t know Kung Fu was circles and Kung Fu straight lines.
Emman Damian
June 8, 2020 at 1:32 pmThis is the first time I heard about Sifu Lamar Burno. Great interview. I enjoyed reading the transcript.
Ronnie
June 8, 2020 at 3:07 pmReaching Sifu Lamar Burno’s skill level and impressive resume takes so much dedication. Thank you for a wonderful and interesting interview!
Eswari
June 8, 2020 at 4:18 pmInteresting! Good to learn about Sifu Lamar Burno
Sophia Damasceno
June 8, 2020 at 4:28 pmI love interviews! It’s always so interesting learning about people, especially Sifu Burno. I’m glad I found this.
Melanie Frost
June 8, 2020 at 4:51 pmThat is dedication right there. I’ve never heard of Sifu Lamar Burno, but he definitely knows his stuff. Awesome interview!
Danielle
June 8, 2020 at 8:01 pmWow what an amazing person is Sifu Lamar and this interview was super informative. It was so nice to learn about someone new.
Knycx Journeying
June 8, 2020 at 11:15 pmKeshia! Thanks for sharing a little bit more about the martial art and nice to do so in an interview format. 🙂 – Knycx Journeying
Kathy Kenny Ngo
June 9, 2020 at 2:23 amSifu Burno truly loved his life. It’s great that he’s been involved on different things. It adds more perspective and wisdom.
tweenselmom
June 9, 2020 at 3:20 amIt’s my first time hearing about Sifu Lamar and he seems like a really hardworking and interesting person! I love the fact that he is very experienced with mastering this art and how he’s passionate about it.
solrazo.com
June 9, 2020 at 8:00 amSifu Lamar is not just amazing, he is an inspiration to a lot of people
Marta
June 9, 2020 at 8:03 amSifu Burno is a very intresting person. Great interview, Keshia.
Mary
June 9, 2020 at 1:39 pmInteresting interview, Keshia, and a very good write up. There’s more to mastering this art of Shaolin Kung Fu than we all know. Thanks for enlightening us.
Franze Garcia
June 9, 2020 at 9:50 pmSifu Lamar Burno delivers such informative insights. I will check to see when you both are in my area for a workshop!
Jona Shares
June 10, 2020 at 9:15 amKeshia, it was such a great honor that you were able to interview him. Indeed Sifu Burno is an inspiration to many.
Subhashish Roy
June 10, 2020 at 10:00 amSifu Burno certainly is a great personality but what strikes about him is that he is so humble and down to earth. Since I had missed the first part I went through that interview before the second part. Very enjoyable hearing his thoughts.
Polly
June 11, 2020 at 4:24 amI do martial arts myself (BJJ) and listening to Sifu Burno in this interview motivated me to aim higher and do better with my craft.
siennylovesdrawing
June 11, 2020 at 5:27 amthis is my 1st time heard about this sifu Burno. I learnt much more from your interview sharing about martial arts and Shaolin Kung Fu!
Steven Morrissette
June 11, 2020 at 11:48 amI have always been facinated by martial arts. Now I’m inspired to go sign up to learn Shaolin Kung Fu!
Arun Dahiya
June 12, 2020 at 2:41 amWow, Sifu Lamar is inspiring. Sharing it with my brother too who is learning martial arts and may have interest in Shaolin Kung Fu.
Akriti
June 12, 2020 at 3:29 amSifu Lamar Burno is really an inspiration to all of us!