Rising Stars: Meet Maria Baird of 710 N. Main Street in Wake Forest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Baird.

Hi Maria, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
If you told me years ago that I’d be a martial arts master teaching civilians and police officers self-defense, I would have laughed. That was not my plan, but who am I to say? I did, however, love kung fu movies growing up. My older brother would make movies of me taking on the evil crime boss (my other brother) and beating him to submission. Besides this, I never gave it another thought, until one day, while we were shopping, my brother and I came across a Kung Fu school and thought it would be fun to try out a class. That was back in 1986, and now here I am, still training, except now, I am an owner along with my husband, Don Baird.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Surprisingly it has been a smooth road for most of my career. The bumpy road came recently when covid hit. We had a few schools in California, but they were closed for an entire year. So many schools closed their doors for good; it was really sad. I feel very blessed that we could stay in business during that time. As we rolled into year 2 of being closed, we realized we needed to make some tough decisions; zoom kung fu was not going to work for much longer. We decided it was the perfect time to move to NC, a place we’ve always wanted to live. As soon as we made that decision, everything happened so fast. Our home literally sold in an hour, the schools were bought by a few students, we packed up, put our shepherd in the car, and drove off to North Carolina. Within the first week of being in NC, we bought our house and rented our school building all on the same day. It was crazy but I wouldn’t change a thing, we really love it here!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love what I do, our martial arts school is so special. Not only are you learning a very old style that’s usable today, but students become family and friends; we joke that “those that kick together, stick together.” Our school helps the individual to grow. It’s almost a mystery; If you’re shy, you gain confidence; if you’re hot-headed, you calm down. If stressed, you learn to relax. It does bring out the best in people. We specialize in Kung Fu and tai chi, and we’re known for having our grandmasters teach the classes. We start at age 4 and go up; adults and children are in separate classes. I love that anyone can train; it doesn’t matter how old you are, how in shape or out of shape you are, as our school motto is “train only to master yourself.” As far as what I am most proud of, I’d say it’s being the highest ranking female in our system and getting a master’s hall of fame award. I’ll be honest. I didn’t do anything that anyone can’t do, I just stuck it out. Come by and try out a class or two on the house. See an amazing system full of old Shaolin animal techniques, exciting katas, interesting takedowns, and peaceful tai chi; come in as I did so many years ago, and stay for a spell or a lifetime.

Any big plans?
I’d say we just went thru that when we moved from coast to coast. But now that we’ve settled in, I’m looking forward to bringing some fun events to the area. We enjoy hosting art shows and concerts given by our students and our grandmaster is starting a haiku poetry class this October. I would also like to donate my time giving women self-defense classes to the community. These events are always open to the public to come and enjoy.

Contact Info:

• Website: kungfukarate.com
• Other: phone # 984-298-4147

Image Credits
Don Baird Joshua Liberman Kim Soo