By Kathleen Carr ’96
Information security expert and Kung Fu master Tom Parenty ’81 grew up in Worcester. He ventured to far-off Shrewsbury for high school and then returned to beloved Worcester to attend Holy Cross. Now he’s in China, admittedly recovering from a midlife crisis. 
After writing Digital Defense, a book about protecting a company’s digital assets, Parenty needed a change. Now, with an office overlooking the Hong Kong skyline, he helps companies in Asia protect their intellectual property and prevent financial fraud.
And in his free time he teaches Kung Fu to kids.
Parenty, who studied Chinese martial arts in Berkeley, Calif., eventually began to teach Tai Chi to adults and children. While in Hong Kong, he met a nursery school teacher who asked him if he’d teach a group of 6-year-olds a Kung Fu routine that they could perform at their graduation.
“You’d think they could get a Chinese guy to do this,” Parenty says. “I was going to go up once to teach them a routine. Before I knew it, I was up there every Saturday. Then I was actually in the performance. They’re incredibly cute 6-year-olds.”
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