Andrew began studying Chinese martial arts in 1990, shortly after Paul Sun began publicly teaching Praying Mantis.  In 1995, Andrew became the first student to receive an instructor's ranking at the studio having started as a beginner under Paul.

Andrew's main mentor and teacher has been Paul Sun. Under Paul's guidance, Andrew has been introduced to the northern styles of Praying Mantis, Long Fist and Monkey; the southern style of Six Harmonies Fist; and various traditional weapons. Through years of work with Paul, Andrew feels that their teaching methods and appreciation of the martial arts are very close. Both concentrate on developing the individual through martial arts. When teaching, Andrew emphasizes the multi-layered nature of traditional wushu, in which self defense, physical well-being and expression must all be stressed in order to gain a proper grounding in the discipline as a whole.

In addition to his experience as an instructor at the Siu Lum Studio in Havertown, PA, Andrew Shinn ran a martial arts program at the Kaiserman JCC in Haverford, and taught at the South Jersey Chinese School in Cherry Hill, NJ.  

Andrew continuously seeks to deepen and expand his understanding of martial arts.  To that end he became a student of Chen style taijiquan under Ren Guangyi; a student and instructor of Amerindo Pencak Silat under Jim Ingram; and a student of Toda-ha Buko-ryu Naginata Jutsu under Steve Bowman.