About
As a young child, I was enamored with Bruce Lee, Kwai Chang Cain and Rickshaw movies. I could watch any show featuring any of those for hours. I begged my parents to let me train so I could be like my heroes.
During Junior High, I finally took my first martial arts class through school as a PE alternative. It was glorious but didn’t last long. Afterward I began the study of Shaolin Kempo Karate at a local San Diego dojo, joining my instructor’s staff as a junior instructor some years later. I earned my first Black Belt in 1988, a second degree in 1990 and third in 1992. That same year of 1992 I opened my first dojo in La Mesa, California. Since then I have trained under many great masters in the arts of Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Chuan, Hsing-Yi Chuan, Shorinjin Ninjutsu, Okinawan Kobudo, Filipino Arnis-Eskrima, and Jujitsu.
I love learning and I’m an eternal student.
I changed the name of my dojo in 1995 to Golden Leopard Kempo, receiving worldwide recognition and accolades for my school’s website. There weren’t many dojo websites back then, so don’t be too impressed. Through my website, I met, corresponded, and trained with many other instructors to expand my knowledge of Kempo Jutsu. I also continued to volunteer for small, local groups teaching self-defense seminars and introductions-to-karate for children.
In 1998, I became the student of Karazenpo Go Shinjutsu’s Grandmaster Sonny Gascon, and continued working with Grandmaster Gascon’s organization since that time. This organization shed a lot of light on the elusive history of Shaolin Kempo as practiced on the East Coast. I also supported, through my international martial arts association Golden Leopard Kempo Organization (GLKO), the World Tai Chi Day — an annual public event I hosted at local San Diego parks.
From 1998, when I attained my fourth degree rank, I continued to work and explore the arts through reading, seminars and experimentation. I achieved fifth degree in 2000 and my sixth in 2005. Through my work promoting all martial arts training with special emphasis on Kempo and Jujutsu, I was awarded an honorary fifth degree in Jujutsu.
In 2006, after years of refining my martial art and teaching curriculum, I developed my personal expression of Kempo as a unique and independent style called Golden Leopard Kempo-jutsu. Distilled from many years of training and organized along logical lines, this refined warrior art helps students achieve balance between body, mind and spirit. All those fancy words means I teach all the arts I know and highlight how they are related – thus building upon those relationships to make a stronger warrior.
It also means being a warrior is a journey not a destination.
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