Staff
	Master Borucki
	Mr. Ogle
	Ms. Bannister
	Ms. Skiles
	Mr. Phillips
	Mr Lancaster
	Ms. Pokorny
	Ms. Rossini
	Mr. Massey

Master Instructor, Global Martial Arts Academy
15 years experience, Hapkido  (4th Dan)

I started my martial arts training in January 1993 at Global Martial Arts Academy  when a friend, Lewis Burdelski, talked me into signing up.  At that time in my life, I'd tried several other sports and, even though I liked baseball, I didn't have the attention span to play the game the way it should be played.  I needed something that would increase that attention span, plus give me a workout that would suit my excessive energy level.  As a young child, I had an abnormally high energy level.  My dad used to call me a "live wire." 

Participating in martial arts has helped me learn to control that energy.  Not only has martial arts helped me in that respect, it has also taught me many other things.  I'm better able to pay attention in my college classes and I'm more driven than I've ever been toward achieving good grades in school.  I've also developed a high level of resilience.  A lot of things went wrong during my high school years and I give a lot of credit to martial arts and the people at Global for helping me pull through those hard times to become the person I am today.

I achieved my child's black belt in February 1996, at the age of 12.  From that point on, I started progressing through the junior black belt stripe system, which is a series of black belts with colored stripes representing the different levels of adult colored belts.  About 3 years later, I completed that program and achieved my 1st Dan (degree) black belt.  On my birthday, February 4, 1999, I was awarded the rank of Instructor by Master Borucki.  I was the youngest person in the history of the school to achieve that level and will continue to hold that record.  (Since that time, Master Borucki has set a policy that Instructors must be at least 18 years old.)  I've since been promoted to 2nd, 3rd, and then 4th Dan black belt, again the youngest person in the history of the school to achieve those levels.

Along with my achievements in the dojang, I've also had successes in sparring tournaments.  I've competed in 7 tournaments, compiling a record of 9 wins and 8 losses.  I've won trophies in 6 of those tournaments including two 1st places, four 2nd places, one 3rd place and one 4th place.  For attending a martial arts school which doesn't heavily promote competion in tournaments, I feel I've done a decent job over the years with the limited time I've had in the ring.

Of course, you can't achieve your fullest potential as a martial artist by yourself.  There are many people who have helped me out along the way.  I give a lot of credit to everyone at Global Martial Arts Academy who I have trained with over the past 14 years. 

There are also a number of Masters and Grandmasters who I've trained with who have helped me out in many ways.  They include Grandmaster J.R. West, Dr. He Young Kimm, Grandmaster Bong Soo Han, Master Mike Reid, Master Rudy Timmerman, and Masters Geoff Booth, Rich Hodder, Dennis McHenry, Perry Lyons, Dexter Mangum and Larry Smith.  I am truly thankful for having had the opportunity to train with these incredible martial artists and look forward to having more opportunities to train with them in the future.

I enjoy instructing students and sharing the knowledge and experience I've gained over the years.  We have a wonderful program here at Global and I hope my students are able to get as much out of their martial arts training as I have.