Martial Arts Training/Experience

 

Eugene has been studying martial arts since 1989. He has a 3rd dan in Tae Kwon Do, a Brown Belt in Cooper Ryu Jujitsu, a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jui Jitsu and is a teacher/practitioner of Tai Chi Chuan Yang Style Long Form. He has years of training in Kali/Escrima, Boxing and Kickboxing. Eugene is also a pratitioner of DDP Yoga.

 

For more details see CV or Bio below

 

Bio:

 

I began my martial arts training when I was thirteen years old in 1989. My freshman year in high school I was invited to join the tae kwon do club. After four years of training and various trips to upstate NY to train in the mountains and snow, I received my 1st degree black belt my senior year. This is a traditional Korean style where the focus is "One strike finish'. Presently I am a practicing 3rd degree black belt, where I cover classes and work one on one with students at my local dojo.

Many of the tae kwon do instructors that I have studied with have added boxing and kickboxing to the training regimen due to the fact that it is an easy transition and compliment to the tae know do form and application that we study. So boxing and kickboxing have been with me since 2006.

 

In 1995 I met an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan Yang Style Long Form. Yang style has not only the positive health benefits of Tai Chi Chuan but has its foundations in the martial application of the form. Each week we not only studied the form in motion but also isolated sections of it in order to apply the movement to self defense situations. The give and take of the Dao is the foundation of this style, yielding to your opponent in order to send his energy back towards him. After 5 years of study I was given the blessing to teach the art to others and have been a teacher/practitioner ever since.

 

In 2011, while taking a tae kwon do class, I was invited to study Cooper Ryu Jujitsu. Cooper Ryu Jujitsu was a style that had its roots in Vee Jujitsu founded by Professor Vee, a famous jujitsu practitioner from Japan. This jujitsu style is focused on striking first to open up an avenue to create a lock, hold or throw. The more I have studied it, the more I can attest to how it combines the hard style of the tae kwon do and the yielding nature of the tai chi chuan that I have studied. Here I have also been educated in the physiology of the human body as we are taught the nature of the body's joints, the pressure points, and the body's energy flow and direction. Each class we are also placed into self defense situations and are told to figure out ways to get out of them. These situations evolve with the world around us as new possibilities arise from day to day. We also work on knife, gun and various weapon self defense. After four years of training and study, I have achieved the rank of 1st dan in Cooper Ryu Jujitsu.

 

In 2012, I decided to study the art of self defense on the ground. I found a local school which taught Brazilian Jui Jitsu. Directly linked to Henzo Gracie himself, the school where I study BJJ has given me the greatest martial arts challenge I have ever faced, but has pushed my physical, mental and emotional strengths to new heights. I have achieved the rank of Blue Belt in BJJ. Currently I am studying BJJ at Mission Martial Arts under another Henzo Gracie Black Belt.

 

While studying BJJ, I met a teacher/practitioner of Kali/Ecskrima. The teacher, a kali/escrima world champion, was offering classes at the BJJ school. I studied K/E for a year under his expert tutelage.

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Currently I am studying BJJ under the expert instruction of Anthony Buckwitz a BJJ Balck Belt under Henzo Gracie. His methodology of BJJ/Wrestling for both Gi/No Gi study has opened up worlds of discovery and insight!!

 

As per my love and study of stage combat I am continually drawn to study new methods and practices of martial arts be them eastern or western. The more I study, the more I am drawn to the same conclusion: the physiology of the human body has never changed. The body is as it's been for thousands and thousands of years, but there are many avenues with which to understand and manipulate that.