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My experiences through To Shin Do have taught me the valuable lessons of courage, integrity and good manners.  It first began when I was in fifth grade at a school fair when my mom won a free month of training in the martial arts basket.  As she proceeded into her month of training she learned that To Shin Do wasn’t a showy martial art like many others she had hear of, and that my brother was currently enrolled in, and I had been involved in.  She learned that they taught how to defend yourself in real life situations.  She enjoyed her free month of training so much that she thought it would be a good experience for all of us to join and took my brother out of the other martial art and enrolled us all (my father, brother and myself) in To Shin Do.  At...

My To Shin Do training started quite by luck.  In 2004 I attended a fundraising carnival at my children’s grade school and put in a bid for a martial arts package thinking that I if I won it would be an excuse for me to try martial arts, increase my activity level and do something fun for myself.  I secretly hoped I would win – and I did. I had no idea what to expect during my orientation lesson, but everyone was very helpful and made me feel at ease.  In my first class I learned an amazing technique.   From a grounded body position and an understanding of the body structure I could cause tremendous pain to an attacker with only a slight movement.  This art did not require speed or athleticism.  It required intelligence. This was the art for me. ...

After three years of Tae Kwon Do training and having received his black belt my son was totally discouraged, which is not what I had wanted from his learning a martial art.  Learning forms and sparring techniques did not help him when having to defend himself against everyday situations.  Although he wanted nothing more to do with “karate” I knew I had to find a place that could help him learn to defend himself.  I spoke to a number of martial arts centers in the area, explained my son’s situation and asked about their self-defense classes.  It was always the same response.  They didn’t have a class that strictly taught self-defense, but he would gain confidence and come to learn self-defense through classes in whichever martial art form they were...

All my life I had dreamed of doing a martial art.  I often talked about it, but never came up with the discipline to make it happen, then one day Sentoshi Sensei and Mrs. Russo were tile shopping in the store where I worked and recognized me from a previous visit.  They noticed that I had lost some weight and inquired about my wellbeing.  I told them I was going through a divorce and was trying to get my life figured out.  They told me about To Shin Do and invited me to a class.  I was very impressed by their kind and supportive nature and couldn’t help but think that they had landed in my store for a reason that day. Walking into the Dojo, I felt a sense of peace and strength.  I realized that my opportunity to change the direction of my life was in...

We moved our family to Tampa, from Minnesota, for my career and the warmer weather.  My career is demanding and I frequently arrived home late at night completely spent.  Something needed to be done.  My wife remembered many of the hobbies that I had used to blow off steam during my rigorous medical training and suggested that we investigate some local martial arts programs.  (I had received a black belt in Choi Kwang Do in 1991 and had trained for several years with my wife in Aikido).  She realized that having a passionate hobby that we shared allowed us additional time together and she recognized the “cleansing” effect that martial arts training had on the both of us. A Quest Martial Arts flyer found its way to our home and I followed up with a drive...