I had my first taste of Martial Arts while growing up in the Riverland. In the late 1980’s I started studying Rhee Tae Kwondo with Instructor Jack Centofanti. After 4 years I achieved the ranking of brown belt/black stripe. I then moved to Adelaide where I took a break from Martial Arts. However, towards the end of 1999 I felt something was missing so one day as I was driving home from work I stopped at this little gym on Grange Road, called the “International Combative Martial Arts Academy” That was to be the start to my amazing journey through the world of Martial Arts.

As my intensity of training increased over the years I eventually received my Black belt in Arjukanpo Karate in 2003. As the years progressed so did my rankings, but what really grew was my confidence. Sensei Vince Palumbo as he was ranked at the time had this amazing ability to make you believe you could do anything and that’s what I try to instill into my clients today.

What I also loved about the International Martial Arts Academy was the fact that you could learn more than one Martial Art at one given time so I tried them all and found that I really loved boxing and Karate.

Participating in a class was one thing but I wanted more so the next obvious move was competition.  I had my first Karate competition in 2003; my first Stick fighting competition in 2005 USA World title Stick Fighting tournament and my first Boxing bout in 2006. In 2007 I travelled to Wollongong for a Stick fighting bout, and in that same year I also travelled to Jakarta for the World Title Stick fighting tournament where I won 2 Silver Medals and a Bronze.

While competing I was still interested in the technical aspect of the Martial Arts. In 2004 I was graded to 1st Degree Black Belt in Arjukanpo Combat Jujitsu, 3 years after that in 2007 I received a double grading, I reached my 2nd Degree in Arjukanpo Karate and my 1st Degree Black Belt in Doce Pares Eskrima – Eskrima/Eskrido.

More recently I participated in The Gathering 2008 which was a mixed Martial Arts Seminar bringing together some of the most experienced Masters from around the world. It was here where I added to my achievements, graded to 2nd Degree Black in Doces Pares Eskrima, and receiving an award for the “Most notable martial arts competitor of the year”.
While this award was probably one of my biggest achievements to date, the fact that I stood next to my instructor/ mentor and friend who received the very same award made this even more memorable.

In the latter months of 2008 I participated in the Pan Pacific Stick fighting tournament, held for the first time in Christchurch, New Zealand and received my first Gold Medal win.

To finish off the year off I decided to travel around the world and train with the best of the best: the world renowned Supreme Grand Master Ciricao Cacoy Canete (Philippines) in Doce Pares Eskrima/ Stick fighting; Mr. Dino Haynes (USA) at his gym “Warriors Heart Karate” and Mark Parra at the very notable celebrity gym “House of Champions”; Rosetta Mortati (Body Builder, Actress, and Photographer) at the Sunrise Gym (New York); Master Leigh Jenkins at the New Zealand Wing Chun School and Master Dominic and Junior Master Rosanna Lavelle from the Reflex Martial Arts Centre in Sydney.

To all the above who have helped me reach this level of achievement I thank you and promise to continue my Martial Arts journey. I would also like to thank Coach Dennis for teaching me the art of boxing at my speed, Rodin Genoff for his marketing advice and last but certainly not least my sister and brother who always believed in my ability even when I didn’t.

Finally special thanks to Grand Master Vince Palumbo whom without none of this would be possible his ability to get the absolute best out of his students is a testament to his skill and dedication.
This has been such an amazing journey for me so far, I have made so many memories and some great friends, and of course gained a great deal of knowledge. As you can see Martial Arts is a very big part of my life and as a Personal Trainer I want to give my clients the best possible experience. My hope is that I am able to inspire and teach the same way I have been inspired.