Instructor MJ takes pride in sharing more than four decades of martial arts experience, helping students develop balance, discipline, confidence, and resilience through structured instruction and training.
With over 30 years of teaching and training experience in kickboxing and martial arts, Instructor MJ holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt through the World Taekwondo Federation, a 1st Degree Black Belt through the Cheezic Tang Soo Do Federation, and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
In addition to martial arts, MJ has spent decades as a fitness professional. He also holds a NASM MMA Conditioning Specialist certification and teaches martial arts and fitness courses as an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University.
As a child in the early 80s, Instructor MJ loved watching martial arts flicks with his older siblings and acting them out, much to the amusement of his brother and sisters. His parents signed him up for Taekwondo lessons, but at the time he was young and more interested in the flashy moves he saw in the movies than in what was being taught in his Connecticut martial arts classes. Around the age of 13, he switched to Kempo Karate. While there, he did what was highly forbidden at the time and joined an additional school in town that offered East Haven kickboxing. Although he loved Shaolin Kempo and revered his instructor, he hungered to learn various arts. The new school taught Tang Soo Do and embraced the same cross-training approach he loved in martial arts, offering boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Aikido, Japanese Jujitsu, Gracie Jujitsu, and even out-of-town trips to learn the unarmed ninja art of Taijutsu! He became a junior assistant instructor of Tang Soo Do and competed frequently, remaining undefeated and ranked in the top 5 competitors in teen intermediate open karate point sparring during that time, highlighting his prowess in kickboxing in New Haven County.
He continued to hunger to learn as many martial arts as possible, transitioning from style to style and school to school, experiencing various forms of martial arts under numerous instructors and masters. He dedicated time to training with Larry Rogers Top Ten and competing in open karate tournaments. After moving away for college to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, he eagerly joined every martial arts club on campus, including Aikido, Jujitsu, and Boxing, which led him back to WTF Taekwondo, where he advanced to apprentice black (Poom) belt.
In the early 2000s, a cardio kickboxing aerobics craze swept through gyms and fitness centers, presenting a vastly different experience from the competitive kickboxing found in the martial arts world. Instructor MJ embraced this trend and also participated in cardio kickboxing aerobic classes at UMBC, further enhancing his skills and passion for kickboxing, which is popular among those seeking kickboxing in New Haven County and East Haven kickboxing options. Additionally, his interest in diverse martial arts eventually drew him toward the striking techniques of Muay Thai.
Instructor MJ moved back to Connecticut to complete his college education at Southern Connecticut State University, where he joined the SCSU Karate Club, part of the Cheezic Tang Soo Do Federation, and competed in intercollegiate tournaments. The head instructor and owner of the school where he first studied kickboxing as a teen also taught a kickboxing padwork class at SCSU, and Instructor MJ frequently trained in that class, enhancing his skills in Connecticut martial arts.
While training in Tang Soo Do with the SCSU Karate Club, he returned to WTF Taekwondo and became a certified cardio kickboxing instructor and a certified personal trainer. He utilized competitive kickboxing training, padwork, and drills as his personal training method, teaching cardio kickboxing group fitness classes at about a dozen fitness centers and gymnasiums, including the popular East Haven kickboxing scene. Most classes were packed wall-to-wall! One of those gyms was the Quinnipiac University Fitness Center. After graduating from SCSU, he met Robert Mickey, the Fundamentals of Kickboxing Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University, who previously taught at Benny “The Jet” Urquidez’ The Jet Center before relocating from California to Connecticut. He began training in kickboxing again with Mickey and another student, Rob Shrage, further refining his skills in kickboxing in New Haven County, including elements of Muay Thai.
Eventually, Instructor MJ became the Adjunct Professor to teach the Fundamentals of Kickboxing course at Quinnipiac University after Robert Mickey moved away and Rob Shrage graduated. He studied Modern Arnis with Professor Ball for some time at Quinnipiac University. He also earned his red belt from Harold Lindo & Todd Deutsch in Cheezic Tang Soo Do and his first-degree black belt from Sang Pil Kim in Taekwondo around this time. He would still cross train, visit many schools, and dabble in many different martial arts styles, including those found in Connecticut martial arts programs.
After graduation and starting his career in marketing, Instructor MJ also taught classes of Taekwondo under a local organization. As times became hard during the recession of 2008, Instructor MJ spent a couple of years teaching Taekwondo full-time. This is when he met Master Cho before he opened Olympic Taekwondo Academy, and Black Tiger Defense, which was kickboxing mixed with martial arts in New Haven County, was ultimately born. His passion also led him to explore Muay Thai, enhancing his expertise in kickboxing and the broader spectrum of martial arts.
He currently teaches credited courses on the Fundamentals of Kickboxing, Taekwondo, and Fitness Training and Nutrition Strategy at Quinnipiac University. Before the pandemic, he was the Head Instructor and Faculty Advisor of The Quinnipiac University MMA Club, and he continues to serve as their Faculty Advisor. In addition to his academic roles, he studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and teaches the freestyle kickboxing program at Dandelion BJJ in West Haven, Connecticut. In 2023, he returned to training in Cheezic Tang Soo Do at the Institute of Martial Arts and earned his 1st degree black belt in 2025, further enhancing his expertise in martial arts.