Make It Happen Studios

I was born and raised in some of the roughest neighborhoods in Daytona Beach, Florida. Being a multi-racial street kid in the 1980s down South was tough and getting in a fight was easier than avoiding one. I started boxing at the Madison gym in Daytona at the age of 14 and continued until I was 17 years old. There were no codes of conduct set in place- just how to take a punch and to give a punch. Only now I was a young adult and knocking some punk out on the street that would try and push me around was easy. That type of action worked against me in the court of law. It took me a few years to figure it out that winning a street fight would mean I would most likely lose my freedom. At the age of 28 I moved to Trumbull county Ohio. I started Martial arts in 2001 under Grand Master Bruce Beaumont, a retired school teacher. Training in Taekwondo I finally learned how to use more than just my fist. The Taekwondo creed became part of my life. In 2005 GM Beaumont sold the TKD School and moved to China. That same year I was introduced to Sifu James Phillips, a Kenpo Karate teacher. Sifu Phillips was the Major in the Sheriffs’ Department and swat team leader. He has been teaching Kenpo for 25 years. I began training under him in 2005 and still train under him today. Since my journey in Martial arts has begun I have trained with many other masters in Ohio and Florida over the years in such styles as Jujitsu, Judo, Knife fighting styles and Kung Fu. I believe if I had started at the right martial arts school as a child I could have learned to avoid a lot of the street fighting or at best minimized the damage I inflicted on the aggressor. Now its my goal to help young people through martial arts to find a better path in life.