I was a student at Mark Hawkin's Hidden Valley Kajukenbo Dojo, an outlet of Mark Tyrrell's Napa MMA Dojo for a couple years while I worked at Harbin and before moving to Spring Valley.

One of the style's founders visited while I was in the Dojo but I never met him, although I wish I had.

Here's a link to the Tyrrell Dojo's facebook page.

This training filled in my on-the-ground techniques and furthered my education in joint locks and throws.

Kajukenbo stands for Karate, Judo & Jujutsu, Kenpo and Boxing, and the Hawaiian founders developed the style for street fighting.

I also took a couple semesters of defense tactics from Jim McGowan at C.O.M. where my mother taught swimming and several years of Chen Tai-Chi from Virgil Rogers at West Marin Martial Arts in Fairfax CA.

Of course It's always a good start when you have a man like Ralph Cutler teach you wrestling in P. E. for three or four years, too.

I'd like to teach Tai Chi in Spring Valley after the pandemic is over. However, Sensei Ralph advises he's always caught everything his students have. So search on Covid + Oscar De La Hoya to find out why I'll continue to be very cautious.

Photograph courtesy Tyrell Dojo facebook page.