Instructors
Professor Byron Walker (1943-2002) - Founder
and Grandmaster
Ranks awarded:
- 1st dan, Shotokan
Karate, Dai Ichi Karate Association
- 3rd dan, U.S. Tang
Soo Do Federation-Moo Duk Kwan
- 6th dan, Kodenkan
Jujitsu, Hawaiian Jiu-jitsu System, Inc.
In 1975, Professor Walker was employed
as a federal police officer with the U.S. Dept. of Energy. He became
a police firearms instructor for that agency in 1976. He was also an
avid pistol competitor.
In 1983, he wrote, implemented and taught
the first formal arrest and restraining course for the Energy Department
courier force, a paramilitary organization responsible for the security
and transport of nuclear weapons and components throughout the United
States. This course was taught to field officers during their advanced
tactical training and to recruits at the agency's academy.
Professor Walker taught or assisted in
the instruction of suspect control, handcuffing, firearms, cover and
concealment, field tactics, explosives recognition and terrorist tactics.
He later wrote a manual concerning international terrorist operations.
He left government service because of
an injury sustained in training. In 1994, he founded the School of Eight
Directions. He was a member of the board of directors of the Hawaiian
Jiu-jitsu System, Inc., and the author of Kodenkan Jujitsu, School
of Eight Directions, Volume I.
Professor Walker died in 2002.
Master Jerry Strickland - President
Ranks awarded:
- 4th dan, Tang Soo
Do, World Tang Soo Do Association
- 4th dan (honorary),
Kodenkan Jujitsu, Hawaiian Jiu-jitsu System, Inc.
- 6th dan, Eight
Directions Martial Arts
Jerry Strickland was an accomplished
athlete well before he turned his talents to martial arts. He enrolled
in a gymnastics school at the age of six, and by the age of nine, he
had begun to compete regularly as a trampolinist. At fourteen, he entered
his first world event and placed fifth in trampoline. The University
of Oklahoma awarded him a full athletic scholarship, and he held a place
on their team until a knee injury forced him out of competition.
Since that time, he has remained active
in coaching. He established the Amarillo School of Gymnastics and built
it into a highly successful program. He did extensive post-graduate
study in exercise physiology and psychology as a double-major Master's
degree candidate at West Texas State University, and earned a Master's
degree in Professional Counseling from Texas State University in San
Marcos.
He was introduced to martial arts as
a teenager, when he trained for 11/2 years under Sensei Tim Joe in the
arts of Judo and Kyokushinkai Karate. After the knee injury ended his
career as a competitive gymnast, he returned to martial arts, learning
Tang Soo Do under Byron Walker.
He was the chief instructor of the Amarillo
School of Tang Soo Do from 1976 through 1986. Then, he headed the Bergstrom
School of Tang Soo Do from 1987 through 1994.
Master Strickland is a gifted teacher.
His insights and guidance have made him instrumental in perpetuating
the School of Eight Directions.
Michael D. Jones - Chief Instructor
Ranks awarded:
- Third dan, Tang Soo Do, World
Tang Soo Do Association
- Third dan (honorary), Kodenkan
Jujitsu, Hawaiian Jiu-Jitsu System, Inc.
- Blue belt, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,
William Vandry - Austin BJJ
- Fifth dan, Eight Directions
Martial Arts
Mr. Jones began his martial arts training
at the age of fourteen, learning Tang Soo Do under Byron Walker. Since
that time, he has sought training in other disciplines, to include Kodenkan
Jujitsu, Brazilian Jujitsu, free-style wrestling and JKD Concepts. He
has written and implemented the current curriculum of the School of
Eight Directions, which includes elements of all of these arts.
Mr. Jones is employed as a paraprofessional
instructional assistant at the disciplinary alternative education center
in Leander, TX. His duties include instructional supervision, tutorial
assistance and classroom management in secondary and elementary levels.
His work experience also includes extensive involvement in special education
behavioral management programs for emotionally disturbed high school
students.
Mike Deichman - Assistant Instructor
Ranks awarded:
- 1st dan, Tang Soo
Do, World Tang Soo Do Association
- 3rd dan, Eight
Directions Martial Arts
Mr. Deichman began martial arts training
at the age of eleven, learning Tang Soo Do under Michael Jones. He has
distinguished himself through his continued pursuit of excellence in
martial skill and his dedication to the guiding principles of the School
of Eight Directions.
Class Instructors:
Mark Adams - E Dan #006,
School of Eight Directions
Bill Deichman - E Dan #007,
School of Eight Directions
Matt Klaser - E Dan #008,
School of Eight Directions
Olivia Wilde - E Dan #009,
School of Eight Directions
Chris Davis - E Dan #011,
School of Eight Directions
Eliot Wild - E Dan #012,
School of Eight Directions
Black Belts:
Joel Morales - Cho Dan #004
Meghann Mendoza - Cho Dan
#010