About The Instructor

Born:  
Rochester NY, September 1974

Family:
Married June 2000 to Rachel Gucker.
Our family lives in the city of Rochester’s 19th Ward.
We have 5 children: David, Luke, Margaret, John (J.W.), and Matthew.
Plus one on the way :)

Vocation:           
I work in consulting and sales for Simplified Safety Inc. in Rochester NY.
www.simplifiedsafety.com
www.simplifiedbuilding.com

Education:         
McQuaid Jesuit High School 1992
AS Business - Monroe Community College 1998
BS Pastoral/Biblical Studies – Liberty University 2002
MA Theology – Northeastern Seminary 2005

Other Interests:
Parenting & Home Schooling.
http://theguckerfamily.blogspot.com/
Jesus, the church, singing, and good conversation
www.biblical-church.com
Good story telling
Camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities 
Brewing custom ales (and ciders).
Making stuff, growing things, and building projects of all sorts.

Future Goals:
To develop a full-scale boxing gym where my children can participate.
Develop a comprehensive On-Line video library so people can learn from anywhere in the world.
To find and develop instructors who want to open up clubs of their own.

Greatest Qualification:
My greatest strength as a teacher is that I am a slow learner :)
It has taught me to overcome obstacles, to be patient, and to communicate more clearly. 
While many of my peers have been better fighters than me, I have managed to persevere over 20 years while most of them have quit training along the way. I believe the secret to longevity is to make steady progress and have fun along the way.
My weaknesses as a practioner have become my strengths as an instructor!


 

A 20+ Year Adventure in the Martial Arts

A Brief History

The Karate Beginnings
I really wanted to begin martial arts training at about age 10, during the 80’s Ninja craze, but it took me until age 14 to convince my parents that I was serious enough for them to let me enroll at the local Karate school. After my first class I was hooked, and have continued to train since 1989. I still have the enthusiasm of my youth, and enjoy my training more each day.

Love For Teaching
By providence, I walk into a school that was, at the time, one of the top ten schools in the country (Kathy Faust's USA Karate - Great children's programs!). After training there for a number of years I came on staff in 1994 and worked my way up the ranks to become the head instructor. This experience was unbelievable. In my early 20’s I was responsible for the instruction of almost 400 students, and was afforded the opportunity to meet and train with many of the martial arts greats like: Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Chuck Norris, Dan Innosanto, and Francis Fong just to name a few. It was during this time that I realized my love for teaching.

MMA and Boxing
I left that school in 1999 to pursue my undergraduate degree in Springfield MO (the “Show Me” state). This is when I began to think outside of the traditional martial arts, and started to develop an appreciation and interest in reality based martial arts. I began to train in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and Jeet Kune Do Concepts (JKD or Bruce Lee’s philosophy), and took an instructor position at a school where I was able to study boxing, kick boxing (muay thai), submission wrestling, Kali, and wing-chun concepts.

Self-Defense
After my wife and I returned to NY, I enrolled in graduate school, and we began building what has become a sizable family. This experience caused me to mature rather quickly and I lost interest in the "sport" versions of fighting. The desire to think about self-defense outside of the ring caused me to pursue the study of Israeli - Krav Maga, Soviet - Systema, and self-defense systems of the US military.

Health and Fitness
As time goes on, I have begun to notice the effects of getting older and realize that the process isn't going to reverse itself. As a result, I have begun to study how to re-build bodies rather than just tear them apart ;-)  To continue the effort, I earned my CPT (certified personal trainer) and have worked with the RIT lacrosse team as a strength and conditioning coach. Currently I am working on a sports nutritionist certification, and an associate instructor with Mark Hatmaker of Hatmaker Combat Sports Training www.extremeselfprotection.com. He has a well balanced training method, and I prefer the western fighting systems. I believe he is one of the best thinkers in the field today.

Why Boxing?
I meet many regular folks who would love an exciting way to stay in shape, and who would be interested in learning how to defend themselves too.
People who want to know how to fight but don't want to become aggressive tough guys.
Boxing is a classical western form of fighting which doesn't require someone to adapt to eastern culture or practices like many of the traditional martial arts.
The second advantage of boxing is that you don't have to be an athlete to get started. It doesn't require you to kick high or wrestle on the ground. 
Boxing provides a perfect foundation for self defense, and for those who want to learn more, you can add kicking and wrestling as an optional part of your training.

If that sounds like something you would be interested in, then don't be a stranger. Come in for a visit!