I joined Mr. Paul Byars in December of 2013 to begin my jiu-jitsu training at Gary Steele Karate Studio.  I joined due to being very interested self defense.  I immediately fell in love with "human chess" as I've often called jiu-jitsu.  After working to master skills, I was awarded my blue belt in October of 2016 and my purple belt in March of 2017.  Jiu-Jitsu continues to be one of my favorite activities to participate in each week. 

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I had been interested in martial arts since I was very young.  I had trained under Mr. Steele from when I was 5 to almost 7 years old.  After returning to Gary Steele Karate Studio in December of 2013, I decided that I would return to my training with karate and attempt to achieve my black belt.  On November 19, 2016, my hard work was rewarded as I became a black belt on that date. 

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Training in Jiu-Jitsu and Karate at Gary Steele Karate Studio are still very important to me.  Though I continue to train to improve my own skills, I now work to build the skills of others.  After being an assistant to Little Dragons and Kids karate classes, I moved into being the primary instructor for the Kids Karate classes. 

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In addition to teaching and training at Gary Steele Karate Studio, I have been an elementary teacher since graduating from Tennessee Tech. University in 2007 and have taught first and third grades.

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We hope to see you in our classes soon.