I started my martial training as a young boy in 1968 with Kyokushin-Kai Karate at my uncle’s club. A hard no-nonsense style. When I was 17 years old I joined the Belgian army for 8 years . I was stationed in Germany. The first 4 years I was with the Military Police where I didn’t have the opportunity to continue with Karate but instead I learned Close Combat. When I had my transfer to a combat unit there wasn’t that much opportunity to continue with close combat. That is why I joined a club in Germany where they practiced Shotokan Karate.
When I left the army I started in my hometown with Karate again. First Goyu Ryu Karate and after a few years Shito Ryu Karate.
Because I was interested in everything concerning martial arts, I started looking towards other styles to train. Still training Karate, I also started with Jiu-jitsu in the same dojo where I studied Karate. After 2 years I was ready for a new challenge and I ended up doing Aikido, which I practiced for about 1 year. The next challenge was Tai-Chi again for about 1 year.
Throughout my quest thru all of these martial arts systems I had never stopped practicing Karate so after all these years of intensive training in all of these different disciplines, I decided to slow down a bit and narrow it down to only one club to train. At this time I met up with an old school friend of mine who had a club where he taught Kung-Fu.
While training with this club I discovered “Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate”. This was in 1992 during a seminar with Skip Hancock.
After a few years of training in this club I decided to start my own club in 1997. The 2 styles that were taught in our club were Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate and Shito Ryu Karate.
In 2003 I met Professor John Sepulveda, 9th degree Black Belt, and Professor Edward Downey, 7th degree Black Belt at a seminar in Belgium and was impressed by their knowledge. After this seminar I joined their organization.
I received my 2nd degree Black Belt in Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate on February 19, 2006 from Professor Edward Downey 7th degree Black Belt.
I received my 4th Degree Black Belt in Karate Do on July 5, 2009 and was certified by Higashi Fushimi Jigo, chairman of Dai Nippon Butoku Kai.
