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When he was about 18, he went to his first Martial Arts School in Los Alamitos California. At the time he was a groom on the Quarter Horse Racing Circuit and was going to be in the area for about three months before he went up to San Francisco for the next meet. He doesn't remember a lot about the school except that they appeared to be very traditional. He was at that school for one day.
About a year later and one marriage behind him, he found himself in California living with his parents and starting over again. There was a school called West Wind Karate in Riverside and he decided that he needed some stability in his life. That turned out to be it. He was there for a year and half and started to get his act together. They were very traditional in their behavior and they focused on self- made forms and self- defense techniques.
Another marriage behind him, with a daughter this time, he found himself working for a delivery company as a speciality driver for documents and uncut gems. It was a rather exciting time in his life until he almost lost his drivers license. At that point he started college and met his loving wife of 17 years, three children and a God provided stability in his life. At that time he found Red Dragon Karate and Shihan Sensei Mike Jablonski who worked Lance for 6 years and promoted him through the lower belts up to and including his Black Belt. Shihan Jablonski has an extremely well rounded understanding of the Martial Arts including several years of full contact competition from which his reputation stems.
After his time with Red Dragon was complete, and his wife and he had moved on, his wife found him a part time job working for Young Olympians. This turned into a full time job of 5 years and allot of good experience. It was at that time what he considered to be the "New Martial Arts" way of teaching. It worked within the confines of the "Educational" point of view and was a fresh approach to teaching for him. He almost lost his job with them as he was stuck on the idea that Karate had to be taught one way. He learned better and kept his job. It was their Vice-President who had a degree in education that enlightened Lance on the new approach.
That lead to where he is at now which is in Kingman, Arizona. He has 3 Child Development Certificates and am currently working on his Bachelors in Education. He works in the High School with the Special Education Department and run his own Martial Arts School. He developed a curriculum based system of Martial Arts that is in constant change as that is a constant in life. The children enjoy their classes and he is about to learn how the adults are going to do as he is starting two locations for adult classes this summer.
It seems like the Martial Arts has always been in his life. From the Kung Fu series on TV .. to the Bruce Lee movies that he loved. They acted as the stepping stones that got him started. The Lord has provided him with many tools that have helped him through out his life. Many things which he won't bore you with here. Martial Arts is not the least of these tools. He give thanks to him and all whom he has sent his way.
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