Today is Testing day. We get to review what our students have learned up until this point. Testing determines if a student is eligible to move on to the next belt ranking.
White stripe letters & Testing Applications is to be submitted prior to testing day to help execute testing on a timely manner. We are no longer accepting either documents on testing day.
Good Luck to all those testing today!
Master McGowan continues to evolve as a Martial Artist. He is a 2nd generation Bruce Lee student via the late Richard Bustillo, an authority on Jeet Kune Do Concepts. Master McGowan continues to train annually at The IMB Academy & is currently training in Judo under the tut-tillage of Scott Decker.
He was born & raised in Ireland. He emigrated to NY when he was 18 year old. After 12 years of studying Martial Arts in NY he, his Wife Kara & 2 boys Connor & Declan moved to Arizona to fill his dream to open his own school.
Master McGowan is a Active Ironman & Marathon competitor. He sits on the advisory boards of 2GetherWelive.com & Chandler Tullamore sister cities. He is passionate about bringing awareness to the community about individuals with Intellectual development disabilities (IDD).
Master McGowan who is Originally from Tullamore, bridges a gap between both Chandler Arizona & Tullamore Ireland through cultural, economy & educational exchanges.
BIO COMING SOON
BIO COMING SOON
DAMSEL martial arts journey in 2nd grade age 7 (2001) with TKD. Started back up age 12 (2006-7) with Karate. Started taking Muay Thai/bjj 2010. Mma Journey started 2015.
7-4 as a professional mma fighter
DAMSEL has fought for Bellator, invicta fc, and Rizin
– in bellator she made history winning the first ever atomweight fight
– then won at Madison Square Garden on the first ever Rizin/ Bellator cross promotional card against Rena Kubota (a 23-0 shoot boxing champion ) and won in the first round
– fought on the biggest card of the year in Japan for rizin at the saitama arena
– brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. (started BJJ at 13)
– started with Tae Kwon do at the age of 7 and earned my second degree black belt
1-1 mma pro
6-1 mma amateur
2-1 boxing amateur
4-2 Muay Thai amateur
Brazilian jiu jitsu blue belt
Fought for:
World fighting federation
2017 2x sub of the night award
Ironboy mma
AZ first ever Strawweight champ for ironboy
Cage fury fighting championship
coaching since 2015
Runner up Austin TX golden gloves 2015
2x karate point fighting champ 2007
BIO COMING SOON
Connor McGowan started Tae Kwon Do at age 3 under the tutelage of his Dad and ChandlerMMA school owner, Connor graduated the Dragon program and started sparring where he found his true passion. As being a member of the school now for over 10 years, Connor has competed in Muay Thai and wrestling tournaments, loves to take BJJ with his friends and assistant teaches 3 days per week. Connor has built many a great friendship and relationships with our students and loves help others achieve their goals.
Connor has achieved the rank of Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai and continues his education to one day become a Master Instructor. He has now achieved his Junior Master status February 2018.
Ulysses “Uly” Navarrete, or Mr. Uly as his students affectionately call him, began his martial arts career nearly 30 years ago in 1991 at Robinson’s Taekwondo in Sacramento, California under the tutelage of Grandmaster Clinton Robinson.
Over the years Mr. Uly has studied and trained in ATF and ITF styles of Taekwondo, Ed Parker’s American Kenpo, Jeff Speakman Kenpo 5.0 – a system derived from Ed Parker’s teachings which also incorporates Jiujitsu and Hapkido, and finally Okinawan Kenpo Karate Kobudo which includes open hand and traditional Okinawan weapons forms.
As a student of Okinawan Karate Kenpo Kobudo under Renshi Robyn Rush, Mr. Uly achieved the rank of Sandan, 3rd Degree Black Belt, in February 2018.
Mr. Uly continues to broaden his mind, body and spirit by also cross training in Muay Thai and participating in boot camp, core and fitness classes.
His proudest achievement has been watching his daughter and son on their own martial arts journeys proving his mantra that “The family that kicks together, sticks together!” They too are students in the Kenpo program at CMMA.
Outside of martial arts Mr. Uly works with school districts all over the country providing online literacy solutions aimed at helping kids become better readers. He is a firm believer that literacy is the cure for poverty and provides the opportunity for every child to change their stars.
J.J. Brewer-Schell teaches Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudo.
J.J.’s daughter started her karate journey at age 6. While sitting on the sidelines and having only ‘Karate Kid’ as a reference point, she decided to jump into class and has never looked back.
J.J. started her journey in Okinawa Kenpo and slowly started to learn the basics. It never came easy. If someone else had to do a technique 100 times, she says she had to do it 1000 times. This gives her a unique and particularly patient perspective as a teacher.
Upon earning a brown belt in Kenpo, J.J. decided that she needed to improve her sparring game. That brought her to Chandler MMA and Muay Thai. She has trained and tested thru the second level curriculum and has even traveled to Thailand a few times to polish her knowledge.
J.J. is currently ranked second Dan in Okinawa Kenpo and proudly studies under Hanshi Larry Isaac, 10th Dan. Hanshi Isaac is a senior practitioner and a direct student of Odo Seikichi Sensei and Shimabukuro Eizo Sensei.
She is looking forward to the next stage of her martial arts journey and the many challenges that it will bring.
For close to two decades, Master Panhorst wanted to learn practical and tactical self-defense techniques. He eventually found the eclectic form of Hapkido taught by Master McGowan and began his journey in 2011. He has also received training from Grandmaster Frank Noguera, Grandmaster Richard Bustillo, and Master Chaz Turner. Master Panhorst has also done independent research into complementary styles in order to further expand his knowledge.
As an instructor, Master Panhorst likes showing people how effective and fun Hapkido can be and teaches it with his own perspective. He really enjoys helping students develop skills to escape from threatening situations.
Master Panhorst is almost always at Boot Camp, Bells & Boxing, and the HIIT class in the mornings. He has participated in many Muay Thai classes and someday he will get back to taking Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes again. He leads trail runs on South Mountain to help train the Fight Team and enjoys running with the black belt candidates during training. He tries to help each person realize that they are a special part of the Chandler MMA community.
When not at Chandler MMA, Master Panhorst spends as much time as he can with his two teenage daughters. He also plays guitar and keyboards in a classic alternative rock cover band. He volunteers with various organizations when not busy running his own technology business.
Certifications:
-4th Degree Black Belt / Master in Hapkido
-American Heart Association’s CPR/BLS/AED training
-Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide’s “Act on FACTS” training
-American Parkinson’s Disease Association’s “Training for Fitness Professionals”
-Brian Grant Foundation’s “Exercise for Parkinson’s Training for Professionals”
Jaden Coutain started his journey in martial arts at the age of 6. He tested for his first black belt at the age of 9. Jaden is currently a 3rd-degree black in both Muay Thai and Taekwondo. He has competed multiple times in the USMTO tournaments and trains hard for each competition. He enjoys teaching the kids and has fun with them while helping them reach their martial arts goals and creating true friendships through this journey.
Paul Luse is a Principal Software Engineer at the Intel corporation. He’s been a fitness fanatic for years and teaches his favorite mode of training right here at Chandler MMA – High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Paul has the following fitness related qualifications:
