Jay Haynes' Instructors

Over the years, I have trained with many different martial arts instructors. Listed here are many (but not all) of the teachers that I have learned from in mostly chrological order.

Sincerely,

Jay Haynes

Charles Nelson, Sabunim

Charles Nelson was my very first instructor in the martial arts. I started my training in early 1982, and it was at the "Charles Nelson ATA Fitness Center" on the corner of Academy and Maizeland in Colorado Springs. I trained there for approximately three years before receiving my first black belt, under Mr. Nelson. Unfortunately, the "Charles Nelson ATA Fitness Center" went out of business, and I was left to my own devices. That's when I began to branch out, and I trained with several individuals over a very short period of time (Mark Roddenberry, Karyn Turner, and Bill Barton to name a few), before I found Dan Swenson.

Dan E. Swenson, Sabunim

I began training with Dan Swenson in 1985. He ran a very successful TaeKwonDo school in Boulder, CO, and came to Colorado Springs to take over the Air Force Academy martial arts program. While here, he taught at my school. He trained under Fred Wren in the Allen Steen lineage of "Tex-Kwon Do" or "Blood and Guts" karate out of Texas. Dan Swenson was the first really great fighter that I had the opportunity to train under. While in my previous training I learned a lot of very good techniques, I didn't really learn how to how to apply them until Dan Swenson came along. He really taught me how to fight! Then, later on, Terry Bryan polished my fighting skills. Although I did not have the opportunity to train with Mr. Swenson for very long, I learned a tremendous amount. Probably the most important thing I learned was that I needed to broaden my martial arts horizons if I was to be truly successful.

Terry L. Bryan, Hanshi

I originally met Terry Bryan in 1985. He came into my dojang (TaeKwonDo school) to teach a seminar on Shorin Kempo. At the time, I was only 17, and he was known as the best fighter in the Pikes Peak region. I only remember one thing from that seminar, and that was a saying he used: "I would rather be judged by twelve than buried by six." What that meant was, in a life and death self-defense situation, you may need to pull out all of the stops in order to live. That concept has stuck with me ever since. Five years later, in 1990 (after I completed my undergraduate degree), a friend of mine, Steve Warntjes, re-introduced me to Terry Bryan. He was running a full-time commercial karate school, the American Black Belt Academy, and I began teaching for him full time shortly thereafter. I have been teaching karate professionally ever since. I worked for Mr. Bryan for four years and learned more about running a karate school from him than anyone else, before or since. As a result, I owe my entire professional life to him. Had I not learned the ropes there, it is highly unlikely that I would have made it to the degree of success that I have in this business, if I had made it at all. In 1994 I purchased my current karate school from Mr. Bryan, and I have been here ever since. Also, Terry Bryan is the person who introduced me to most of the great martial artists that I have ever met! Some of these people include Ridgley Abel, George Anderson, Eric Alexander, Ken Baker, Ray Barerra, Jesse Clay, Fumio Demura, Jerry Ferguson, John Graden, Roger Greene, Tokey Hill, Dan Kennedy, Tak Kubota, Brendan Lai, Larry Lamz, Laura Lang, Jim Mather, Stan Mattson, Dennis Palumbo, Regan Salamander, Miguel Serrano, Zenpo Shimabukuro, Dan Smith, Katsutaka Tanaka, and Julius Thiry. This has been very valuable to me, because knowing and training with these people has resulted in my continued journey down the martial arts path. I have always had the highest level of respect for Terry Bryan and owe a great deal to the man who gave me the tools to pass down the mantle of the martial art to future generations.

Eric Alexander, Guro

I first met Eric Alexander in the early 1990's when I was teaching for Terry Bryan. He was good friends with Mr. Bryan, and came to teach at the dojo. He immediately made an impression on me because of his incredibly sincere faith in God, a magnitude of which I have rarely seen. He was also an amazing fighter. He had the uncanny ability to read anyone's telegraphs like a book! Then he used that information to wipe the floor with him. But what I liked most was to train in Arnis (stick fighting) with Mr. Alexander. Put a stick in this man's hand and he was like poetry in motion. In 1997 I had the opportunity to travel with Mr. Alexander to a Modern Arnis seminar taught by Professor Remy Presas in Michigan. While there, we stayed in the same room. I soaked everything up that he had to say, about the martial arts... and life. Mr. Alexander is truly a great influence to anyone fortunate enough to come in contact with him.

Kenneth Baker, Hanshi

I originally met Ken Baker in 1998 when I traveled to Kansas City with Eric Alexander to my first MYB Clinic. Since then, I have had to opportunity to train with him on and off. I really got to know him very well when he attended one of my classes on Arnis at Dan Kennedy's Elite Retreat in 2006. Imagine that, a guy with high level black belts in Arnis, Tai Chi, Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Judo, Jujitsu, Kobujitsu, and Qi Gong wanting to step into a seminar with a (lowly ranked) Fifth Degree Black Belt, me, simply to learn. On the same day, I also trained in Mr. Baker's Jujitsu seminar, and I helped Terry Bryan teach a Tiger-Crane Set seminar that Mr. Baker also attended. Needless to say, I was very impressed with his passion to learn the martial arts, his incredible martial arts knowledge base, and his unassuming attitude toward his own abilities. I am proud to have a Rokudan (Sixth Degree Black Belt Rank) in karate under Ken Baker.

Federico Lazo, Grand Master Arnisador

I was originally introduced to Grandmaster Lazo by Professor Ken Baker in 2006. I had a lot of previous training in Arnis, but the techniques, principles, and concepts that Grandmaster Lazo was teaching were truly astonishing and unlike anything that I had seen before. I quickly realized that I wanted to keep learning from him. I then spent the next two years learning everything that I could from him. Even though he was in Florida, I was able to get dozens of contact hours with him and when I wasn't personally training with him, I was studying videos that I had. I even formed a special class to teach the material that he taught me. In April, 2008, I was honored to test for and earn a first degree black belt in Luzviminda Arnis under Grandmaster Lazo and his son, Master Rick Lazo! I look forward to many more years of training with Grandmaster Lazo!