What Is The Instructors Executive Council?

The TMAA Instructor Executive Council is the international body which looks after all matters related to the spiritual, physical, and ethical execution of our martial arts disciplines around the world.

Comprised of the most senior and experienced National Chief Instructors from around the world, the IEC is charged with setting the standards, expectations, rules, and guidelines for all Triangle clubs and for spearheading and maintaining our focus on meeting the many challenges posed by the TMAA mission statement, goals, and objectives.

At this time, eight seats are available on the IEC of which the three most senior are the of Executive Chief Instructor, Assistant Executive Chief Instructor, and Deputy Executive Chief Instructor.  As TMAA expands to include other nations of the world in our family, each elected National Chief Instructor will be invited to join the IEC and participate fully in the future development of TMAA within their own nation, and worldwide.

Who Are The Members Of The Current Council?

The current IEC is comprised of the following seven members.  (Members are disproportionately drawn from the US at the present time as this is the only country in which we presently have recognized Chief Instructors. We hope that will change very soon.)

INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

Grand Master KJN Ken Craig,
KCTO, TOMM, ECSM, DSCM, PMA
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do 
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Master Craig lives and teaches in San Francisco, California.

Born and raised in Scotland, Ken first experienced the martial arts when serving with the British Army. A highly sought after computer applications designer and project manager, Ken was able to travel the world working for many of the most well known fortune 500 companies as well as many government agencies.

Arriving in the San Francisco / Bay Area in 1991, Ken fell in love with the topography, the climate, and the racial and sexual diversity and decided to make his home here. Beginning his formal martial arts career in San Francisco, Ken ultimately founded and continues to lead not only Triangle Martial Arts Association, but also its flagship club, Triangle TaeKwon-Do Club Castro.

ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

Master Mike Stoyka,
KTO, MMA
5th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
4th Dan TaeKwon-Do

Master Mike Stoyka lives and teaches in San Francisco, California. After some half-hearted attempts at various martial arts forms and a stint at wrestling, a commitment was made at the Taejin Korean Martial Arts school in the Mission District of San Francisco in February of 1995, under the direction of Master Tim Ghormley (now the instructor of the Stanford University Taekwon Do Team).

Upon the school's disbanding a rank of 1st gup was achieved. Grandmaster Marty Marcus (8th dan) then provided his guidance and tutelage in order to complete the training needed for a 1st dan test in December of 1999. After continued training with Master Marcus, and occasional training at Atomic Taekwon Do, Triangle Taekwon Do, and with Professor Bill Dewart (9th dan) over the following couple of years a 2nd dan was earned in August of 2001. In 2003 Mike committed himself to a full formal relationship with TTKDC.

Mike in now an Assistant Chief Instructor with Triangle, as well as a senior instructor with Triangle TaeKwon-Do Castro club. Mike also serves on the Triangle instructors International Executive Council (IEC) and is the Community Action Team (CAT) International Director for Triangle.

DEPUTY ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

Senior Instructor Jim Gardner,
KTO, SMA
3rd Dan TaeKwon-Do
1st Dan HapMoosaKi-Do

Jim Gardner lives and teaches in Louisville, Kentucky.

EXECUTIVE COUNSELLOR

Grand Maser Martin Marcus,
KTO, PMA
9th Dan TaeKwon-Do
3rd Dan Kenpo Karate
(United States of America)

Grand Master Martin Marcus lives and teaches in Concord, California.

EXECUTIVE COUNSELLOR

Master Mike Pierce,
CTO, SMA
4th Dan TaeKwon-Do
2nd Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
(United States of America)

Mike lives and teaches in San Francisco, California. Mike earned his 1st dan from Triangle TaeKwon-Do Castro Club, San Francisco in December 2002, becoming the first student to advance from white belt to black belt within TTKDC, an honor that Mike will always consider among his most treasured. Now a 3rd degree black belt, he serves as an Instructor and Demo Team Co-Captain with TTKDC/Castro.

He joined us as a white belt in 1999 after seeing us in the 1999 SF Gay Pride Parade. Quickly proving to be a dedicated and outstanding student, he was invited to join the instructor corps in 1999 and was subsequently promoted to Senior Assistant Instructor in 2001. Mike had briefly studied martial arts as a teenager in California and Australia and pursuing the study of taekwon do was something he had anticipated for some time. TTKDC/Castro offered him a sterling opportunity to do so within a club and a group of people who share many of the same values he does

EXECUTIVE COUNSELLOR

Senior Instructor Chris Maden,
CTO, SMA
4th Dan TaeKwon-Do
2nd Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
(United States of America)

Chris Maden lives and teaches in San Francisco, California. Chris began studying taekwon do in the sixth grade with Master Chang Kyun Yu (8th dan) at Yu's Academy in Connecticut. He reached the rank of 3rd gup (senior blue belt) before high school began to take up too much time. He returned to taekwon do nearly fourteen years later with TTKDC/SF and finally reached 1st dan with TTKDC eighteen years after his taekwon do journey began.

Chris in now a Chief Instructor with Triangle, leading his own after-school TaeKwon-Do club in San Francisco, as well as a senior instructor and officer with Triangle TaeKwon-Do Castro club. Chris also serves on the Triangle instructors International Executive Council (IEC) and is the Youth Empowerment Program (YES) International Director for Triangle.

EXECUTIVE COUNSELLOR

Senior Instructor Jamye Ford,
KTO, SMA
3rd Dan TaeKwon-Do
1st Gup HapMoosaKi-Do
(United States of America)

Jamye Ford lives and teaches in San Francisco, California.

I began my formal TaeKwon-Do training under the tutelage of Master Steve Kohler in Rockledge, FL in 1986. After obtaining 1st Dan in the summer of 1991, I enjoyed a brief stint as an assistant instructor within the club. Soon thereafter, my path diverged from TaeKwon-Do as high school began to take up a substantial amount of time.

I first became aware of TMAA in the summer of 2002 during Pride festivities in San Francisco. Upon moving to the west coast, I took initial steps toward renewing the study and practice of TaeKwon-Do by joining Triangle in May 2004, 18 years after my journey began.

I'm thankful to have revived interest in the martial arts within a club that promotes confidence, camaraderie, and empowerment within the LGBTQQI community and I'm grateful for the insight, patience, mentorship, and friendship of instructors and fellow students. I'm honored to have joined the instructor corps (August 2004, certified February 2005) and hopes, in time, to return benefit to the organization through growth as a student and instructor.