About Us
We strive to help develop our student's character and produce better citizens though the Martial Arts and not just produce militant, carbon copy fighters. We believe students can learn discipline and respect with out many of the harsh, old school tactics and have fun doing it. We try to promote a real world use of respect and manners in the Dojo. We consider this a more natural and realistic way to teach kids about respect. After years of seeing older students held back by the limits of the younger kids, the younger kids struggling to keep up with the advanced techniques, and what Bruce Lee referred to as "the classical mess" our founder, Sensei Kim, decided to start her own blended style, just for kids, and separate them by age......and so Blue Dragon Martial Arts was born. We soon added the first 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu program just for kids, followed by a Muay Thai Kickboxing program for kids. To learn more specifics about each of the classes we offer, go here.
Instructors
Sensei Kim
Head Instructor & Founder
Sensei Kim has been involved in the Martial Arts for over 16 years and teaching kids for the last 10years. She holds the rank of Black Belt in Tenshin-Kai Karate and was the first woman in that style to be given a title. She continued her training by adding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Gi) under 5x women's world Jiu-Jitsu champion, Leka Vieira, at her studio in Torrance and earned her blue belt under Leka. After Leka retired in '06 Sensei began working on No Gi Jiu-Jitsu in Hollywood at 10th Planet HQ. She now trains exclusively No-Gi and recently earned her Brown Belt under Master Bravo(founder of 10th Planet and the Rubber Guard). She continues training and competing in No Gi grappling, mostly at BDMA under Eddie Bravo and Jared Carlsten in our Adult Programs and supplements other Martial Arts through seminars, books and DVDs. She has also been children CPR and safety certified, was a foster parent, dog behaviorist and has taken many seminars, classes and courses on child development, behavior and parenting including experience with ADHD, ADD, OCD, ODD, RAD and more.
Sensei Kim's Accomplishments
- Teaching title, Tenshin-Kai Karate, 2000
- Black Belt, Tenshin-Kai Karate, 2001
- Started training Jiu Jitsu with Leka Vieira 2004
- 1st place/Gold, National American Jiu-Jitsu Championships (white,140) 2004
- 1st place/Gold, International Jiu-Jitsu championships (white,140) 2004
- 1st and 2nd place/Gold&Silver, Cleber Luciano Friendship tourn. 2004
- 2nd place/Silver, Wander Braga friendship tournament 2005
- 2nd Place/Silver, Copa Pacifica 2006
- Blue belt from Leka Vieira Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 2005
- 2nd Place/Silver, Pan Ams 2006
- 2nd Place/Silver, Pan Am No-Gi
- 2nd Place/Silver National American Jiu-Jitsu Championships (blue, 145) 2006
- Added No-Gi training in 10th Planet System at HQ '06
- Started training with Wander Braga '07
- Leka retired, and after being injured and out for a year, Kim decided to focus on No-Gi. She started training exclusively with Eddie Bravo.
- 1st place/Gold, Spring Ground Fighting, Women's Open, 2008
- Opened Blue Dragon in Burbank 10-15-08
- Got 10th Planet Affiliation 12-08
- 2nd place/Silver Abu Dhabi regional. 5-23-09
- 1st place/Gold US Open
- Purple Belt from Master Bravo 6-23-09
- 1st place/Gold- Grapple X Tuff Luv 2-14-10
- 1st Place/Gold Grappling X-Murriettta
- 1st Place/Gold Grapplers Quest UFC-Vegas 2010
- Received her brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu 9-11
- Current Jiu-Jitsu/Grappling record 34-15
Jonathan Sempai
Instructor - "Shidoin"
Jonathan Sempai is the assistant instructor for all kids programs, and holds a brown belt in Karate under Sensei Kim. Prior to coming to Blue Dragon, Jonathan worked with "at risk" kids in Arizona, and is currently working on his teaching credentials in California. In addition to Karate, Jonathan actively trains and competes in Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai Kickboxing. Él también habla con fluidez el español!
Kru Alan
Muay Thai Instructor
Alan Jouban teaches our Kid's Muay Thai Kickboxing classes. Alan is a professional MMA fighter with a pro record of 6-1-0, an amateur mma record of 5-0-0, and an amateur Muay Thai record of 10-0-0. Alan fights in the welterweight class at 170 lbs, and has won most of his pro mma fights with Knock outs or submissions. Alan started his career at The Bomb Squad Gym (later becoming Legends MMA), and is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu in 10th planet under Eddie Bravo. Alan has honed his Muay Thai skills in Thailand training with some of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world.
Kru Karen
Muay Thai Instructor & Business Manager
Karen started our kids Muay Thai kickboxing program after having trained for 6 years in Muay Thai. She grew up with sports all her life, and received a full ride scholarship for athletics in college. After working for the Walt Disney Company in animation for nearly 15 years, she resigned to help start Blue Dragon Martial Arts as one of its owners and the Business Manager. She is also a purple belt under Eddie Bravo in 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.
Julian
Jr. Instructor - "Junshi"
Julian is an assistant instructor for the Lil' and Blue Dragon's classes. He is a brown belt in Karate and a green belt in Jiu Jitsu, and has trained with Sensei Kim for over 11 years, her longest training student to date.
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The Gym
The studio is over 2,000 square feet with over 1,400 feet of state of the art competition mat floor, heavy bags, Thai pads and focus mitts, and an MMA fence. We have a spacious waiting area with a projector, TV, video games, and toys and books for the kids, and wi-fi internet connectivity for the parents. In addition to a changing room, and restroom facilities (which you'd expect), we also have a permanent climbing wall for the kids (which maybe you didn't expect).
