Sifu Mark Gerry started his training in 1969 at 8 years old at East-West Martial Arts.
In 1976 he started training in Kajukenbo under Robert Gaylord and in Tae Kwon Do with Master Al Sims. In 1983 Sifu received his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and has continued to Train and Teach TKD most of his adult life.
In the 1990s he started training with and received his Kajukenbo (Gaylord Method) Black Belt from GM Hemenes. Over the years to come he train with and assisted GGM CH Gaylord and Grandmaster Eric Lee with seminars, boot camps and many other events all over the USA and the world..Sifu Mark helped put together the Kajukenbo Gaylord Method Training Manual and worked on the family tree. GGM CH Gaylord promoted Sifu Gerry up to 5th Degree Black. .
In 2002, Kajukenbo Founder, Great Grandmaster Sijo Adriano Emperado , contacted Sifu Mark and informed him that he would be directly under him(Sijo).For the years to come Sifu mark would work on Sijos KSDI Hall Of Fame, “Fight Quest Kajukenbo” TV Show and many other Events, In 2004 Kajukenbo Founder Great Grandmaster Sijo Adriano Emperado Promoted Sifu Mark Gerry to 7th degree Black/Red Belt.
Grandmaster Gaylord signed the Certification at the promotion. On July 4, 2011, after the death of GGM Gaylord and Sijo Adriano Emperado, Sigung Mark Gerry was promoted to Professor 8th Degree, Kajukenbo by Great Grandmaster Al Novak (10th Degree KSDI) and 10 other Kajukenbo Grand Masters. Professor Mark Gerry has been training in and teaching Kajukenbo for 44 Years.
Professor Mark Gerry is the highest-ranking Ryukyu Kenpo black belt on the west coast of the USA with the formal title of Grandmaster and the rank of 9th Degree Black Belt.With over 35 years of training and teaching in RK.
He was promoted Sept 1, 2006, inside Shaolin Temple in China to 8th and was promoted to 9th Degree Black Belt on Nov 17, 2012. Sifu also has a 7th degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and ran TKD schools in the east bay. Mark has been in Martial Arts films and TV Shows including, “Death Fighter”- “White Tiger” Filmed in Thailand 2012 with Don Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Matt Mullins, Joe Lewis and a Great cast and crew, Sci-Fighter Filmed in Hollywood starring Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock and Lorenzo Lamas, Martial Medicine, Chasing the Dragon and Combat Mortal all filmed in the USA, and a host of other Films.
As far as TV Sifu Mark Gerry has Been featured in a host of TV News and Talk Shows World Wide. He Worked on “Fight Quest ” a television show on the Discovery Channel that had a preview episode air on December 28, 2007, and began airing weekly on January 4, 2008. The show followed Jimmy Smith and Doug Anderson as they travel around the world learning different styles of martial arts, spending five days training with notable masters of the styles they are studying, before exhibiting what they have learned in a final demonstration and/or fight.
Mark helped with casting, locations, Fights, and Training, He was A big part of Episode10″Kajukenbo” that filmed in San Francisco Bay Area and went on the work as Manager of the Stars of the Show, Jimmy Smith and Doug Anderson.
He has been chronically documented in dozens of martial arts related text and history books written by authors that specialize in martial arts publications and has been a featured inclusion in virtually every martial arts magazine in the world including Black Belt Magazine, Kung Fu Magazine, Tae Kwon Do Times and newspapers Word Wide. demonstration at the top of the Great Wall, inside the Forbidden City, London Hall of Fame, inside the Shaolin Temple in China, for the Royal family of Kuwait, in Moscow with Steven Seagal and Samuel Kwok, and for over 15 years for Ernie Reyes and the West Coast World Martial Arts, Boot Camps, and Black Belt classes and many other countless Great Events. Sifu Gerry has been traveling world wide Teaching and Training many “World Champions” and VIPs. Sifu Mark Gerry developed Advanced Nerve Strike Fighting from a combination of Muay Thai punches, kicks and elbows, Kung fu and Wing Chun high-speed hand strikes, jiu-jitsu locks, brakes and chokes, Kajukenbo street fighting technique, and the full spectrum of traditional and non-traditional Pressure point fighting and Western Nerve Strike Fighting.
The concept of most martial arts is the use of blunt trauma, joint manipulation & Pain, and chokes causing air or blood constriction. Although these can be used in the system the main focus is to concentrate strikes, locks and chokes on Nerve Centers of the body sending direct pain and unconsciousness to the brain.
