User:Thomasfelder

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Thomas L. Felder
!! The Official Website for Tensho Goju |-
 * Thomas L. Felder began his martial arts journey with studies of karate at ten years old after being bullied in Queens, New York schools. He later began studying Wing Chun Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do.

In 1981, Felder enlisted in the United States Army Signal Corps. At his first duty station in Massachusetts, he met Sensei David L. Wynn of the Ft. Devens Chinese Goju Dojo who mentored him closely through the years.

In 1983 he earned his Black Belt in Chinese Goju and soon relocated to Germany. During his eight-year tenure he opened Chinese Goju dojos in Germersheim, Worms and Dexhiem Germany in addition to becoming an active member of Teach’s Universal Martial Arts Association (TUMAA) founded by Master Freddie L. Giddens a.k.a Teach. He and Renshi Wynn reconnected in Bremerhaven Germany where he earned his 2nd Degree Black in Chinese Goju. He earned a promotion to 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do by Master Michael Dials in 1984. “Teach” guided him to coordinate and direct combined martial art tournaments. Consequently, he organized the 1st American German Open Martial Arts Tournament in Worms Germany. He was then promoted by “Teach” to the rank of 3rd Degree Black Belt. Later he successfully launched three more Open German American Martial Arts Championships in the towns of Worms and Dexheim Germany between 1997-1999.

During Operation Desert Storm and Operation Provide Comfort, he directed a Close Quarters Hand-to-Hand Combat School and trained over one hundred students at Incirlik Airbase, Turkey.

Shortly after he relocated to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1991, he opened two Chinese Goju schools. There he had the pleasure to meet Kyoshi James E. McCall, whom they instantly connected and became the best of friends. Kyoshi McCall, eventually promoted him to 4th Degree Black Belt. Time Warner Cable broadcasts his show weekly entitled “Self Defense for All Ages”. He also received lifetime membership certification as an Armed Forces Close Engagement Tactics Instructor, by the President of Armed Forces Combative, Professor Leonard C. Holifield. This accomplishment fueled his development of a 40-hour training certification program in Close Engagement Tactics for Airborne and Special Reactionary Forces.

He also had the opportunity to train soldiers in Haiti and Panama before he relocated to Korea in 1995. There he opened a Chinese Goju school at Camp Casey and was a headline on AFKN evening news for establishing the 2nd Tank Combined Martial Arts Training Program consisting of American and Korean (Katusa) soldiers. He was a special featured demonstrator during the Camp Casey Independence Day Expo, as well as director of the MWR Armed Forces Women’s Self Defense Seminar 1996.

When he returned to Fort Bragg he opened Chinese Goju schools at Pope Air Force Base and Rosehill Road, Fayetteville NC. Kyoshi McCall often appeared as a special guest on his cable show. Kyoshi McCall promoted him to the rank of 5th Degree Black Belt. They later developed the Golden Dragon Karate Chi system. The Karate Chi Master’s coordinated and directed the 1st Annual Open Golden Dragon Martial Arts Championship at Pope AFB in the year 1999.

He returned to Germany in 2000, where he opened a Karate Academy in the town of Neubruecke. Later in 2000 he was deployed for hostile engagement in Kosovo and trained hundreds of soldiers in his Golden Dragon Karate Chi academy. He coordinated and directed the first martial arts tournament in hostile territory for the Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR).

In 2001, he accepted the invitation to attend a Chinese Goju Board Round Table event presided by Grandmaster Ron Van Clief and Soke Glen Perry in Cuernavaca Mexico. There he agreed to return to Chinese Goju and was presented the rank of 6th Degree Black Belt. In September 2001, he was inducted into the World Hall of Fame by the World Head of Family Sokeship Council (WHFSC), as Master Instructor of the Year.

In January 2003, he deployed for a 4th hostile engagement tour, “Iraqi Freedom”, which he ceased every available opportunity to train combat soldiers in the desert of Kuwait, as well as opening an Armed Forces Martial Arts School in Baghdad. During this deployment Grandmaster Ron Van Clief announced his 7th Degree Black Belt promotion and lifetime membership in Chinese Goju.

He returned to the United States in late 2003 and established a Chinese Goju Academy in Lawton, Oklahoma. He has since directed Self Defense Workshops at Fort Polk, Louisiana, Fort Monmouth and Lakehurst Navy Base, New Jersey, Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Ft. Hamilton, New York. Additionally, he received first hand training in martial art choreography by Grandmaster Ron Van Clief during a movie shoot in New York.

In 2006, he was promoted to 8th Degree Red Belt and appointed to Soke of the Chinese Goju International by Grandmaster Ron Van Clief. Later he was selected by Grandmaster Ron Van Clief to direct, “The Ron Van Clief Cup Martial Arts Classic” held in St. Thomas US Virgin Island. There he received the Master in Action Award. On December 24, 2008, Grandmaster Ron Van Clief promoted him to the rank and title of “9th Degree Red Belt, Hanshi” in the Chinese Goju system. Shidoshi Van Clief charged him to develop his own contemporary system, which gave birth to “Tensho Goju” effective January 1, 2009. Subsequently in 2009, he was presented the "Founders Award '' for Tensho Goju by the world's prestigious Grandmasters council (WHFSC), for official global recognition of Tensho Goju.

In 2010, he was inducted in the Action Martial Art Hall of Honors for Exemplary Dedication to the Martial Arts - 35 Years Golden Life Award. In September of 2011, he was inducted in the Soke Little John Davis Black Belt Hall of Fame. He also won 1st Place Forms Grand Champion, during the USA 2016 International Martial Arts Open Invitational Championship.

On October 4, 2019 he was promoted to the rank and title of 10th Degree Red Belt and given the title “Shidoshi”. The Certification was signed by Shidoshi Ron Van Clief and Shidoshi Glenn Perry, to include witnessed by esteemed Grandmaster’s David Wynn, James Lew, Kevin McGrath, Haisan Kaleak, Tayari Casel, O’Sensei Rico Guy, Anthony D. Lingo and Tanya Jones. In addition, he was acknowledged by Grandmaster Pierre Rene with an induction in the Martial Arts History Awards Hall of Fame in 2019.

August 2021, he was inducted into the esteemed 2021 Ultimate Warriors Hall of Fame. He also took 1st Place in the Ultimate Warrior Cup Championship Black Belt Forms Division. He continues to train students and compete worldwide.



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