MA WEEKLY / OSU! MAGAZINE

Adisa Banjoko, named one of the top 20 under 40 by California's most prestigious magazine, has been a respected journalist for over 15 years and has appeared in the New York Times, The Harvard Archive, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Vibe, Grappling, Yoga Journal, NPR, Pacific News Service, and Allhiphop.com.He most recently founded the Hip-Hop Chess Federation an organization that fuses music, chess and martial arts to promote non-violence, unity and strategy.

Shihan Eric Mercado has been practicing kyokushin karate since 1986 which began at the Kanamura dojo in downtown brooklyn.  In 1991 I left to train at the World Oyama Karate headquarters in manhattan.  That is where he began training to become a fighter. Over the next decade his travels took him to Europe, South America, Central America,the Caribbean, Japan and all over the United States and Canada.       Now he is the director of three locations in the state of Pennsylvania with over 100 students under my guidence.  

 Ahati Kilindi Lyi has been instrumental in the promotion of African Martial Arts community and the general public. He has worked to bring a greater understanding of cross-cultural Martial Art systems through his writings. He has also appeared on the covers of many national and international magazines, such as Inside Kung Fu and Martial Arts Masters. Khalil Maasi is a Martial Artist/ Actor/Writer/Producer, and fight choreographer.The son of the legendary martial arts Grandmaster Shaha Mfundishi Maasi. Khalil has been studying martial arts since the age of 5 years and appeared with his father on ABC Wide World Of Sports at the age of 9 years old.

 Adem is a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt who has been training under his brother Eddie since 2000. During this time he has accumulated  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission wresting titles. Adem is an excellent instructor who has spent time traveling to brazil and all over the United States to train and further his knowledge of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Adem also has a background in western boxing.Adem along with his brother Eddie was given the honor of being the first american to represent Carlos Gracie Jr. and the Gracie Barra team by opening up his Chicago Academy

Dr Peter Goldman is a chiropractor to many of the world's top professional athletes. He has a blackbelt in World Oyama Karate from Soshu Shigeru Oyama and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from John Machado. Dr Pete will discuss how he help save the careers of some of the top athletes in sports.www.sfgoldman.com