Grandmaster
James McMurray
Biography
Grandmaster
James McMurray is the Founder and Director of the House of Discipline
Martial Arts Group based in Harker Heights, Texas, founded in 1983.
He formulated the United Taekwondo Military System and the Moo Hap
Sool Hapkido Society, both of which are currently being taught in
Afghanistan, Canada, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Panama and the United
States. Grandmaster McMurray's martial arts' style has been deemed by
many martial arts, military and police organizations to be one of the
most effective hand-to-hand combat systems in the world.
Grandmaster
McMurray began martial arts training in 1962 when he was 12 and
received his first black belt at 20. For almost five decades he has
studied several martial arts and trained with many renowned teachers
including: Sensei
Ralph
Linquist and Grandmaster George Dillman in Isshinryu, Grandmaster
Jimmie Brown in Moodukkwan/Nammokwan Tangsoodo, Sensei
Lorraine
Lewis in Shoreiryu, Master Michael Echanis in Hwarangdo, Master Owen
McDonald in Okinawa-Te Weapons, and O-Sensei Philip Porter in
Judo/Jujitsu.
Grandmaster
McMurray is also a former Special Forces / U.S. Ranger Combat
Instructor who served two consecutive tours in Vietnam and Southeast
Asia with the 5th Special Forces Group at B-52 (CCC), and later
TF2AE. He is a qualified sniper, an expert in unarmed self-defense,
and adept at unconventional warfare. He also specializes in “silent
sentry takeout” via pressure points, strangulation and bladed
weapons.
To
constantly enrich his skills, Grandmaster McMurray has attended a
countless number of seminars. A few of his exemplary instructors
include:
• Bill
“Superfoot” Wallace
• Joe
Lewis
• Remy
Presas
• Michael
DeAlba
• Rudy
Timmerman
• Kathy
Long
Although
he has advanced rank in many martial arts, Grandmaster McMurray calls
the Korean martial arts his home. He was the first African American
to be a certified Grandmaster in the World Kido Federation under 10th
Degree Supreme Grandmaster In Sun Seo of Korea, and is the Texas
state representative for that organization. In addition, Grandmaster
McMurray currently serves on the National Board of Directors for the
United States Martial Arts Association.
Grandmaster
McMurray confesses that he loves investigating the inner power
techniques of Hwarangdo and Hapkido called “Nei Gong,” the art of
advanced mind control that can directly affect the life force of
human and animal bodies. He has demonstrated this technique by making
his body as hard as metal as military vehicles rolled across him,
snapping metal tipped arrows that were pushed against his throat, and
exploding slabs of stone under his powerful blow. He continues to
seek mastery of himself and his art through the knowledge of
acupressure and acupuncture techniques.
Several
magazines rate Grandmaster McMurray as one of the top weapons experts
in the United States, including Karate Illustrated, Black Belt,
Official Karate, Taekwondo Journal and Traditional Taekwondo. He has
been inducted—along with notable martial artists Chuck Norris, Abel
Villareal, Pat Burleson, Roy Kurban and Linda Denley—into the Teas
Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
Several
military units and police departments have benefited from Grandmaster
McMurray’s training in unarmed and “personal armed”
self-defense and “suspect control” techniques. Among others, he
has trained: the Bell County Law Enforcement & Correctional
Facility Personnel, the Fayetteville Police Department, the German
Polizei, the Harker Heights Police Department, the Killeen Police
Department, the North Carolina Highway Patrol and the U.S. Army
Military Police. He is also currently the U.S. Military Martial Arts
Coordinator and Advisor to III Corps & Fort Hood.
Grandmaster
McMurray has also developed restraining techniques for medical
personnel to deal with unstable patients. He has trained over 15,000
United States soldiers and their family members in self-defense, and
the National Organization of Women (N.O.W.) has used his techniques
to teach anti-rape/anti-abuse classes.
Concerned
about the direction and options for today’s youth, Grandmaster
McMurray constantly teaches martial arts, life skills and leadership
to children and teens. For more than 30 years he has coached several
youth and youth teams to win state, national and international
martial arts titles.
Grandmaster
McMurray constantly shares his vast knowledge of martial arts, life
skills and leadership through his exciting and thought-provoking
seminars.
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Grandmaster James
McMurray
Martial
Arts Styles
Japanese
(1962-1969)
• Aiki-Jujitsu
• Kenpo
• Isshinryu/Uechiryu
• Shotokan
Okinawan
(1973-1978)
• Okinawan-Te
• Okinawan
Weapons
• Shorei
Ryu
Chinese
(1975-1978)
• Southern
Hon Gar
• Southern
Praying Mantis
Korean
(1969-Present)
• ATA
(Songahm)
• Chang
Moo Kwan
• Hapkido
• Hwa
Rang Do
• ITF
(Chon-hon)
• Kuk
Sool Won
• Moo
Duk Kwan
• Nammo
Kwan Tang Soo Do
• Soo
Bahk Do
• Tang
Soo Do
• WTF
(Chung Do Kwan)
