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About Mountain Karate Academy

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Our Staff

Master Paul Maglionico has been studying karate since he was five years old.
He earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan under the instruction
of Rich Gross when he was 14 years old. He has continued to learn and
earned his 4th degree, Sa Dan Black Belt, which is a Master rank, in the
summer of 2008. He was recently honored by the Eastern USA International
Martial Arts Association, being nominated and inducted into the Black Belt Hall
of Fame. He also earned the Instructor of the Year award. Paul continues to
learn and advance in rank under the instruction of Rich Gross and Master
Fagliarone and the guidance of Grandmaster John Kanzler of the EUSAIMAA

2009 Master Paul was awarded the Pinnacle Award of Success by Grandmaster
Kanzler.
2010 Master Paul was awarded Outstanding Contribution to the Martial Arts

Master Paul Maglionico

Master Rich Gross

Master Rich earned his black belt in 1994, having trained at Mountain Karate in Mount
Pocono and other area schools.
He moved to the Lehighton area in 2004 and started training with Rich and Paul
Maglionico, whom he had trained with in years past. In 2006 he passed the torch of
Mountain Karate to Paul Maglionico, but continues to train Paul so he may further his
degrees of black belt.
Rich was inducted into the EUSAIMAA Black Belt Hall of Fame in 1999, and also
received the Instructor of the Year at that time. He has taught many young adult and
kids groups, in addition to scouts and mall security organizations. He continues to
study and train in the art of Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan.
2010 Master Rich was awarded Master of the Year by the EUSAIMAA

Rich Maglionico

Rich Maglionico originally began training in the Martial Arts in 1966 in
N.J., learning Japanese style karate. He relocated to the Pocono
Mountains in 1986 and shortly after that, he began training in Tang
Soo Do. He earned his black belt in 1997. Rich also trained in Judo
while stationed at Kunson Air Force Base in Korea under Master Ho
in 1969. He achieved the rank of San Kyu (third degree brown belt).
He was president of the Judo club at Langley Air Force Base in
VIrginia, competing in tournaments with other bases until he was
honorably discharged in 1971. In 1982 Rich put together the easy to
execute and very effective Women's Self Defense program.
Instructor Rich has been inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame
and received "Instructor of the Year" for 2009
Rich was also just promoted to 3rd Dan Black Belt.

Master John Fagliarone

Master John started training in the traditional Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do in
1985 in a small school in Tannersville at the age of 32. In 1986, John took first place in
the men's forms division at a World Tang Soo Do Association world championship
tournament in Philadelphia, Pa.
In 1988 John earned his first degree black belt, and opened his first karate school at
AT&T the following year. John taught traditional Tang Soo Do at this school as well as
numerous self-defense courses for AT&T employees. John successfully tested for
second-degree black belt in 1990.
In 1994 John opened Moo Shim Martial Arts Academy in Washington, New Jersey
where he trained and prepared many students that went on to become black belts with
the organization. Also that same year, John attained his third-degree black belt.
John was nominated and inducted into the International Eastern Alliance Martial Arts
Hall of Fame in 1998, as Martial Artist Man of the Year for his dedication and martial
arts instruction of today's youth. He has received numerous awards and
commendations for outstanding dedication and support of the World Tang Soo Do
Association. Today he holds a fourth degree black belt, promoted through the Eastern
U.S.A. International Martial Arts Association, under the guidance of Grandmaster John
Kanzler.
John is also marketing and manufacturing his custom acrylic weapons for which he
has patent pending status on his designs.
2010 Master John was awarded Master Instructor of the Year by the EUSAIMAA

Sharyl Maglionico

Sharyl is the administrator,
secretary, receptionist, and the
person to go to with questions
about Mountain Karate Academy.
With many years experience as a
karate wife and mom, she is the
one who can address all
concerns that are important to
parents whose children are just
beginning their martial arts
journey.

Dane O'Brien

Dane currently holds the rank of 2nd degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo, and Hapkido. He
is a certified instructor and competitor for the United National Martial Arts Federation. He began training
at the age of four years old. Dane says " People start taking Martial Arts for a wide variety of reasons;
whether it be physical fitness, a hobby, a sport, or self-defense. I started because I lacked confidence
in myself. Through training, I met a lot of people and made many friends. I found that being a Martial
Artist meant being a good person, not necessarily a good fighter. Through training, I learned to believe
in myself more because the people around me believed in me. This is the reason I decided to teach
Martial Arts."

When Dane was ten he started competing. He competed in many Local, National qualifier and
Internatiojnal tournaments. He got interested in competing from some of the students he trained with,
such as Tom Verastro, Manny Duran, and especially Jeremy Hrabovecky. He competed in Olympic
style Taikwondo and Full contact Hapkido tournaments. In 2006 he won the Gold medal for fighting in
the National Karate Championships in Troy, NY.
In 2007, he won the Gold Medal for fighting in the A.A.U. National Championships. In 2008 he was
ranked seventh in the world for fighting in the International Olympic Taekwondo Championship
tournament sponsored by the A.A. U. and invited to the U.S. Open. He is coached by Jeremy
Hrabovecky who was ranked fifth in the world at age 19 for fighting in the U.S. Open. He was coached
by Jean Lopez, who also coached his brother Steven Lopez to two Olympic Gold Medals (2000 and
2004)

Grandmaster John Kanzler

Grandmaster John C. Kanzler/Soke is the Executive
Director of the Eastern U.S.A. International Martial Arts
Association. He is the Founder/Headmaster of the
American Training System of Self Defense International,
Inc. and the Chancellor of Martial Arts for the EUSAIMAA
College of Martial Arts and Advanced Education. Mountain
Karate Academy is proud to be affiliated with the EUSAIMAA
and Grandmaster Kanzler.

Gail has been enthusiastic about
exercise her entire life, and has
recently joined Mountain Karate
Academy as our Aerobic Kickboxing
Instructor. She is professionally
trained and certified with the AFPA.
Her class is a high energy, aerobic
workout.

Gail Bauer