Jason Farnsworth Bio

Last Updated November 28, 2001 7:40 pm mst
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Bio: "Jason Farnsworth"

Jason’s interest in the martial arts began one day
while he was visiting with a friend. The friend
invited Jason to visit his Karate class. Jason gladly
accepted the invitation and was anxious to experience
the class he had heard so much about. After viewing
only a portion of his friend’s class, Jason knew this
is where he wanted to start his training. On July 16,
1989, Jason officially started his first martial arts
class. The instructor’s name was Mr. Jacques Tarr.
The school’s name was Mid-Ohio Martial Arts Training
Academy. The school’s disciplines were a mixture of
Tae Kwon Do, Shorin-Ryu Karate, and Aikido. During my
training with Mr. Tarr, around April of 1991, Jason
had the opportunity to engage in full-contact
kickboxing. During his brief involvement in
kickboxing, 5 months to be exact, Jason was able to
fight in two contests. Jason was still in high school
during this time, and decided to go back to wrestling
when the season officially started. After several
years of devoted study, Jason earned his first degree
black belt on February 26, 1993. Jason was also
promoted by Mr. Tarr to the rank of second degree
black belt on August 19, 1997.

In June of 1994, Jason’s job transferred him to a new
town. His new job location was quite a long distance
from Mr. Tarr’s school, causing Jason to seek out a
new instructor. Steve Hatfield’s Panther Kenpo Karate
Studio was located just down the street from Jason’s
employer, and after a visit to investigate, Jason
enrolled on June 2, 1994. Jason’s initial feeling was
one of awe. Jason’s prior experiences in the martial
arts to this point provided him with a solid
foundation for learning the Kenpo system. Kenpo was
unlike anything Jason had ever seen before. There
were so many new things to see and learn about Kenpo,
and the intricate movements were simply astonishing.
Not that his prior training was to be forgotten , but
Jason soon felt that Kenpo would always be his base
and foundation for future learning and teaching.
Jason’s proudest accomplishment was on November 13,
1998 when Jason earned his first degree black belt in
American Kenpo. Without lessening the importance of
his other promotions, Jason found the first degree
black belt test in Kenpo to be the most difficult and
grueling he had ever faced. For Jason, it was a
humbling and proud moment to be among others to have
achieved the rank of black belt in the American Kenpo
style.

With an ever present thirst for knowledge, Jason is
continually trying to learn more and improve his
skills. In his quest to become a better teacher and
student of American Kenpo, Jason places skill-refining
seminars at the top of his list of important
activities. Two years ago, Jason met an extremely
knowledgeable Jiu-Jitsu instructor named Shawn
Chitwood, with whom he has trained occasionally. Mr.
Chitwood’s strong teaching and technical skills have
allowed Jason to broaden his knowledge base and
improve his overall abilities as a martial artist.
Specifically, Mr. Chitwood has worked with Jason
individually to sharpen his ground fighting skills and
change his perspective from one of ordinary wrestling
to one of ground fighting and submission techniques.
Jason has been able to close some holes in his martial
arts training with Mr. Chitwood’s help. It has been
just over 12 years since Jason martial arts training
began. Jason has no plans to quit and cannot wait to
see what the future holds.

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