In the summers of 1998 and 1999 he attended the Tiger Karate( in Mechanicsburg, PA) dojo's summer discipline survival camp. At the camp he trained with Hapkido Grand Master Il Choi. At the 2000 karate special training camp Aaron himself also attended.
He told me of the 6 real life self defense situations in his life.
The first one involved another young man named John Miller Jr. putting him in a bear hug hold. Aaron then threw him over his back.
The second one invloved three young men by the names of (280lbs, 6'3") Brian Kolak, Derek Gahrman and Gregary Hurley attacking him at once. First Kolak tried to punch Aaron. Aaron countered it with an elbow strike to Kolak's hand. Then Gahrman tried to punch Aaron. Aaron dodged it and Gahrman wound up punching the wall instead. Then young Gregory tried to kick Aaron. Aaron kicked Gregory in his shin before Gregory could kick him.
The next one involved Nicholas Rogers lunging at Aaron. Aaron swiftly threw Nicholas down with a martial arts throw.
The next 'battle' involved young Joshua Herold advancing towards Aaron to attack him. Aaron did two quick front kicks. Joshua told Aaron that he was a 3rd degree black belt and caught each kick. Aaron then decided to not hold back and gave Joshua a palm strike right under his chin. Abruptly knocking him out.
The next one involved a 6'2" 260 man who's name is unknown. This aggressor tried to punch Aaron at a rock concert. Aaron punched him before the aggressor could hit him. The aggressor was knocked out by the punch.
Aaron's 'final fight' involved a 6'4" 300 pound man also who's name is unknown to him. They were in the
walk-in cooler at their summer job at a local diner. Then the 300 pound man then abruptly turned out the lights and tried to punch Aaron. Aaron punched him before he could. The 300 pound man put his arms over his head in agony. He neck bone was cracked by the punch. The next day he came into work with a neck brace on and had to take some time off for his neck to heal so that he could fully turn his head again.
He also told me of his 3 favorite Full Contact Karate Matches. In the summer of 2000, he traveled to a Tang Soo Do Studio in Newport, Pennsylvania. During the sparring segment of the class, he had matches against a Navy Seal on leave and a Karate Expert who earned his black belt in Okinawan, Japan. Aaron easily defeated them much to his own astonishment. Then the Dojo Sensei challenged Aaron to a match. Aaron defeated him in 11 seconds, after having toppled him over with an uppercut to his abdomen. The work of a true ninja indeed.
It was that same summer that he founded Jaguar Style Kung Fu.
Aaron taught martial arts at a local gym for 3 years from 1999 through 2001.
He also was completely undefeated not just as a street fighter but also as a competitor in the ring as well.
His official Match record when he retired was:
Full Contact Karate:131/0/0
Kickboxing:30/0/0
Boxing:22/0/0
NHB:8/0/0
Vale Tudo:6/0/0
Wrestling:5/0/0
Jujitsu:3/0/0
At the Karate Tournament on City Island in 2001, he put on a demonstration that astounded the crowd students and masters alike. Here are some of the estimated top 100 martial artists:
1.)Bruce Lee
2.)Jackie Chan
3.)Yip Man(Lee's Teacher)
4.)Wong Fei Hong
5.)Muhammad Ali
6.)Jet Li
7.)Chuck Norris
8.)Jean-Claude Van Damme
68.)Aaron Laird
Though the rank of 68th isn't close to the top simply being ranked in the top 100 martial artists of all time is an honor for any martial artist.
Notably Yip Man, Aaron Laird, and Wong Fei Hong are not as well known as the others due to movies and professional boxing giving the others more exposure to a wider audience.
Aaron's clock time for doing 8 hand strikes within one second and his striking force of roughly 400 PSI with a hoping side kick secured his place in the International Karate & Kickboxing Hall of Fame.
Only disciplined, honorable, experts of the highest order, and humble martial artists are even mentioned in the I.K.K.H.F., the most highly esteemed Martial Arts Hall of Fame in the world.
Jaguar style, or Won Shu Gon, was first started with Jaguar style kung-fu. Now Jaguar martial arts also include Jaguar style karate, Jaguar style Jujitsu, and Wildcat style kung-fu. As customary with Jaguar systems there are no conventional katas or forms. Jaguar style karate involves 15 basic karate moves. It is kept simple yet effective. It is left to the judgment of the instructor which 15 moves will be incorporated when they teach it. Moves such as the axe kick or jump kicks other than the tornado kick are to be omitted. This is done for the sake of practicality. Jaguar style Jujitsu involves a system with little difference than Japanese Jujitsu. The one difference is that students can be promoted numerous ranks at the same time based on increasing skill level. Also students can be demoted in rank if their skill level shows a recognizable decrease. In most cases of students advancing more than 1-2 ranks at the same time they would have already taken 1-3 years of lessons. Also there are no belt tests in Jaguar style martial arts. In Jaguar style Karate & Jujitsu students are given ranks as their skill level progresses. Finally in Wildcat style kung-fu there is a combination of three "cat" styles of kung-fu. Jaguar style, Tiger style and Leopard style. This is an important progression in Jaguar style kung-fu since it was intended to be coupled with at least 1 other style. Not to be used as a stand alone martial art. First of all Jaguar style kung-fu incorporates:
front side kick, reverse side kick, back spinning side kick, elbow strike, jaguar stance, jaguar strike, reverse jaguar strike, spinning side kick demonstration, 1080 degree whirlwind kick demonstration, 1080 degree triple hurricane kick demonstration.
Also incorporated in Wildcat style kung-fu are:
front Tiger scratch, side Tiger scratch, Tiger strike (to the throat), Tiger palm strike, Rising Tiger strike, Leopard jab, Leopard stance.
