Master Jim Van Wicklin, Chief Instructor

Master Van Wicklin is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and a 1st Degree Black Belt in Judo.  Additionally he has trained in American Karate, Mixed Martial Arts, and Jiu Jistu.  Master Jim is currently ranked #6 in the Nation!

Master Jim has been married to his wife for eleven years and together they have three children, Faith (8), Christian (5), and Cross (3).  His family attends church in Murfreesboro, where Jim plays drums on a regular basis.  Jim is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University (B.S.) and the University of Phoenix (M.B.A.).

Master Jim has been studying martial arts for over 19 years. He has won numerous titles for Sparring and Weapons. He is the current National Xtreme Bo Staff National Grand Champion, Xtreme Forms National Champion, Xtreme Kamas National Champion, and National Point Sparring Champion (170-185 lbs.), and a Multi-state Breaking Champion.

Master Jim grew up in Simi Valley, California (20 miles from Los Angeles) where he had the privilege of training under Master Kim who promoted him to 2nd degree black belt.  At the age of 18 he moved to Tennessee and began working at a local Christian based Gymnastics center.  Several years later he took a head coaching job in East Tennessee for the Tumbling & Trampoline Team. Within 2 years, the kids had racked up over 200 gold medals and 23 National Championships.

After some time, Jim and Paula moved back to Middle Tennessee and opened Full Armor Martial Arts & Tumbling, the first facility in the state to have Martial Arts & Tumbling under one roof.

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Master Paula Van Wicklin, Chief Instructor

Master Paula Van Wicklin is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.  She has also trained in Hpakido, Judo, and is a certified group fitness instructor that teaches at several fitness facilities.   Paula is currently ranked #4 in the Nation!

She is a mother of three children, Faith, Christian, and Cross. In addition to teaching at the gym, she loves lifting weights, doing different aerobics and yoga classes, and finding any other ways to sweat and challenge herself.

Master Paula grew up in Danville, Kentucky and Mendota, Illinois, but moved to Tennessee in 1996 to attend Middle Tennessee State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree.  in 2008, she received her Master's Degree from the University of Phoenix. After her third child was born, she found what she really wanted to do is take care of her children and teaching both fitness and Taekwondo.

Paula has been studying martial-arts since 1992, and has trained at several different schools, doing many different styles of Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do. She has loved martial-arts from the beginning because of the confidence, agility, and focus it has taught her.

Paula is the current National Point Sparring Champion, a title she has held for three years now. In addition, she is the Xtreme Kamas National Champion, Xtreme Kamas National Champion, and National Forms Champion.

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Joseph Ridenour, Tumbling Director

Joseph is the Tumbling Director at Full Armor Martial Arts & Tumbling.  Joseph is also an avid martial artist who began with Full Armor 3 years ago and is now ranked #10 in the Nation.

Joseph is currently the Under Black Belt National Xtreme Bo Staff Champion, , Under Black Belt National Xtreme Kamas Champion, Under Black Belt National Xtreme Forms Champion,

He started tumbling in gymnastics when he was 13. After 2 years of gymnastics, he knew that tumbling was his passion, so he began cheerleading.  Because of his quick ability to learn new tumbling skills, he progressed to Elite level cheerleading in only 4 years.

I have been teaching tumbling for the past 4 years to different cheerleading teams and classes. Over the past year I have been doing martial arts, and from that year I was ranked 10th in the nation at the USCDKA Nationals.
 

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Steve Mills, Instructor

Originally from Allen Park, Michigan, Steve began his training in the U.S. Chung Do Kwan system in 1992 at Olympian Chung Do Kwan, Garden City Mi, under the instruction of Sr. Master Christopher Covert. Steve has many years of experience and has been actively involved in school demonstrations, tournament team coaching, tournament refereeing, teaching, instructing and personally competing on local, state and national levels.

As a coach of the Olympian Screaming Eagles tournament team, Steve helped coach many students to championships at the local level as well as the U.S. Tae Kwon Do Jr. Olympics held in locations such as Orlando, FL, Louisville KY, and Tampa FL. Steve has earned many certifications and acknowledgements along the way including USTU referee certification, Hapkido training certification, testing coordinator certification and was twice chosen as “Student of the Year” by his instructor.

One of the greatest things about the Martial Arts is its family atmosphere. For Steve and his wife Terri it has definitely been a “family affair” over the almost two decades of training. Steve’s wife Terri earned the rank of 2nd degree Black Belt, and son’s Ryan and Michael earning their 1st and 2nd degree belts along with Terri’s mother promoting to the rank of 1st degree Black Belt. Steve earned his 3rd degree Black Belt in 2002, and in 2006 he and his family moved to Middle Tennessee where they have continued their training at Full Armor Martial Arts and Tumbling in Murfreesboro.

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Chuck Golden, Instructor

Chuck started his Taekwondo career before he turned six years old! After a 10 year break to explore other hobbies, Chuck returned to Taekwondo in December of 2007 at Full Armor Martial Arts & Tumbling. Since then he has been certified as a USCDKA Referee and Instructor. He received his 2nd degree Black Belt in April of 2009. 

Chuck is currently the National Sparring Champion and National Xtreme Bo Staff Champion.

Chuck was born and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. He received a B.S. in Management from Baker University, where he also was a member of both the tennis and golf teams. Chuck now works full time for State Farm Insurance as a sales analyst.
 

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Meagan McCann, Assistant Instructor

Meagan has been with Full Armor Martial Arts & Tumbling for over 4 years and received her Black Belt in October of 2009.  She is one of the top forms and sparring competitors on the USCDKA Circuit raking up multiple honors, including National Under Rank Champion, and many more.

She is an amazing Assistant Instructor and loves to work with kids, especially Preschoolers.
 

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John Mark George, Assistant Instructor

John Mark George has been with Full Armor Martial Arts & Tumbling for 4 years and received his Black Belt in October of 2009.  He is one of the top Xtreme and Sparring competitors on the USCDKA Circuit and has racked up multiple honors, including National Under Rank Champion, and many more.