Saul has almost 3 decades of martial arts experience and has been teaching striking at our Watsonville location since 2013.He started his martial arts career with Taekwondo when he was 6 years old and encourages all parents to enroll their children in martial arts at a young age.

Saul was ranked #1 in his weight and black belt rank division from 2006-2009 and was the Hawaii State Taekwondo Champion 3 years in a row. In 2008, he placed 5th at the Taekwondo Nationals in Detroit, Michigan. In 2012, he received his 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo. He started branching out into other martial arts in 2009 which included kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, & MMA. Saul currently is a 3rd degree blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He received his Kickboxing black belt under Francis Farley in 2014.

When not teaching, Saul is a Realtor® at Keller Williams Realty, Santa Cruz. So, you can feel confident asking him about both roundhouses and round houses. He enjoys spending time with his wife, who also is an accomplished marital artist and their son, Ezren.

“My favorite thing about martial arts is that it provides an outlet for so many different types of people. If you’re dealing with anything outside of the dojo, once training starts you get an hour and a half to forget about everything. It’s hard to think about anything else when someone is trying to punch you. It’s like a forced meditation where you can only think about the present.”

“I have 3 favorite quotes. First is a Chinese proverb: “Fall down 7 times, stand up 8.” perseverance is such an important part of martial arts and life. You’re going to fail and the most important thing you can do is get back up. Second is a quote from mixed martial artist, Bas Rutten, “If you’re going to kick, kick good”. You will hear me say this all the time. It doesn’t just pertain to kicks, but if you’re going to do anything, put some effort into it or else, what’s the point? And lastly, “All martial artists are beginners, some have just been beginning for longer.” We all have something to learn or practice, there is no finish line in martial arts, there is always something more to learn.”