BOARD MEMBERS - ATLANTIC-PACIFIC TANG SOO DO FOUNDATION
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John St. James - Foundation President & Board Chair
John St. James has been training for over 45 years. He has earned an 8th degree Black Belt in Tang Soo Do and serves as the President and Founding Master of the Atlantic-Pacific Tang Soo Do Federation headquartered just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. John St. James also serves as Co-Chair of the Asia Atlantic Alliance, an organization of like-minded traditional Tang Soo Do Federations and Associations across the globe.
Mr. St. James began his martial arts and leadership training when he was 13 years old. He often speaks about how Tang Soo Do had a transformative effect on him personally and has witnessed the same in the thousands of students he has taught over the years.
Helping others, especially those at risk, is driving force in Mr. St. James life. He founded the APTSD Foundation to help those most in need gain the wonderful values and benefits of Tang Soo Do. These benefits include enhanced discipline, perseverance, respect, humility, focus, goal orientation, and improved self-esteem.
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Christian Klacko - Board Member
Master Klacko launched his martial arts career in 1986 when he began training in Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan under Master Charette in Scranton, PA. In 1991, he joined the World Tang Soo Do Association under the leadership of Grandmaster Jae C. Shin where he achieved the rank of 3rd Degree Black Belt. In 2003, he received the prestigious rank of Master from Grandmaster Richard Byrne of the American Tang Soo Do Association. He currently holds the rank of 7th degree Black Belt with the Atlantic-Pacific Tang Soo Do Federation.
Master Klacko believes the greatest reward for an instructor is to visualize the positive impact martial arts has on the students’ lives, and the knowledge that by passing on the philosophies of Korean Martial Arts, he has contributed to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those students. Outside of the martial arts, Master Klacko is a business leader and entrepreneur, having co-founded 3 high-tech companies in Boston, MA.
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Jennifer Walston - Board Member
Dr. Jennifer G. Walston began her Tang Soo Do training in 2011, joining her husband and 2 sons who began training while she was deployed overseas. She has since earned her 3rd degree black belt. Having seen firsthand the positive impact the martial arts had on her own children, Dr. Walston would love to see the same opportunity available to all.
Professionally, Dr. Walston holds a PhD in Operations research and is a Senior Manager in Decision Science for a large entertainment company. Prior to her current role, she was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force where she served as an Operations Research Analyst for nearly 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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Brad Bedingfield - Board Member
Mr. Bedingfield is a nonprofit lawyer and co-chair of the Nonprofit Practice Group at Hemenway & Barnes LLP, in Boston, Massachusetts. Looking for a community and a program to instill in his children confidence, strength, discipline, and perseverance, Mr. Bedingfield got hooked himself on the martial arts, and has witnessed first-hand the transformative effects that the art of Tang Soo Do can have on the mind, body and spirit of youth and adults alike. Mr. Bedingfield and his children, Adam and Maya, have trained at Cambridge Tang Soo Do in Massachusetts since 2013.
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Trudy Duval - Board Member
Trudy’s foray into the martial arts began after her son and then husband joined Thunderbird Martial Arts in Albuquerque, NM. Master Witterholt instilled the desire to train in her and her daughter and they both joined the family in weekly classes. She joined with the intent of simply being with the family in a group activity, little did she know her personal journey was just beginning. Since that time she has come to learn all the intangibles that one gains from practicing martial arts. Aside from the physical benefits, Trudy has enjoyed the more traditional aspects of practicing Tang Soo Do. The teaching of the Moo Do way has been a very influential and unexpectedly profound aspect in her everyday life. Recently testing for and achieving the rank of Cho Dan has been an immeasurably humbling and exciting experience that has only solidified her desire to continue along the path. It is a culmination of goals set and achieved that were never really conceived until the day she first wore the white belt. Being able to continue to train as a family is the pinnacle of happiness for her.
Trudy looks forward to utilizing her acumen as a business owner and Certified Public Account to bear for the betterment of the foundation. Having firsthand knowledge of what Tang Soo Do teachings has done for her family will continually solidify her desire for excellence within the Foundation.
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