Our Taekwondo Instructors
Chuck Johnson
Chuck Johnson is the CEO of Quiet Flame Productions, and its head Taekwondo master. He is a 4th Dan black belt in Taekwondo, a former Michigan State Junior Olympic representative two-time (non-Olympic) US national champion, and a 2001 gold medalist of the intercollegiate Taekwondo championships when he had originally only come to the touranment to watch. He has 30 years of experience teaching Taekwondo, also holds masters ranks in Karate and Kobudo, and has various ranks and experience in 10 martial arts in total. Chuck is also a former celebrity bodyguard and has been working in Japan's action film and video game industry for over 20 years as an actor, stunt performer, motion capture artist and in recent years, director.
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Anthony Avila
Anthony Avila holds a 3rd Dan black belt in Taekwondo and was the head instructor of the Yuma Taekwondo Center in Arizona. Like Chuck he has over 30 years of experience in Taekwondo instruction and competition, won state championships for California, Alaska, and Arizona and was on the AAU National Team. He also received an invitation to join the US national Olympic Team when he was 19. Like Chuck, Anthony has experience and training in 10 other martial arts in addition to Taekwondo.
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Yutaka Nozawa
​Yutaka Nozawa is a lifelong martial artist, and has over 10 years of teaching experience at Quiet Flame. He is trilingual (Japanese, English and Chinese), and has black belts in Karate, Judo, and Iaido in addition to Taekwondo. Yutaka is also an experienced stunt performer, and regularly works in India and Thailand in addition to Japan.
Abdel El Madrari
Abdel studied Taekwondo since the age of 13 years old under the supervision of his uncle and father, students of master Beom Jhoo lee who introduced Taekwondo in Belgium in 1974.
He is a former member of the Belgium National Team, has won several regional and national championships as well as International Open competitions, giving him the opportunity to train and compete with some of the best Taekwondo athletes in the world inclucing several Olympians, world champions, and Asian Champions. )
He has been awarded the National Instructor Certification by the World Taekwondo Federation, and trained the Regional Cadet Elite Team before his move to Japan.
Mandy Gerbode
Mandy Gerbode is a 4th Dan Taekwondo Master from Germany. She is a specialist in Olympic Taekwondo forms competition and also an interationally certified referee. Mandy is also a working stunt woman and has appeared in various Japanese films, TV commercials, and TV shows. She is fluent in Japanese, German and English and is also a master horse trainer.