John Critzos II is an American martial arts fighter, champion, and instructor who teaches martial arts at the United States Naval Academy. He is also a personal injury lawyer who is practicing.
Video John Critzos II
Biography
Critzos is the last champion coached by Kim Ki Whang, and is known for his close relationship with Kim (most believe he is Kim's son who never had and that Kim became his adoptive father). Critzos gave a speech at Kim's funeral at the request of Kim's wife and daughter. Today, Kim's uniform, training rod and belt in Critzos's private dojo, along with two authentic 19th-century Samurai shirts and Samurai swords from the 1800s. Critzos began his training with Kim on September 4, 1973. He continued under Kim's guidance until September 16, 1993, when Kim died. Currently, he is the coach of the US Naval Academy Karate-do team, a program he founded in 1992. Furthermore, he is a lawyer who practices law in the Washington, D.C. He concentrates his training on serious personal injuries and car accidents, and is the head of his company which has two offices in the D.C.
Maps John Critzos II
Career competition
During the career of the competition, Critzos succeeded in traditional martial arts circuits from 1979 to 1985 when he retired amid the controversy written by Black Belt Magazine in an article entitled "Traditional Controversy". The article reveals what is already widely known, but rarely talks about assessing defects and abuses that exist in traditional circuits. It also causes changes to curb violations. As explained in the article, when faced with an alternative to maintaining a higher standard or turning a blind eye to victory, Critzos opted for a higher path. Today, he supports his decision. He came out of retirement in 1989 for a solo performance and won the All American Open at Madison Square Garden for the fifth time as a Heavyweight Champion. This is the last year that All American is held at Madison Square Garden and therefore, Critzos is the last heavyweight champion to win in the Park. He came out of retirement again in 1994 to win the US Open for the fifth time as a Heavyweight/Grand Champion at the age of 39. During his career, he also won the All American Invitational 5 times as a Champion of Weight/2 Grand Champion; All American Open 5 times as a Champion of Heavyweight Class; US Open 5 times as Champion Weight Champion/Grand Champion, Eastern Region twice as Champion of Weight/Grand Champion; North American Championship as a Champion of Heavyweight/Grand Champion; Keystone State Championships, Ki Yun Yi National Championship, and many other traditional style contests as a Champion of Heavyweight/Grand Champion. He does not compete in the American Circuit, but limits his career to the Traditional Circuit which he believes has a higher level of competition. He has been inducted into the Henry Cho All American Open Hall of Fame, United States Naval Academy Karate-do Hall of Fame, Keystone State Hall of Fame Championships, Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame and Hall of Fame Hellenic, which is the world's largest ethnic fame hall. He appeared on the cover of the Official Karate Magazine where he showed some of his winning techniques. Currently, he is the head instructor of the United States Naval Academy, the Karate-do Team, which he founded in 1992. He is Kim's only student who has chosen to advance in the title of one title belt at a time as opposed to leaping a degree at attempts to accelerate his elevation, and is a black-level belt 8. Furthermore, he only accepts his progress from his instructor's contemporaries. The first 5 Black Belt Degrees were given by Kim. After Kim's death on September 16, 1993, she was awarded the 6th title by S. Henry Cho and the 7th title by Sok Ho Kang. The 7th title was awarded in April 2009 on an exam held at the United States Naval Academy and was the highest rank ever awarded at any of the Military Academies in the United States. This examination was attended by many officials from all over the country as well as the Midshipmen Commander. Grand Master Jon Chung Kim from Allentown, Pennsylvania gave him the 8th title in 2014. He has followed in the footsteps of his instructors in that he has produced many champions, still following the traditional style of focused training and advancing the philosophical perspectives of fighters.
Education
Critzos graduated from the University of Maryland in 1980 with a BA in Economics and a BS in Finance. She is a double degree majors. He went on to George Washington University and enrolled in an MBA-focused MBA program. Prior to completing his master's degree, he was admitted to George Mason University Law School. He accepted the invitation and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1984.
References
External links
- Official website
- John Critzos II Law Office
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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