Certifications
- 1992 Regional AAU Gold Medalist
- 2001-2007 Repeat AAU Gold Medalist on State and National level
- 2004 Charles Minter Karate Instructor of the Year
- Former AAU Certified Referee
- 1991-2007 Charles Minter Karate Demo Team Member
- 1991-2007 Charles Minter Karate Competition Team Member
- 6th Degree Black Belt Karate (2018 under Grandmaster Charles Minter)
Biography
Master Pattillo Martial Arts is owned and operated by Master Instructor Matthew Pattillo.
Inspired by The Karate Kid and martial arts child-actor, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Master Pattillo began his martial arts training under Grandmaster Charles Minter (Charles Minter Karate) in late 1986.
Master Pattillo was promoted to Black Belt on May 1, 1992, to Master rank (4th Degree Black Belt) on March 4, 2006, and 6th Degree Black Belt on April 22, 2018.
In September 2001, Master Pattillo began running satellite locations for Charles Minter Karate through Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation. Soon, Master Pattillo was teaching hundreds of students in over two dozen classes a week at several locations.
In September 2005, Master Pattillo started his own Parks and Recreation program at the Barrow County Leisure Services Center (BCLS) in Winder. Originally called, “Southern Ji Do Kwan Karate” (a tribute to the style we do, Ji Do Kwan and the name of Grandmaster Minter’s school when Master Pattillo started: Southern Tae Kwon Do Karate).
For ten years, Master Pattillo taught classes at BCLS and other locations throughout Barrow, Athens, Banks, Hall, and Gwinnett Counties. Finally, in September 2015, our full-time location on West Athens Street was opened.
Our style of martial arts is an old style of Tae Kwon Do that derives from Okinawan Karate. We still practice the older Okinawan kata and have lineage to three of the great Okinawan Karate practitioners of the 19th-20th centuries: Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Kanken Toyama. These three Karate masters traced their roots to the major Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te, Naha-te, Tomari-te, Goju-ryu, as well as Chinese chuan-fa.