Grand Master Brandt's History
Grand Master Brandt's History
Grand Master Brandt the day he was promoted to 1st DAN, Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.
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Master Brandt
Master Brandt retired from the work force. He is married to his wife Connie, has 3 children Tyshawna, Eric II, and Wyatt. Master Brandt is also a Grandfather with 9 grandchildren; Reggie, Ryan, Rochelle, Joe, Martavious, Dejah, Talia Kamilah and Maliyah. 4 Great Grand Children: Julian, Messiah, Kalyna and Malani. He also does odd jobs for people that need his help that require the skills that he posses. He enjoys the game of golf as his spare time recreation.
The Story Behind My Site:
| Master Brandt was born in St. Louis County, St. Louis, Missouri 31 May 1953. The son of Erma M. Brandt and Clarence Alfred Wyatt. Eric was raised in a small town called Wright City, Missouri. Surrounded by lots of family and friends of family.
He started training the Martial Arts in 1966 with Michael Sydnor in the back yard or where they could find level ground. This training consisted of practicing technique, conditioning, and training with implements. Mr. Sydnor was drafted in the Army and left Master Brandt a strict training regiment to follow in his absence. When ever Mr. Sydnor would come home for leave he would take the time out his schedule to train Master Brandt to higher levels of training. During the time that Mr. Sydnor would leave there was a Third Dan Black Belt named Buddy Hoffman that would train Master Brandt in self defense techniques. Mr. Sydnor got out of the Army and moved to California. Master Brandt and two of is closes friends one being Mr. Sydnor's brother saved their money and took a trip to visit with Mr. Sydnor. They visited for a month training and seeing the sights of the west coast.
Shortly after the visit to the west coast Master Brandt was to enter the Army at Fort Leonardwood, Mo. His basic training was two months long in the winter. After Master Brandt's completion of basic he was shipped down the street to his Advance Individual Training Company. This gave him more time to do things on his own and his first objective was to find a martial arts school. He found a group of Karate practitioners and was accepted to train with them. A Green Belt by the name of Joe Gonzales trained Master Brandt in a style called Keno Karate. This style dealt with the equal use of the upper and lower body. The Horse Stance was used extensively to strengthen the legs and body. Master Brandt trained here until it was time for him to Europe in June of 1973.
Master Brandt arrived in Kornwesthiem West Germany June 1973 placed in Headquarters Company 2nd and 4thInfantry. While going through the Head start Program given to new soldiers so that they could learn the customs and enough of the language to get around. Master Brandt met Master Frank Evangelista at the Robinson Barracks gym. They spoke and Master Brandt was to start this training once his Head start was over. Once in the class the training was very demanding and this was actually Master Brandt's first formal training. There were three Evangelista brothers that Master Brandt got to train with. This style was a mix of Shorin Ryu, Shito Ryu, Aikido, and Jujitsu. The fundamentals of all these styles were taught with Shorin Ryu being the main source of training. Master Brandt trained with Master Evangelista for two and a half years. This time in Master Brandt's life was very important to the rest of his martial arts career.
The remainder of the time Master Brandt spent in Europe was with Master Steve Alston Vice President of Kuroshido the School of Kwan Duks. Master Steve Alston made Master Brandt his assistant instructor. This position came about by having to fight another senior student for it. During the time that Master Brandt was to leave and return to the United States he had to participate in hand to hand combat with Master Alston. After the combat session was finished Master Alston told Master Brandt you are ready to go.
Master Brandt returned to the United States and was stationed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Master Brandt settled in Waukegan, Illinois at an apartment complex without transportation. He walked miles in search of a school comparable to what he was used to. He met with many instructors but the fees were often too high. Master Brandt trained on his own until he got on post housing. Master Brandt found two instructors and through him they became a very serious martial arts trio. Sensei Jerome Tomlin held a 2nd Dan in Shotokan, and a 1st Dan in Paqua. Coach James Wallace a 1st Dan in Taekwondo. They trained together every day for 2 years when Master Brandt got orders to go to Korea.
Master Brandt arrived in Korea in March of 1979 stationed at Camp Mobile in Tong Du Chong Korea. Master Brandt's first day at the Turtle Farm there was a Martial Arts Demonstration given that evening at the Camp Casey Gym. At this demonstration Master Brandt met the masters that performed that night. Master Brandt was especially taken with one of the demonstrators and confronted him to train him. The demonstrator was Grandmaster Edward M. Brown Jr. founder of the Black Knight Karate Association. Master Brown (at that time) told Master Brandt that he was too busy to teach at that time and wished Master Brandt much success. Master Brandt then somewhat discouraged pushed on to the next day. That is when he was to go to his place of work. To his surprise the little compound had a Taekwondo Instructor on the grounds. Master Brandt received an interview with Coach Choi and was accepted to train with him. Mr. Choi took this team to many competitions during the year and the team won every one. They were presented the 2nd Infantry Division Jackets for winning the Division Taekwondo Championships. After 7 months Master Brandt was promoted to Black Belt in the Korea Taekwondo Association. After 10 Months Master Brandt was promoted to Black Belt in the World Taekwondo Federation in Seoul at the Ku Ki Won. Mr. Choi had Master Brandt teach classes for the Enlisted and Officers. When Master Brandt's time came to leave it was a very emotional parting. This was a very important time in his life being able to train in an Asian land.
Master Brandt returned to the United States headed to Fort Bliss, Texas in the city of El Paso, Texas. Master Brandt traveled the city in pursuit to find a good martial arts school. During his search he came up on a Hapkido school that liked Master Brandt's way. He was asked to teach the classes during the week and the Grandmaster would teach him on the weekend. This was Grandmaster Choi and Master Han at the time. This union went well until there was a disagreement between Grandmaster Choi and Master Brandt. Master Brandt moved on only on his way home discovered a martial arts school on base. Master Brandt went in to check it out and to his surprise Master Edward M. Brown Jr. was the instructor. They talked and Master Brandt was accepted to train and teach. Master Brown had Master Brandt teach Taekwondo classes two times a week and help with the Karate classes three times a week. During this time Master Brandt was introduced to the use of fighting gear and light contact sparring. Master Brown selected Master Brandt to go on trips for the military doing Martial Arts to promote the Military life. Master Brandt's time came again to go back overseas to Germany once again.
Master Brandt arrived in Germany and reported to Bad Kissingen West Germany. He was stationed at Daley Barracks the home of the 2nd Squadron 11th Calvary known as the Eagle Horse. This unit protected the east west border of Germany. There was not any where close for Master Brandt to train so he took up residence at the local gym. As he trained on his own he caught the eye of interested future martial artist. Before you knew it Master Brandt had a small following of martial arts students. They went through some trying times to open a place for them to train and get support. They asked to put on a demonstration and were granted permission to do this during a German American function of friendship. The demonstration was a success and Master Brandt was given a space to teach his style of Martial Arts. Once Master Brandt opened his Dojo they started training to compete in the competitions across Germany. At the World Open Championships Master Brandt runs into his Dojo Brother Master Alfred O'Neal. Master O'Neal faired well in the first day of the events with a first in Kata and Kumite. Master Brandt made a showing but no magic. The second day Master Brandt was chosen to fight on the American team. The team took 3rd place in this competition but was not happy by how the competition was run. Later the next year Grandmaster Brown showed up on the scene and now there were three. Things started happening but then again it was time for Master Brandt to get ready to leave again.
Master Brandt arrived at Fort Campbell, Kentucky after a stop at his Basic Leadership Training Course. At Fort Campbell there was a martial arts program already in place run by a Black Belt that had traveled the same circuit as Master Brandt. Master Brandt was to take over this program when it was time for his acquaintance was to leave. Master Brandt was given a job that would not allow him to take over the school. It was passed on to someone else. Master Brandt was still active in the club because in the military it is very difficult to do this alone. Master Brandt's Battalion was being realigned and he was taken from his unit to be a part of a new unit being formed. With this move took place it then again freed Master Brandt to participate actively in the martial arts. He found out what it took to start a private organization on Fort Campbell and started his own school. A little while later Master O'Neal was again stationed with Master Brandt. They were together again teaching side by side. This time Master O'Neal departed before Master Brandt to study computers. Shortly after, Master Brandt again was on his way to Germany once again.
Master Brandt arrived in Ludwig burg West Germany being assigned to the type of unit he had dreamed of his whole career. Master Brandt told Grandmaster Brown that he was going to take a break from teaching for a while. During this time Master Brandt put his martial arts to work by helping soldiers to loose weight and pass the physical fitness test. During this time Master Brandt gave some private lessons but mostly worked on himself. You guessed it was time for him to leave again. Master Brandt received orders to return to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Master Brandt returns to Fort Campbell, Kentucky and shortly after was sent to Desert Storm. Once again he was put in a situation that he trained only when time permitted. After serving his time in the Desert Storm situation he returned to the United States to normal duty. Once with his feet planted he started teaching at a gym as a private organization. Master Brandt shut down the classes prior to his retirement from the military in 1993.
Master Brandt tried truck driving for a couple years and decided to go back to school. While working his way through school he taught a small group of children in his back yard in his spare time. Later he started teaching at the Youth Center on base at Fort Campbell, Ky. When he got promoted to Grand Master of the Black Knight Karate Association, he built a Dojo in his back yard. The Dojo he built is in reverence of Grand Master Chojun Myiagi's Garden Dojo
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