Instructor Julie Vargas

Upon meeting Junior Vargas in 1990, he told me about his passion for martial arts. Eventually, I went with him to watch his martial arts training with Chief Al. I was in awe of the hard contact during their training. Contrary to what Instructor Junior thought, I felt that this class wasn't for me. What kept me at bay wasn't the hard training, but the fact that they trained barefoot. The thought of dirty feet bothered me.

One year later, and thoughts of dirty feet aside, I started training with CHA-3. I couldn't hold myself back any longer. Every time I would watch the class, I could feel the room fill with energy. I had to be a part of the class's intensity during training.

In 1995, with the blessings from Professor Marino Tiwanak and the Board of CHA-3 in Hawaii, I was Promoted to first degree black belt.

In 2001, we met with Professor Mike Tiwanak in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was there that we were both promoted to second degree black belts, which is the rank we currently hold today.