One word that comes to mind when witnessing one of Mr. McNair’s classes is “passion.” From his attention to detail when discussing basic techniques to his explanations of the Tenets of Taekwondo, it is readily apparent to any onlooker that Martial Arts is an integral part of Mr. McNair’s life, preceded only by his love for his family and his religious faith.

Mr. McNair’s passion for martial arts began in 1978 while attending grade school in Mississippi. He studied Shotokan Karate from 1978 through his first year at Mississippi State University in 1986, earning the level of Brown Belt in that martial arts discipline. While he admits that he was a bit slow to progress in this art, one can easily see by his attention to detail that his is a devotion to a level of quality that just can't be rushed. This focus on quality was recognized during his 2nd Dan Taekwondo test some years later. “The second greatest honor that I have ever received was being presented the award for best technique at my 2^nd Dan test by Masters Robert Hardin and Song Brown. The greatest honor for me is having the ability, forum, and time to pass the knowledge of Taekwondo on to others as it was passed to me.”

The refinement of his technique comes from years of training, not only in Karate and Taekwondo, but in some of the lesser-known, esoteric martial arts of the Far East as well, such as Si Laum Kune Do Kung-Fu/Wing Chun. Unlike Taekwondo where rank is denoted by the color of one's belt, In Si Laum Kune Do/Wing Chun the practitioner wears a colored sash that is more indicative of stylistic preference than level of expertise. He earned the rank of “4^th Level,” (the equivalent of 1^st Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo), under the instruction of Master Dwight Smith, a U.S. Special Forces and Ranger Staff Sergeant, who was the first American to ever be trained in this form of Korean Kung-Fu. The training was rigorous, but provided a respite from the tedium of living on a veritable desert island. “On the average, we trained for 3 hours every day during the week and up to 8 hours a day on weekends. This was the hardest that I have ever trained in my life. But there was not much else to do on the island, which was only 1 mile wide and 2.5 miles long, other than fish and practice martial arts.”

In 1991, Mr. McNair began training under Masters Song Brown and Dan Parrish in CTF Taekwondo. The CTF, or “Choong-Sil Kwan Taekwondo Federation,” incorporates the traditional forms of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) developed by the late ITF President, Gen. Choi Hong Hi, with its own unique set of forms referred to as “Discipline Forms.” Mr. McNair is a certified CTF Instructor, and served as the Primary Instructor at Master Parrish’s Nashville-based CTF-affiliated school for over a year. “The majority of my training in the CTF came under the guidance of Master Song Brown, my good friend and martial arts mentor.” It was at Master Song Brown’s dojangs in Clarksville that Mr. McNair met Stars and Stripes Defensive Arts co-founder, Master Clint Hale.

There are many reasons people choose to train in the martial arts. Some enjoy the historical or philosophical components, others enjoy the sense of body/mind harmony attained through forms practice. “I consider myself to be a technician. I am more concerned with how well I execute a technique quickly than how high or how many. I really enjoy the simple techniques like the side kick, round kick and the hook kick. These are the techniques that will save your life and the ones that I will most likely be able to continue to practice as I age. Perhaps that is why they are so pronounced in the traditional patterns.”

You can contact Mr. McNair at [email protected].

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Last updated on 11/04/04.