Instructors & support crew

Head Instructors / Directors

Different arts have their own terms for signifying respect for an elder or teacher. Many martial arts instructors are held in high-regard in multiple arts and thus can, and often are, referred to by various interchangeable titles. Some of the titles of respect you will see and hear are Simo, Sifu, Guro, Ajarn, Professor, Master, Grand Master, and so on. These are not part of a person’s name, but, are instead a title of respect and achievement, similar to how distinguished persons who have completed years of further education might be titled Professor or Doctor.

With that in mind we would like to introduce to you the Directors and Chief/Head Instructors of Progressive Martial Arts Academy International.

Simo Cookie Vassiliou

The Academy’s Chief Instructor is Simo Cookie Vassiliou who has been involved in martial arts for many years and has achieved Instructor ranking in a wide variety of styles such as Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do, Kali, Silat and Thai Boxing. These accreditations have been accomplished under the renowned guidance of Guro Dan Inosanto, Sifu Terry Gibson, and Ajarn Chai Sirisute. Cookie is also a Senior Full Instructor under Guro Dan Inosanto in Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do, Kali, Silat.

In addition, Cookie is a member of the World Escrima Arnis/Kali Federation (WEAKAF), Government Accredited Coach (NCAS), Honorary Representative for Larry Hartsell’s Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do Grappling Association, and Instructor under Terry and Cathy Gibson.

In obtaining such outstanding qualifications Cookie teaches internationally and has trained with Top International Instructors such as: Dan Inosanto; Nino Pilla; The Machado’s; The Gracie’s; Larry Hartsell; Terry Gibson; Cathy Gibson; Ajarn Chai Sirisute; Yuri Nakamura; Sifu Francis Fong; Edgar Sulite; Bob Breen; Marc McFann; Prof. Don Jacobs; Kevin Taylor; Richard Bustillo; Dionisio Canete; Cacoy Canete; Guro Herman Suwanda; Prof. Wally Jay; Tino Ceberano; Tony Blauer; Eric Paulson; Master Rhee; Bill Wallace; Benny Urquidez; Victor de Thouars; Gene Lebelle; Dr. Maung Gyi; Salem Assli; Grand Master Bobby Taboada; Grand Master William Cheung; Tuhon Leo T. Gaje.

PMAAI Instructors

Here at Progressive Martial Arts we are very proud of our qualified and experienced instructors who through years of training at PMAAI have achieved ranks of distinction. Many of our instructors at PMAAI are also certified under Guro Dan Inosanto. We wish to pay tribute to our instructors by introducing them to you:

Pappy is an instructor at PMAAI HQ and teaches many classes during the week.

Todd is an instructor at PMAAI HQ and teaches many classes during the week.

Stephen is an instructor at PMAAI HQ and teaches many classes during the week.

Claudin is an instructor at PMAAI HQ and teaches many classes during the week.

Kam is an instructor at PMAAI HQ and teaches many classes during the week.

Jr is an instructor and personal trainer for PMAAI who has been training his entire life. Jr takes a high-endurance fighter-training class as well as kickboxing classes. Jr’s expertise is used for those that want, or need, to have great physical and mental conditioning.

2nd Degree Black Belt

BJJ and MMA

Chris is an instructor at PMAAI HQ and teaches many classes during the week.

Vaughan is another long-standing instructor for Progressive Martial Arts who instructs all areas of the PMAAI curriculum.

Ben is an instructor at Progressive Martial Arts HQ, teaching both adult and juniors Mixed Martial Arts classes.

Black Belt

BJJ and MMA

3rd Degree Black Belt

BJJ and MMA

Progressive Martial Arts has many instructors, some who are yet to be caught on camera. Instructors who are not already listed above are:

All of the instructors at PMAAI are required to keep-up their qualifications and continue to learn with PMAAI in order to ensure high-quality instruction of students. This also ensures instructor skills and understanding do not remain stagnant!

All students who are listed as certified instructors under Guro Dan Inosanto have also previously attained their 10th grade under the PMAAI syllabus.

Support Crew

As well as regular instructors and 10th grade students there are other notable students who are regularly available to assist with classes. They are:

• Todd Davis
• Jordan McLennan
• Nyota Vassiliou

Administration