Our Philosophy and Instructors

The Houston Martial Arts Academy ("HMAA") specializes in real life self-defense training. We are dedicated to developing our members' confidence and ability to defend any type of attack at any range. We also make sure to have fun while we are training so that we actually enjoy practicing the techniques, drills and concepts from the martial arts we offer.

Joseph L. Galleon

Joseph is an Instructor at HMAA. He has been training in martial arts for over 80 years. His first introduction to the martial arts was at the age of 6 through his father, who passed down their family system of Escrmia to Joe and his brothers. Joe is a Guro in his Visayan family system of Galleon Clan Escrima and the head representative in America. He is a Guro/Full Instructor in Giron® Arnis Escrima System and an Affiliate of Bahala Na® Martial Arts Association. He holds a 4th degree Black Belt in Chung Do Kwan with North American Tae Kwon Do - CDK and a 2nd degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. An avid historian and researcher, Joseph is a wealth of information on South East Asian history and culture. Joesph co- founded the Houston Stick Fighting Association in 2006.

Jason Evans

Jason is the owner and Head Instructor of HMAA. He is an Instructor in Galleon Clan Escrima under Guro Joseph Galleon. He is a 3rd degree Black Belt and Instructor of Chung Do Kwan with North American Tae Kwon Do - CDK. Jason is also a Guro/Full Instructor of Giron® Arnis Escrima. Jason is also the Director of the Houston Stick Fighting Association and Published the HSFA Insider newsletter. Growing up, Jason learned self-defense, situational awareness and fire arms instruction under his Father, who served in Law Enforcement for over 20 years+. Jason continually studies martial arts and is constantly learning from senior practitioners to further develop and refine his approach to self-defense, health, and combatives.

Andy Erich

Andy started training in martial arts in 1984. He trained in Uechi-Ryu Karate Do, eventually reaching the rank of 4th-degree black belt. Since then he has trained and taught in numerous other martial arts, including Aikido, Muay Thai, and Western Boxing. Looking to learn more of a weapons-based art, he tried Giron® Arnis Escrima at a seminar in 2008 in Houston, TX, and has been training ever since. Giron® Arnis Escrima has a rare blend of “family-style” training, mixed with formal techniques and discipline of a proven martial art. Andy graduated from the system in 2016, and he was recently promoted to Guro. He currently teaches at HMAA in Houston, where he continues to learn, enjoy, and share the art.

Kai Lewis

Kai Lewis is the only Level 3 Instructor in Panglipur Galih under Kang Cecep Rahman in the USA. He has been practicing Panglipur since 2012 and has over 30 years of martial arts experience. Kai created the Panglipur USA organization in 2016 to help promote Panglipur Silat in the USA. He also holds senior instructor ranks (Guro) in Filipino martial arts: Kalis Ilustrisimo, and (Sifu) in a Chinese Tri-Internal Martial Arts System: Taiji, Bagua, Xingyi. Kai has also completed a yoga teacher and yoga therapy program in Houston, is a personal fitness trainer and has an extensive bodywork background in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Kai currently teaches Silat, Yoga and Tai Chi to students at Rice University as an adjunct professor and Silat at HMAA