Sifu Greg Pichardo grew up in the suburbs of New York City and had to learn very quickly that a person needed to know how to defend themselves on streets. At age 9 he started to train in the Art of Shotokan Karate which placed him on the amazing path of and introduced him to the world of Martial Arts. Growing up in the early70’s and in the midst of the Kung Fu craze he developed his true passion for the Martial Arts. While training in the traditional Arts like Judo, Karate, Wing Chun and western boxing, Sifu Greg discovered Jeet Kune Do the Art and philosophy of the great late Bruce Lee. Learning this Martial Arts discipline lead Sifu Greg to study with Bruce Lee’s original students and also created the internal hunger to advance and learn as many Arts as possible that were related to JKD.

               

In 1980’s Sifu Greg Pichardo began training in Filipino Arts of Kali, Eskrima and Arnis. These Arts are primarily weapon base systems, but also are extremely effective in an empty hand combat. These Pilipino Arts have been seen in many popular and famous television shows and movies action scenes. Whenever you see a fight involving a stick or a knife most likely it is a form of Kali, Eskrima or Arnis. Sifu Greg also simultaneously trained in Savate and Thai Boxing . These two Arts are considered the most devastating kick fighting methods coming from different places in the world. Savate comes from France and it’s style relies on precision and diversion while the Art of Thai Boxing is the Art of power and destruction.

 

All of this training lead Sifu Greg to the most amazing Art origins of which are from the archipelago of Indonesia. The Art of Buka Jalan Pentjak Silat. Mostly just referred to as simply Silat, the Art itself has been around for hundreds of years, but is still not widely known to the general public. Silat intrigued Sifu Greg because he felt that this Art was the synthesis of what Martial Arts should be. The Art of Silat is considered a grappling system, but it has all the elements that one would look for in Martial Arts. This Art enables you to drop a person with barely any force and also at the same time leaving you the ability to deal with multiple attackers, all with minimal effort and at the same time. Sifu Greg is now known to be one of the leading authorities in the Art of Silat. In fact, the United States Navy hired him to train their Navy Seal Team operatives for covert operations. Sifu Greg Pichardo also had the honor and privilege to train groups ranging from the NYPD, FDNY, ATF, FBI, U.S. Marines, US Air Marshals, members of the homeland security teams, Girl and Boy Scouts of America, the children of the victims of 9/11 tragedy and most of all the average person like you. Always looking to give back to the Martial Arts disciplines that have been so good to him, Sifu Greg has traveled extensively throughout the United States sharing his vast knowledge in the form of workshops and seminars.

 

Sifu Greg has appeared in featured articles in numerous prestigious Martial Arts publications as well as televised Martial Arts events. In 1997 he was chosen as one of 200 people in the world to attend the first Jeet Kune Do International Nucleus Banquet and seminar that was held in San Francisco, California and organized by Bruce Lee’s original students and family. The event was once in a lifetime opportunity with Bruce’s Lee’s wife and daughter as well as many of Bruce’s original students and friends in attendance.

 

Training in many complex and well developed Martial Arts systems and understanding their core made Sifu Greg Pichardo a very well respected and well rounded Martial Artist. His belief relies on a simple theory that to be ready in any confrontation is the key to ones survival. While continuing to research and train in the top Martial Arts disciplines Sifu Greg never stopped his learning process gaining the mass mental library of the Arts of self defense so that he can pass it along to his students.

 

In 2006 Sifu Greg was inducted in to the Action Magazine Hall of Honor for his lifetime dedication and contribution to Martial Arts which led him to one of the great relationships with the organizer of the event Sifu Alan Goldberg. Sifu Alan had the vision of bring the Arts from all over the world to be showcase in one platform. Sifu Alan wanted everyone to experience the Art of Silat as he himself has great admiration and appreciation for this rare and coveted Art. Every year at the Annual Hall of Honors event Sifu Greg Pichardo has an opportunity to meet and teach people from all over the world the Art of Silat.

 

Training the law enforcement and military has become a passion for Sifu Greg while traveling to military bases and to Washington DC area has been nothing more than a labor of love. Sifu Greg Pichardo always expressed the following as his sentiment when speaking about this type of work: “Knowing that I can make a difference in the lives of the men and women that protect us and this country every day is an honor and a privileged that I will always be grateful for.”

 

Sifu Greg Pichardo is now the Chief Instructor/Founder of Phoenix Mixed Martial Arts located in New York, Connecticut and the Massachusetts areas. Sifu Greg Pichardo has designed a school curriculum that addresses the real issues of today’s environment that is easily accessible to anyone at any age, at any level of physical fitness or knowledge of Martial Arts. While creating a pleasant atmosphere this simple and direct way of learning makes it easy for the average person to pick up knowledge quickly and efficiently. The persistent learning and training that Sifu Greg believes in, is transposed to his students giving them an opportunity to grow to their full potential as Martial Artists.