Corydharma is a teacher of the body, the spirit and the mind.  He resides in Florida and teaches meditation, academics, and self defense to promote a holistic study of life and well-being. 

Hi!  Welcome to the page about me!  It's the place where I get to practice my narciBRANDING.  I meant branding.  (Ugh, remember Cory, you're a professional. You got this!)  I'm a teacher living in Florida, with an unusual set of life experiences.  Currently, I teach Mindfulness, Self Defense, and Meditation.  I'm also the co-host of the new podcast mega hit Mindfulness of DOOM!  It's a weekly podcast about life, peaceful living, and existential dread!  Traditionally the About page is supposed to be written in some impersonal nonsense way.  It's tyranny I tell you! But I suppose it's necessary to do the, "look at me" thing here.  OK, then.  Switching to 3rd person in 3, 2, 1.

For 26 years Cory has been training in the martial arts and has been teaching for the last 12 years.  He has black belts in Taekwondo, Karate, and Iaido (Japanese swordsmanship) and has four years of experience as a Krav Maga instructor.  He has also studied Tai Chi, Chung Nu, Kung Fu, Wado-Ryu Karate (as an instructor), Shotokan Karate, Tamiya-ryu, Enshin-Ryu, and Muso Shinden-Ryu.  Don’t worry if that list is intimidating to pronounce.  It’s just a fancy way of saying he's done a lot of kicking, punching, and swinging of swords.  

Cory has read extensively about East Asian cultures and the martial arts and has a Master’s Degree in Asian Studies from Florida International University.  His Master's thesis was written on the martial arts and their connection to Zen Buddhism.  

For nearly half a decade Cory lived, worked, and studied in both Japan and China.  First as an English teacher in Japan teaching students as young as two and as old as 92 years old, then later as a staff member and teacher in Zen Buddhist monastic living programs.  All together he has spent about half a year’s time in Buddhist monasteries in the U.S. and Asia learning about compassion, meditation, and philosophy.  

Aside from teaching, Cory has also worked in the sport fighting industry at the US OPEN:  World Martial Arts Championship.  Though this time of was enjoyable, he is not interested in fighting as a sport and much prefers to teach a more holistic approach.  He wishes to teach how the martial arts, meditation, mindfulness, and philosophy can be used a way of enriching one's life and seeing the universe more clearly by studying of the body, the spirit, and the mind.  There are many martial arts schools and fighting gyms, but very few of those places have the academic and spiritual backgrounds to teach holistically.  

The plan for Corydharma Mediation and Martial Arts is to create a school for learning to follow one's own path.  It combines the discipline and opportunities for growth that colleges and Zen monasteries offer.  It is a place to explore who you are, to train your body, to learn mental discipline, and to study the nature of the universe.  

~Ach!  Gasp!  Ahh hhookay.  Talking about myself in the third person is just the worst!   Thanks for spending your time to be here!