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Meet Wes Melton of Lone Eagle Martial Arts in West Plano

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Wes Melton.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Wes. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started taking Taekwondo when I was about 7 years old, because my father was a fourth degree black belt. I took for several years but as I got older I started to play football and that took precedence at that time. When I graduated from Texas Tech University in 2005 I decided that I wanted to become a police officer. Part of that journey for me, was to start training in martial arts again. I spoke to my dad is who a Hall of Fame martial artist and he told me that he wouldn’t train me, because he didn’t want anyone to think that I had been given my black belt. I then started training under Grand Master Herb Hooks out of Richland College Karate and Self Defense. I earned my first degree black belt in 2006 with an amazing black belt board with Hall of Famers such as Joy Turberville, my father, Grand Master PD Hale and many others. It was a very hard and grueling process, at that time it was full contact and part of the original “Blood and Guts Texas Karate.”

When I was a red belt I joined the Dallas Police Department, where I served as a patrol officer, in the narcotics unit, helped in the Gang Unit, served in a Felony Apprehension Team, and assisted the FBI Task Force in a 12 year career. One of our family dreams was to run a school together part time (myself, my twin brother, and my father). We started by renting space from Ms. Turberville in Garland, TX. We quickly out grew that spot and rented our first commercial location in Richardson, TX. The purpose was to give back to the community we grew up in by teaching the life lessons martial arts offers. Since then we have grown and now have 3 schools serving the Metroplex. One is in Highland Park, our original in Richardson, and one in West Plano. With a lot of hard work and dedication I was able to fulfill a lifelong goal of becoming a full time martial artist about 2 years ago.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Martial arts is an amazing industry, but just like in training there are always up and downs. We started as a part time martial arts school as full time police officers, so the lack of available class times was difficult. We also had to learn the in’s and out’s of being a business owner and entrepreneurs. Learning basic principles for marketing, budgeting, and operations was very difficult. We also had to develop a business model that no one else was doing, and beta testing our curriculum to make sure that it met the needs of our members and served the community was a very long process.

Lone Eagle Martial Arts – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a Shimsan Taekwondo School. We specialize in helping create successful people by building and teaching life skills such as confidence, focus, perseverance, and respect. We are driven to inspire and develop the human spirit by proactive community engagement; through the process of earning a black belt. There are a lot of great martial arts instructors, but we truly specialize in teaching what it takes to be successful in life through goal setting and achievements. We pride ourselves on being a life skills school that uses martial arts as our avenue to teach them.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is achieving a level of happiness you haven’t reached before. There are many ways to define success but for me its inspiration of the world and what is out there. Martial arts has given me the opportunity to have experiences that most people never get to truly know. I mark my success by watching our students grow into successful adults with a good spirit and a drive to continue to push whether they are on a smooth path or a rocky path.

Pricing:

  • We are offering 50% off enrollment and a free evaluation lesson.

Contact Info:

 

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