Jude Grayson, a 2006 Slidell High graduate, is only 20 years old, but his youth is not a deterrent when it comes to his ability and his discipline.

Grayson is a third-degree black belt and will attempt to become a fourth degree black in March. He is also a 7-time National Champion (1998-2004) in Tae Kwon Do and trained in Seoul, Korea in 2005. On Sept. 1, he bought Rick Weems Martial Arts. Grayson is a certified instructor with the American Tae Kwon Do Association.

Grayson’s National Titles all came consecutively and the accomplishment has never been duplicated.

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There were six competitions every year.

First through third place on forms and sparring received points and whoever had the best accumulation of trophies was declared champion.

The events were held all over the country, including Newark, N.J. and Slidell, but most were held in Alabama.

Grayson said he enjoyed the challenge.

“It was awesome. I loved competing, the work and the hours of training I put in. That’s what drove me for years,” Grayson said.

After he showed his prowess nationally, Grayson accepted an opportunity to do Tae Kwon Do training in Korea for three months in the summer of 2005.

Grayson said his experience in Korea was “life changing.”

“To run into so many people on the other side of the world with the same goals, drive, interested in the same philosophies I am, is amazing,” Grayson said.

He added that speaking different languages was no problem.

“When we fought, it’s the same game. It was the same fight and the same struggle. No speaking required. There was a huge language barrier, but we each knew what we were doing,” Grayson said.

He said he did a couple exhibitions while he was there and won in some forms competitions.

Another thing Grayson did in Korea was to teach English to children. He talked about how he did it.

“The kids would follow the movements and we’d keep the animation up so they’d be able to follow. We’d have to repeat the base words. We’d teach them the names of the techniques they were doing in English,” Grayson said.

Grayson said an example, is they would teach the children the word “punch” as they were performing a punch.

When they sparred, there would be games where the children learned how to speak as well as fighting.

Another one of Grayson’s accomplishments came to light when he bought the martial arts school from Donny and Kelli Cannon. Kelli is Weems’ daughter. This year alone, the school has had 17 state champions.

But Grayson wasn’t celebrating his purchase the day it happened. Instead he was dodging Hurricane Gustav and hoping he’d have a school to teach at.

“The day, Sept. 1, that I took over the business, I was freaking out on whether or not I would have a school to come back to. The day the ownership and everything transferred to my name could’ve been the day that my school blew away,” Grayson said.

Weems, who passed away of cancer, was Grayson’s karate instructor since he was four.

Grayson said it was hard to put into words how much it meant to him to buy the school with Weems’ name on it. Grayson, who has been teaching for six years and four as a head instructor, said he knew when he was age five-or-six that this was what he wanted to do.

“To see that dream come to fruition, it’s not the average person’s story,” Grayson said. “Not every person gets the opportunity to do what they dreamed of doing. The fact that I get to teach under Master Weems’ name, that’s more than what I could’ve dreamt for.”

Grayson, who began taking karate at the age of four on a one-month trial, described Weems as a mentor and said he uses what he learned from him on a regular basis.

“I quote him daily. He’s changed who I am at every level,” Grayson said. “He’s the reason I’m as confident as I am. He’s the reason I have a job. I owe everything to Rick Weems. My family and I are very tight. He was like a second dad. Anything I could talk to my dad (Billy) about, I could talk to him about. He really had a deep impact on me.”

Grayson, whose students range from 3-54-years old, teaches martial arts, Tae Kwon Do and Amber Alert and bully self-defense stranger awareness.

His talked about his teaching goal.

“I want to teach confidence. Believing in yourself. Believing, ‘yes I can.’ That’s what I believe and that’s how I live. I want to change the world that way,” Grayson said.

When he had to come up with an LLC name, he chose, “Live Confident Martial Arts.”

Grayson said the thing that motivates him to teach everyday is when a participant believes in him or herself.

One of Grayson’s students is 9-year old Mikey Moran, who goes to Little Oak Middle School and is a brown belt. He said the biggest lesson he has learned from Grayson is to “show confidence and other people will want to be around you.”

Shannon Morris along with her two sons Zachary, 11, and Hunter, 7, who attend St. Margaret Mary School, are taking lessons from Grayson.

Both of her children are second-degree black belts, while she is a first degree. Her husband Stephen Morris, 42, a brown belt, was also a student of Grayson’s until his knee prevented him from continuing.

Shannon Morris said Grayson is a great instructor, but an even better mentor for her children.

“He’s very articulate,” Morris said. “He uses things from his life that were good and not so good. My oldest son’s self-esteem has gone up. He’s always been a straight ‘A’ student, but very quiet. He’s not afraid to get in front of class (at school) and participate in the instruction.”

Trevor Carrere, a 10-year old student, who goes to Abney Elementary School, has been taking lessons from Grayson for about a year and is a red belt. He said he has improved a lot since he started.

“He has taught me a lot. The butterfly kicks, take downs and different moves,” Carrere said.

Buying the school for Grayson meant he had to give up attending Holy Cross College on the Westbank where he was majoring in business. Grayson, who had a 4.2 grade-point average at Slidell, said it was a tough choice to leave college.

“I worked hard and I made sure I did a good job in school to go to college, so that one day I could get a job to support and to be able to open up a school,” Grayson said.

He said it all came down to the decision of later regrets, not having the school or the diploma. Grayson said it was easy. He would regret not having the school.

He said his goal is to have more than one. Grayson said he plans on owning a second school in three years.

Grayson is also heavily involved in the community. He speaks to local elementary and junior high schools. Grayson takes his team of 6-14-year olds to safety fairs.

“My team, especially, loves to go out in public and show them what we do here everyday,” Grayson said.

He recently did one at Home Depot and has gone to Harahan to do some. Grayson said he goes to the mall and educates on Amber Alerts and self-defense.

Grayson’s hobbies include painting and playing drums.