Steve
Cardenas : Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructor (Red Power Ranger)
Steve Cardenas, a former
“Power Ranger” and 5th degree black belt in American
Tae Kwon Do & brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) started
training martial arts in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas at the
young age of 12. At 14 he realized he wanted to teach martial arts
and accepted an apprenticeship with mentor, Dennis Black. Black
began teaching Cardenas the fundamental important lessons of instruction
as well as the ins and outs of the "karate biz". At age
16 Cardenas received a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, prompting him
to teach multiple after-school programs to kids and teens. At 20
Cardenas moved to Los Angeles, California after an unlikely audition
landed him the the role of “Rocky the Red Power Ranger”
...
...on the TV series Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action
children's television series that saw overnight success, catapulting
the show into pop culture in mere months. He has since appeared
at the 2007 Power Morphicon, 2008 Comic Con and the Anime Expo 2009
along with fellow veteran Power Rangers actors.
Following a run making pop-culture
history, Cardenas successfully ran martial arts studios in California
and Texas and in 2009 started a kids-specific program at Hollywood
BJJ studio in West Hollywood founded by actor and BJJ black belt,
Sean Patrick Flannery. With 25 years of martial arts experience,
Cardenas has also received many outstanding honors, including: two-time
Silver Medalist at Copa Pacifica in 2009 & 2011, Gold Medal
winner of the 2009 American National Championship, Bronze Medal
winner in the 2010 American National Championship, Gold Medal in
the 2010 Jiu-Jitsu Pro Gear Open, and Silver Medal in the 2010 No-Gi
World Championships. Now, Steve not only focuses on working with
kids in BJJ, but people of all ages and believes that the conditioning,
discipline and respect that people learn from martial arts can be
carried over into all aspects of their lives.