It has been a lifelong dream of Mr. Reilly and Mr. Leyesa to someday open a martial arts school of their very own, so that they could impact children’s lives the way that martial arts has impacted theirs. In 2002 they opened East Coast Martial Arts Institute located in East Windsor, New Jersey and thanks to the outstanding support of their dedicated students and their parents; their dream is now a reality. They each not only have a unique gift and talent for the martial arts, but the amazing ability to teach it in a fun and creative way, all while staying true to the values and traditions that lie within the martial arts.
Mr. Jason Reilly and Mr. Christopher Leyesa have been training in TaeKwonDo since they were eight years old. They are both certified 3rd Degree Black Collar instructors, with over a decade of teaching experience throughout Central New Jersey. Mr. Leyesa also attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he began to train in the martial arts style of Wu Shu. After graduating he furthered his training of Wu Shu in Pennsylvania, earning his Black Belt there. Mr. Reilly visited frequently with him during this time to further his own martial arts learning.
On the side, Mr. Reilly volunteers his time teaching TaeKwonDo to children with special needs, and Mr. Leyesa teaches Tai Chi at a senior center. Both of these men have also participated in CDT seminars, an anti-terrorism and self-defense organization that emphasizes liability conscious safety techniques. Mr. Reilly has taken this a step further by completing a Last Resorts Tactics course which teaches its participants to diffuse highly dangerous and potentially deadly situations.
They have both also competed in tournaments on a national and international circuit level, including such events as the 1998 Goodwill Games held in Cancun, the 2000 World Championships in Hawaii, and the World’s Cup held in Venezuela, in 2002. At the last competition in Venezuela they not only competed, but also coached a team which consisted of nine of their students and fellow instructors. Together, the team brought home over ten medals.
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