Guadalajara martial arts training features Crestview resident

Tom Gordon, owner of Gordon Martial Arts in Crestview, demonstrates a sweep, or take-down, technique and waits for the Spanish translator, right of picture, to relay information to a group attending training in Guadalajara, Mexico.

CRESTVIEW — Tom Gordon has been featured numerous times on the covers of international martial arts magazines.

Gordon Martial Arts — the downtown Crestview school that he and his wife, Barbara, own — hosts an annual international seminar in Crestview. 

In late October, the Gordons made their latest mark in global martial arts, traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico to participate in a training event.  

Tom was invited to teach as one of a half-dozen instructors for roughly 250 participants. 

Attendees from seven countries included beginners to high-level master instructors, "with roughly 40 to 50 percent not having English as a first language, and 25 percent not understanding English at all," Tom Gordon said. "But the camaraderie among martial artists seems to act as a universal language, and everyone seemed to enjoy the seminars."

After seminars, the Gordons' adventures included seeing the Guachimontones, circular stepped pyramids  thought to be from the Aztec era several thousands of years ago, and Volcán de Colima, a volcano that last erupted in 2005. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Guadalajara martial arts training features Crestview resident