Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristopher Reyes.
Hi Kristopher, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
When I was in my early 20’s I became a police officer in the state of Texas, it has been something I have always wanted to do since I was younger and when I had the opportunity to do it, I jumped on it. I was in law enforcement for a few years but where I live was kind of rough so I made a change, I moved to MN and started a new life, I started working at a brewery and loved it so I kept working making beer and energy drinks. While working at the brewery I felt like I needed something else in my life, I still had that feeling like I could do more like when I was in law enforcement helping people and being a good role model.
During the time at the brewery I had some friends that were into martial arts and wanted me to join but it was a busy time in my life to start anything that would require a lot of time, I finally had time a couple years after and they when they asked me to join again I joined Regional Martial arts Taekwondo in Richmond, MN, at first I felt like it wasn’t for me but kept with it and as I trained and learned more I began to love it, the biggest thing that got me hooked were the tournaments and the competing with other schools and competitors. All of the support I received from my family and friends was great and awesome but the knowledge, friends, and family I gained was priceless.
I became a 1st Degree Black Belt in 2018 and it was the greatest feeling ever, when I was a colored belt moving on to different ranks, I had a small family within the ranks but when I entered the world of a Black Belt it was a whole different feeling, it was a great accomplishment and felt great, I began to know a lot of great Back belts to train with and learn new stuff from. I had entered a world in Martial Arts and it was a great feelin’, a feeling that I was looking for but didn’t know I was lookin’ for it in Martial Arts.
A few months after Gaining my 1st Degree Black Belt my Master Instructor knew I had something inside of me and believed I could do more, she asked if I would want to help teach some classes so I filled in and taught some classes, after a while she had made the decision to give me the opportunity to take over a school. At first, I wasn’t sure I would want to run a school with having a full-time job, I accepted the opportunity and I became owner of a school in Kimball, MN. I did change the name when I took it over, I had named it Rising Dragons Martial Arts to make it my own. It was nerve-racking at first but after a while, I began to love it and it, I had a small group of kids and they were awesome students, they showed a lot of what I was when I started martial arts. At the time I was running my school in Kimball I was still filling in at Regional Martial Arts in Richmond so it was a busy time for me.
While running my school the other head instructors at Regional were starting to get busy with their lives and had to step back, at this time I had made the decision to take over Regional M.A, my life got a bit more busy but I managed to make it work. At one point I thought it was too much for me teaching and having a full-time job and I wanted to step back. I had to make a decision, I did a lot of thinking and while making my decision something came to me, I thought of all the kids I was teaching and impacting and the feeling I had when doing so, I was getting a lot of positive feedback from parents and I knew this is what I was missing in my life, the feeling I was feeling was the feeling I had when I was in law enforcement and it was what I was looking for. I knew I had to keep going so I had made the decision to continue with teaching at both schools.
During this time Covid hit and made things a lot more difficult, I had to close down both schools for a few months, when was able to get going with my schools I knew it was going to be difficult getting students back so the decision was made to close down Regional M.A. in Richmond. With this decision I had made the decision to close down my school in Kimball and move it to Richmond, when I moved to Richmond and opened up, I slowly got my students back, I even had some students from my Kimball school come back. There were still a lot of restrictions with Covid going on but I still had parents who were supporting me and my school and kept their children enrolled.
Throughout this whole time of covid, I kept my own training going and have ranked up, I am now a 3rd Degree Black Belt and working on my 4rth Degree black Belt to become a Master, I am happy to say that throughout all this pandemic I am still open and accepting new students, I will try my best to keep Martial Arts alive in my area and know that this is my passion, I want to teach others what I have learned and become a great Martial Artist, this is my dream and I will work towards it no matter what.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of my struggles while running my schools was running 2 schools and having a full-time job, not to mention having covid hit and having to shut down, it has been a bumpy road but I’m happy to say that I’m still open and accepting new students.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Apart from running my school I work at the Cold Spring brewing company, we make our own specialized beers and we also produce various of energy drinks, I am in charge of the batching department, which deals mainly with blending ingredients to make the energy drinks. I was known as the energy drink guy but since I started Martial Arts I am known as the Karate Kid, lol, not sure why because teach Taekwondo but I’ll take it, lol.
I am most proud of is having my own school and teaching kids as well as adults, it is a great feeling knowing I am having a great impact with my students and anyone I train with, it has become a passion for me and a lifestyle that I wouldn’t want to give up anytime soon.
I think what sets me aside from others is that I have the ability to work with kids, keep up with my training, have a full-time job, and have the ability to keep it all together and keep it all going, I think if you have the passion and drive to do whatever you want you can accomplish it no matter what the obstacle gets put in front of you.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
When growing up I wasn’t a very active kid, I would be the last one to want to join any sports, I was very quiet and shy. I was in a small circle of friends and kept it that way, I was always moving around so this is prob why I never joined any sports and didn’t want to make many friends. I wasn’t very interested in many things growing up just kept to myself, during my high school years is when I was becoming a little more active, I started to do a lot of weight lifting and played a little bit of football.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: risingdragonsma.com
- Facebook: @risingdragonstkd
