Joe Dressel
Joe began his journey in Martial Arts at the age of 17, and has been teaching/training in Martial Arts for over 21 years. He received his 4th Dan in HapKiDo in 2008 and has been training in Combat Sports for 12 of those years, receiving his first Gold Medal in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2008 as well.
Notable Achievements:
4th Dan HapKiDo under Grandmaster J.R.West in the U.S.K.M.A.F. (2008)
Black Belt in Roufusport Kickboxing under 4x World Champ Duke Roufus. (2016)
NASM-CPT
Most known for his ability to connect the traditional (HapKiDo) and reality based systems of combat sports (Boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). The ability to bring back truth to the traditional martial arts. He can do this because of his 11 year stint running security in Baltimore, Owings Mills and Westminster, putting his techniques and tactics on the line every weekend.
He is one of the most compassionate and gentle people you'll come across so he wasn't looking to fight but he was looking for truth, restoring harmony to situations that had none, "I am a peaceful man, I try to find peaceful means to end a conflict first and some of my proudest moments were changing the course of an altercation by simply speaking to them, finding out the problem and coming to a non violent solution. However some people don't hold a human life as high as others and it didn't matter what was said they just wanted to hurt someone and that is where the training I received in reality based combat sports came into play." Joe also said "I wanted to give my students the best training possible so I put myself on the line, to potentially get hurt, learning the nature of self-defense situations so I can pass that knowledge on to my future students." He also states "as a Self Defense Instructor and Coach I have a moral obligation to train up men, woman, and children from all walks of life, to prepare them so in the heat of the moment they have the confidence to deal with it and that I've done all I can do to prepare them for the very real possibility of an attack." On the other side of the coin, he runs a very tight ship and all competitors are held to a high standard in and out of the club by having the competitors understand the tenets of traditional martial arts eg. Respect, Honor, Integrity etc. The bully's and thugs don't survive in the environment that we've cultivated. This allows the club to be a formidable avenue for self defense, confidence, integrity and life skills. Hanover Boxing Club runs some of the most fun, safe, real and energetic classes in the area!
