About :: Instructor

Hello, my name is Jeff Giroux. My wife, Veronica, and I have been Glastonbury residents since 2001. We are proud parents of three great children and as such are active in many town activities for youth. I opened All Star Kids in 2004 and since then have enjoyed meeting many families and teaching loads of great kids. This page is to give you some of my history pertaining to the martial arts. Blah blah stuff unless you are interested in karate and jiu jitsu.

Martial Arts background…

I started classes in judo in 1983 (age 9). Later that year I added and ultimately switched to Tang Soo Do karate and earned my first degree black belt in 1986. Although stand up karate was my primary focus, I always loved grappling (probably from those early memories of judo). I started to built some grappling skills by wrestling in middle and high school. Then in the early 1990’s I was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu by the Machado brothers at my karate style’s annual convention.

In the late 1980’s, while my brother and I were still in high school , we were given the opportunity to take over our instructors studio (Eric Breuer) due to his relocation. Champion Karate Center in Southington, CT was operated by us until 1994 when Steve left for college. After college, Steve and I both ended up in the greater Boston area and opened the Newton studio in 1999. I later moved to CT and opened the Glastonbury studio in 2004.

Since those early years, my brother Steve and I have continued to train and teach. Steve currently holds a 6th dan in CKD. I have a 4th dan in CKD and a purple belt in BJJ. Both of our schools are are active members in the United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF) and my school is an acive member of RCJ Machado BJJ under Carlos, as well as BJJ America under David Meyer, John Will, and Brian Johnson.

Over the many years I have enjoyed experimenting with different styles and training under a long list of high-level teachers – Mr. Norris himself, Machado brothers, Gene Lebell, David Meyer, John Will, Richard Norton, Benny Urquidez, Fumio Demura, Cung Lee and many CKD champions too many to name.

Highlights/Achievements

- 1989 – team members on Intersport Karate Team & traveled to the USSR on goodwill

- 1993 & 1996 – Jeff won UFAF Men’s Lightweight Fighting

- 1997 – Jeff appeared in Walker Texas Ranger (great for a good laugh)

- 1999 – Steve won UFAF Men’s Fighting Grand Championship