Martial Arts - Our Tang Soo Do Masters

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Master Instructor - Sah Bum Nim Arango, a San Diego native, started her martial arts journey 15 years ago when her sons were 4 & 6 years old.  Initially bringing them to classes to help with their behavior and focus she could not be kept on the sidelines and she began her own training in earnest.  

In keeping with the family values of Tang Soo Do, SBN Arango earned her Black Belt in 2007 alongside both of her sons.  While her sons have moved on to other activities SBN Arango  continued her journey well past them advancing through her second degree under Master K. Courage and achieving her third degree in 2018 through Master R. Jones. 

Sah Bum Nim Arango allows our studio to have a deeper connection to the rich Hispanic community we have here in Vista by utilizing her bilingual skills to support our mixed language families as well as teaching incredibly awesome Karate classes.

Assistant Instructor - Mr. Roth Sr. began training in Shotokan in 1967 when he joined the US Air Force. In 1969 in Vietnam, he trained with the Republic of Korea (ROK) army in Tae Kwon Do.  This training focused on combat survival skills as well as traditional Tae Kwon Do.
After his discharge from the Air Force, while attending college, Mr. Roth Sr. trained in Ed Parker’s Kenpo and participated as a member of a 5-man kumite team sparing in tournaments in Southern California. The tournaments included Ed Parker’s Long Beach International and Mike Stone’s Four Seasons tournament at Redondo Beach.

Due to work commitments, Mr. Roth Sr. stopped training for a number of years. During this time, he implemented training operations for Qualcomm Inc. in Moscow, Russia and New Delhi, India. Later he started his own training company conducting classes in Hong Kong, Spain, and Australia. He is retired from Northrop Grumman where he was the manager responsible for aircrew training on the Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aerial vehicle.  He holds a Bachelors of Technical Education degree and a Master of Science in Instructional Technology.

Ultimately, in 2004, Mr. Roth Sr. returned to martial arts when his son, Mr. Roth Jr. began training in Tang Soo Do. He received his Black Belt in 2009, his 2nd Degree Black Belt in 2011, and his 3rd Degree Black Belt in 2014. He is continuing his training while assisting as an instructor at California Karate Academy.

Instructor - Royal Harrell was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Vista at the age of 9 with his mother and younger sister who has cerebral palsy. His family grew up poor, but were rich at heart. Because of his little sister, he later became a substitute teacher for special education. He enjoys helping people with all types of disabilities and would like to one day open a studio for special needs.

Royal is a father of four and two of them train at California Karate Academy -- a son and a daughter make up the rest of Team Harrell. Having his little ones doing what he likes to do and not forcing them to train is, in his words, epic. "Honestly it’s my daughter that keeps me motivated. She gives me hope and motivation, teaching me the NEVER GIVE UP rule."  

Besides learning Tang Soo Do, Royal has background experience in Shotokan, Shorin Ryu and Jiu-Jitsu. Because of his previous and current training he now teaches the sparring classes on Fridays. He thinks that a well-rounded martial artist should train in both stand up and ground disciplines and encourages students to do both.

Assistant Instructor - Julie Cornwell is a Minnesota native and her, along with her daughter Fiona, are two of CKA’s original students. In college, Julie majored in Latin and minored in Biology before she went off to live and work in Europe for the better part of a decade. She relocated to her husband’s home state of California in 2015.

Because of her upbringing, Julie participated in a variety of athletic and artistic endeavors such as ballet, tap, volleyball, tennis, basketball, and track.  Her interest in keeping physically fit lead her to studying Tae Kwon Do with her oldest daughter.

Julie enjoys being challenged mentally and physically and encourages other students to push themselves outside of their comfort zones. She is an excellent addition to our Tang Soo Do team and brings knowledge, expertise, and wisdom to our floor.

Assistant Instructor - Mr. Roth Jr. started martial arts training at 7 years old at the Carlsbad Boys club. Later, while attending the Institute for Effective Education (IEE) High School, He earned his Brown Belt in Isshin-Ryu.  He began training in Tang Soo Do with Master K. Courage in Encinitas in 2004. He received his Black belt in 2009 and continued training to ultimately receive his 2nd Degree Black Belt in 2011 and his 3rd Degree Black Belt in 2014.

Mr. Roth Jr. is also active as a Special Olympics athlete. He has competed in tennis, golf, swimming, and bowling at Regional and Southern California events. In 2018 he was invited to be one of two Special Olympics tennis athletes to represent all of Southern California at the 2018 National Special Olympics in Seattle, Washington. At this tournament he won a Silver Medal in mixed doubles tennis with his partner and he won a Bronze Medal in his singles tennis division.

As a 3rd Degree Black Belt, Mr. Roth Jr. thoroughly enjoys assisting in classes at California Karate Academy while continuing his own training.

Coach - Coach Brent has been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since 2017. He earned his blue belt in March of 2019 under Professor Chris Serrell and his purple belt in September of 2022 under Professor Aaron Collins. He currently runs our kids BJJ program and assists in our self-defense classes here at California Karate Academy. His inviting demeanor, personable nature, and life experience is a valuable asset to our team.

Brent is a former United States Marine where he served 8 years as an Infantryman. He has been on 3 deployments -- two combat -- and spent the last 3 years of his enlistment working for the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps at the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

He graduated from San Diego State University in 2018 with a bachelor of arts degree in Digital Media.