The Power of Family Self Defense School Karate Testimonials

Born in 1970, Sensei Mark Hawley quickly discovered a passion for all things martial arts. He began to train at five years old under his father in Military Combatives; as he aged this training escalated into partaking in boxing and wrestling during his kindergarten to twelfth grade educational journey. Shortly after graduation Mark joined the United States Navy where he honorably, until he was honorably and medically discharged in 1993. During his time in the Navy, he would seek out martial arts wherever he went.  At a post-service appointment, he ran into his now-wife, Erikka Hawley; After a whirlwind courtship they married, and have been together over thirty years.

During his years of studying Martial Arts Mr. Hawley graduated college at Northern Arizona University (N.A.U.) in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in social work. Mark Hawley was placed into full disability due to his service-related injuries in 2002. Mark and his wife Erikka have a total of sixteen children; three of those children are biological, and the remaining thirteen are adopted. They’ve spent the majority of their marriage doing foster care and adoption, hundreds of children have passed through their home and many still call Mark Hawley ‘Dad’, and Erikka Hawley ‘Mom’. Sensei Hawley also tends to call his students family as he cares deeply about each of them. 

His mother-in-law taught and certified him in massage and physical therapy during the early years of his marriage. Mark often quotes, “if you are going to learn to hurt someone you must learn how to fix them,” and “you have to fix the toys you break, or your friends’ wont want to play with you.” Mr. Hawley worked as a social worker for four years, and then after his retirement he volunteered at the Winslow Guidance Association (W.G.A.) as a substance abuse and domestic violence councilor for an additional five years. Further, he has studied and became certified in training at the University of Self-Defense under Thomas Patire, in 2017.

In 2018, after nearly forty years of studying various arts across the world, and in the privacy of his own home, Mark Hawley received his tenth-degree black belt. At this same time his dream to open his own school – The Family Self-Defense School (F.S.D.S.) – as well as his self-created martial art, ATAVISM, were recognized and affirmed by a board of his peers, fellow tenth degree black belts who were/ are members of the United Black Belts’ Council (U.B.B.C.), Hawaiian Karate Association (H.K.A.) and Findlay’s Pacific Rim International Martial Arts. (He was also given the title ‘grandmaster’ at this time, which he prefers to not use. Later, he created Adaptive ATAVISM for his Deshi, Justin Warwick’s, wife, KaeLynn Warwick; it was created for smaller and weaker people, who may or may not have disabilities, to be able to defend themselves. In 2022 Sensei was bestowed the title of ‘Shihan’ by the Hawaiian Karate Association (H.K.A.) which he is willing to use interchangeably with Sensei. Mark is an “F1” or first-generation student under Olohe Kolomona Solomon Kaihewalu (1935-2019) in the art of Lua. 

In 2024 Sensei Hawley was nominated for the United States Martial Art’s Hall of Fame for the ‘Making a Difference’ award by International Martial Arts Council (I.M.A.C.). He received that award and states that he is honored, and that it is the “only award he would ever want, if any. I have always wanted to make a lasting difference and contribution.” After this award was presented and accepted Sensei Mark became interested in joining the Chung Ji Do International Martial Arts’ Organization. 

He has published one book already, and is working on not only re-publishing it, but also publishing two additional books; they are all curriculums for his dojo and arts. Mr. Hawley has recently created a social media page and is creating a web page with the aid of Professor Jerry Shaw. Shihan Mark Hawley turned his dream of opening a school into the ownership of his daughter, Verlena Hawley, who runs the school as business. He ‘works’ only on a volunteer basis, as he is retired. He continues to teach at F.S.D.S., and when asked by other instructors at other schools. Mark continues to study as many martial arts as cross his path with a hunger and passion that has yet to be sated that give strength to his resolve; when asked he says that “it makes him happy to learn.” Further, he is a strong, upstanding member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (L.D.S.) that he serves in, and in his community to the best of his abilities. He hopes that his dream of having F.S.D.S. as a ‘household name’ will be a raging success, and that one day the school will be an international name. What will he do next?