Kenpo instructor brings expertise, experience to Little Elm

Dr. Alvin “Goldie” Mack Jr. speaks in the sanguine tones of a man who knows where he belongs.

A 5th degree black belt and former law enforcement officer, Mack spends his days training young martial artists in Kenpo, a form of karate comprising more than a dozen different styles from around the world, at his Universal Martial Arts Academy and Training Center (UMAATC) in Denton. Last month he began teaching classes at the Little Elm Community Center in an effort to reach out to a different sect of the Metroplex population.

He is extremely well versed in all things self-defense. Having studied martial arts since 1968, specifically focusing on the Ed Parker Kenpo System, Mack received his Doctorate of Martial Arts Philosophy and Martial Arts Science from the University of Asian Martial Arts Studies in February. In the last two years alone, he has been inducted into seven halls of fame.

“We have been really blessed because the program works,” said Mack, who will be elected into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement on Aug. 2 in Nashville, Tenn., and the Masters Hall of Fame on Aug. 16. “It is a self-defense school first and foremost. You are your own first line of defense.”

Though he has been teaching Kenpo in the DFW area since 1985, four years before he opened UMAATC, in 1994 Mack turned his training institution into a non-profit organization dedicated to reaching out and assisting as many youth and battered women as possible. Most of the center’s services are free of charge to the community and he frequently foots the bill when he takes students on field trips.

“Most of the time I pay for it,” he said. “It is a reward for students that have a good grade point average in school and that are not getting into confrontations or fights.”

Taking action

Mack, 59, dealt with his share of petty offenders and hardened criminals alike during his tenure in law enforcement. He worked as a deputy sheriff in Kansas, as a Ft. Worth police officer from 1985-87, and as a Denton police officer from 1987-94. A particularly impactful event in his final stint forced the 19-year veteran to call it quits.

In 1992, Denton Ryan honors student Shari Catherine Crews and classmate Jesus Garcia were savagely murdered with a sawed-off shotgun by James Brown and James Lee Clark, paroled just weeks earlier on robbery charges. Mack was one of the first responders on the scene and helped arrest the two felons, who were quickly convicted on homicide charges. Clark has since been executed.

Mack had watched Crews and Garcia grow up during middle school as a teacher in the D.A.R.E. program. The deaths rattled him to the core and it was then that he made a promise to himself that he would do anything in his power to prevent such crimes in the future if at all possible.

“There needed to be something more done to protect kids and adults,” he said.

During his time as a patrol officer, one thing became dreadfully apparent: law enforcement needed to change its focus from a reactionary organization to a preventative one. But it wasn’t happening quickly enough for Mack’s liking.

Far too often, he said, officers would get wrapped up in the number of drug busts to their credit rather than directing their attention to preventing crime.

“Rather than beat my head against the wall, I decided to do something about it,” he said.

Soon after he quit law enforcement all together to spend more time teaching self-defense courses, which includes providing assistance to the public concerning martial arts, fitness and health, gang awareness and prevention, rape and domestic violence awareness, drug and alcohol awareness, and anti-terrorism awareness and prevention.

Ironic ending

As one of six children growing up in a single parent household, Toby Mack had always been instructed by his father to do the right thing. He trained under “Goldie” and worked with him at the UMAATC helping youth for several years as a high schooler.

Two months before his 22nd birthday, July 12, 1998 to be exact, Toby was at a shopping mall in Phoenix, Ariz., when he witnessed a security guard being attacked by gang members. Toby was surrounded by other onlookers, but the only one to spring into action. As he attempted to break up the fracas, Toby was shot and killed.

“The only good thing that came out of that was he died doing what I trained him to do,” Mack said. “The irony is that a group of people were standing around watching. He was the only one that stepped up to do the right thing.”

To honor the passing of his son, Mack made sure the UMAATC survived the tough times and he opened the Triangle 2nd Chance Youth Ranch. Mack, who uses the title “sifu” meaning “master teacher” in Chinese, also works with physically challenged students through REACH, a resource center for people living with a disability. He will speak about self-defense to REACH of Denton July 8-9 at Williams High School. Then on July 22, Mack, who gives seminars and workshops throughout the country and teaches law enforcement personnel at police academies, will speak at Exxon Mobil’s July Safety and Wellness session.

Though he was out of law enforcement for seven years, Mack couldn’t stay away permanently. The events of Sept. 11, 2001 convinced him, along with some persuasion from friends Lt. Gary Spector (retired Secret Service) and Judge Sidney Thompson, that he should return. His background in nuclear, chemical and biological warfare, along with anti-terrorism training, made him the perfect candidate to join the president’s Homeland Security Anti-Terrorism Police Task Force, which he was a member of from 2001-02.

Practical training

Because he teaches students of all ages, Mack employs different techniques to ensure his message is hitting home. He offers a Lil Dragons class for preschoolers and a special program dubbed Silver Foxes for those over the age of 60. Regardless of age or physical limitation, UMAATC will train anyone wanting to learn self-defense.

“You can’t rely on other people to do it for you,” said Mack, who has appeared in six movies and three television shows. “You have to take it into your own hands. Law enforcement personnel are all after-the-fact responders.”

Occasionally Mack will bring in newspaper clippings or reference a particular newscast as a teaching tool. After he goes over the particular circumstances of a violent crime, he then details to his students what could or should have been done in that scenario.

For the younger ones, he utilizes games such as “I Spy” to get them to be constantly vigilant of their surroundings.

“It solidifies the memory process,” he said.

Mack also has specialized personal and family safety classes. He teaches an intensive interactive Street Survival Seminar and Workshop designed for women wanting the skills to prevent becoming a victim. The author of “The Technical Training Instructor’s Course,” he has annually conducted roughly 300 anti-rape seminars across the nation for the better part of the last two decades.

The Home Invasion Seminar is a four-week course for the whole family where attendees can receive 20 percent off their renter’s or owner’s insurance. Other programs include Street Gang Awareness, Weapons Retention and Carjacking Prevention.

His class at the Little Elm Community Center includes nine students from Little Elm, Oak Point and Frisco. The self-defense course begins at 6 p.m. and runs every Tuesday and Wednesday for the entire year. His sessions at the UMAATC in Denton take place Thursday through Saturday. Students can attend all five classes every week for the princely sum of $33 per month.

To learn more about Dr. Alvin Mack Jr. or his course offerings, visit www.universalmartialartsacademyandtrainingcenter.org or call 940-320-7773.

Athletic achievements

Undefeated lightweight champion of Europe: 1974-76

Presidential Sports Award recipient: 1977

Grand Champion of the U.S. Golden Karate Championships: 1977

Best Sportsman Award recipient at MARS National Championships: 1978

Winner of the 11th annual Rocky Mountain Nations: 1979

Grand Open Champion of the Southwest Open: 1980

Voted top 10 instructor by the Indian Karate Association: 1980

Elected into the Karate Who’s Who Hall of Fame: 1982

Inducted into the U.S.A Martial Arts Hall of Fame as an instructor: 2007

Inducted into the Battle of Atlanta Hall of Fame as a referee: 2007

Inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Master Instructor: 2007

Team coach for the U.S. National Team at the Goodwill Games: 2008

Movie appearances

Blade

Blade II

Necessary Roughness

True Friends

Pearl Harbor

Shaft

Television appearances

Walker Texas Ranger

Sons of Thunder

The President’s Man

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