Meet Our Team

Nils is a lifetime martial artist who is committed to learning.  He has skills with swords, knives, and other weapons.  He earned his 1st degree Black Belt in 1988, Master in 2003 and Grand Master in 2015.  He believes strongly in martial arts training having intent and purpose.  He lives in Australia where he instructs at Black Knight Aus and Two Kings Martial Arts.  He does bounce back to Atlanta a few times a year.

​Joel Dunham has been practicing various styles of martial arts since he was introduced to Tae Kwon Do as a child. He holds rank in Hapkido, American Karate, and Tae Kwon Do; has significant experience in Wing Chun, Aikido, Kung Fu, and Filipino martial arts; and has spent time in other styles including BJJ and various Karate styles. He blends all his experience to have his own unique view on the arts, while adding flow arts and fire spinning to his repertoire.

Daniel started doing martial arts in 2004 as an undergrad in college. When he tried Hapkido, he was instantly hooked by the broad range of skills and techniques involved. Decades later, he still loves exploring and teaching the many diverse aspects that make up the art. In recent years, he has also branched out to try other arts like HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), and often participates in historical fencing tournaments.

Sun, who also goes by Hung, has been practicing hapkido since 2013. He was hooked due to the art being size-independent. Over the years, he has learned to navigate the intricacies of teaching the various age groups, and is now comfortable spreading self-defense knowledge to anyone of any age or background.

​Dr. Matthieu Bloch started martial arts during grad school when looking for an engaging way to exercise. He chose Hapkido because of the versatility of the art, the emphasis on self defense, the friendly atmosphere that fostered personal growth, and because mastering nunchucks and joint locks looked just awesome. Years after, he finds learning and teaching Hapkido just as exciting and rewarding.

Michael started training Hapkido as an undergrad in 2009 as an engineering student. He finds the simple but effective mechanics of the art to be fascinating, and enjoys the great workouts and good people.

Victor started training in Hapkido in 2013 as a way to get in shape and manage stress, and quickly came to appreciate the flexible and practical nature of the art as well as the sense of community at Black Knight. After earning his first degree black belt he moved out of state for several years, during which he tried other arts but Hapkido and Black Knight always felt like home. He’s happy to be back in Atlanta teaching and learning alongside some of the instructors who taught him, and especially enjoys working with students who might be hesitant to try martial arts due to size, age, differences in ability, or any other reason.

Dave Safranski started hapkido at Black Knight in 2017 because he wanted a physical and mental challenge. With a background in orthopaedic biomechanics, he found the joint locks, throws, and grappling very interesting and fun. Over the years of training, he continues to find joy in learning the small details of the self-defense techniques and when he overcomes mental hurdles.

Mathias began his Hapkido journey while at Georgia Tech, where he found a group of people that supported and motivated him to grow. As an instructor he hopes to be able to provide students with the same opportunity to learn and evolve.

A practiced student who enjoys the versatility of Hapkido. Christian fuses soft-style technique with his hard-style background to be a more dynamic and well rounded martial artist. He is the software developer who takes Hapkido's circular principle too seriously in SCRUM meetings.

Kelsey found her way to Hapkido while looking for a martial art that would provide her with practical self defense skills and has spent the last five years training at Georgia Tech and Black Knight. She enjoys the versatility and flexibility of the art and appreciates the mental and physical strength it has fostered. Kelsey hopes to engender the same confidence and growth in other women and anyone who is unsure of their place in martial arts.