The Legacy of Bruce McCorry

The Legacy of Bruce McCorry
Interview by: Michael Fulcher

Bruce McCorry's Academy of Martial Arts is an institution that stands
apart among the many martial arts schools in Massachusetts. Since 1978,
Bruce McCorry's Academy has been imparting valuable lessons of martial
arts to thousands of students. This four-decade-long success saga owes
its legacy to Master Bruce McCorry, the founder and head of the academy.
Bruce McCorry's Academy is the brainchild of Master McCorry who has led
an illustrious career and made his individual mark in the field of
martial arts.

Master Bruce McCorry: A Life for Martial Arts
Master Bruce McCorry was born in Revere in Massachusetts. He was brought
up in Peabody, where his Mom and Dad chose to settle when he was five.
In 1967, he came across the Green Hornet TV series and he was deeply
inspired by Bruce Lee. This childhood motivation opened to him a new
path which would be both his profession and passion for the rest of his
life.

His martial art journey commenced that very year, at the age of 13, when
he enrolled to learn Uechi Ryu at Mattson Karate Academy. His love for
martial arts, which started as a childhood amusement, soon became a
strong passion. This led him to try out more martial arts, and thus he
took up Kung Fu under Grandmaster P.Chan in 1972. Within three years,
his curiosity and enthusiasm led him to yet another art and this time,
he began training in Taekwondo at Peter Chung Taekwondo Academy.

Wednesdays child with Jack Williams.

At the tenth year of his martial art studies, he knew for sure that
martial art is his way. Through these years, a new desire was brewing in
his heart: to open his own school and dedicate his life to teaching
martial arts. He realized his dream after a year of hard work. In 1978,
Bruce McCorry's Academy was born.

By 1983, he was qualified to be an instructor in Kung Fu and Tai Chi as
well. The desire to learn more about martial arts had never totally
subsided in his heart. This led Master McCorry to take a break from the
academy in 1984 and travel throughout Asia, the homeland to many martial
arts. With his academy staffed with a team of fine instructors, this
journey turned out to be one of the most eventful ones in his career as
he had the honor to be one of the first American Kung Fu Troup ever to
perform and train at the very shrine of Kung Fu – the Shaolin Temple in
China.

Bruce McCorry at the the Shaolin Temple in China.

Within two years, he returned and resumed his training in Taekwondo.
This time, his trainer was Grandmaster JHOON Rhee who is often hailed as the
father of US Taekwondo for introducing this martial art to the United States
of America since arriving in the 1950s.

Bruce with Master Rhee

Master Rhee doing his morning daily dozen in Master McCorry's living room

Since then Master McCorry had taught and contributed to various martial
arts such as Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Taekwondo. He has
received many laurels, including the honor of being the 7th Dan
registered by the KukkiWon in Korea. He was welcomed to the Hall of Fame for Martial Arts in 2002 and received the title of Master Instructor in 2003. In his own words, he is happy
with his achievements not because they show his accomplishments, but
because each of them means that he has more to offer to his students.


Certificate of  KukkiWon in Korea

The Legacy of Four Decades: Bruce McCorry's Center for Martial Arts
This longing of Master McCorry to impart what he had learned to others
had been the strength of Bruce McCorry's Academy for the past 40 years.
Equally important was the dedication and devotion of other teachers who
had joined the Academy from time to time and remained its indelible part
ever since.

At present, Bruce McCorry's Academy is a school with the strength of
four decades of tradition to its credit. The Academy has always stood
for the richness of tradition and the innovation. Students from all age
groups and all walks of life have benefited from the Academy. Bruce
McCorry's Academy also runs special courses for students with special
needs, intended to bring them to the mainstream of life.

Apart from offering martial arts lessons, Bruce McCorry's Center has
also been conducting fund raisers, meets and special programs to spread
the word of martial arts. What had started out as one man's dream has
thus become a place where thousands of aspirants flock to achieve their
goals.

 a message from the chairman from the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation


In honor of Bruce McCorry and all his Achievements and Academy, please visit the new www.BruceMcCorrys.com website to learn more.