My name is KwanJangnim Spillmann. I received my 9th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo in 2025 after 55 + years in the martial arts,  and a Black Belt in Rocian Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.  I received my belt in 2000 under Professor Rocian Gracie Jr, the Grandson of the founder, Carlos Gracie. Rocian Gracie Jr learned from his father Rocian Gracie Sr, Carlson Gracie, and several of his uncles and is currently a 6th Degree Black Belt in BJJ.  I am over 60 years old and have taught self-defense to 
law enforcement, military, and have taught many seminars overseas. I also competed in several martial arts styles and trained with some of the best teachers in Taekwondo, JiuJitsu, Karate, HapKiDo, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Boxing, and other martial arts.  I was training in many arts even before the first UFC in 1993, and MMA took off as a sport.  Rocian Gracie is my Jiu-Jitsu brother, my best friend, and a Jiu-Jitsu uncle to my children.  He honored me by naming his son Conrado Gracie after me.  Rocian Gracie is a wonderful martial artist, and his family is close to my family and my heart. We worked and trained together for many years in my academy in California until he married and moved back to Brazil to build his organization. I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from some of the best, and as time passes, many of my teachers and friends have passed away. The best way for me to honor all my teachers is to pass their knowledge down to my family and students. This is why we focus on teaching correct martial arts methods and proven practical self-defense techniques, and effective self-defense strategies. Instructors under me are world certifed by major orginizations and additionally certifed through me directly. 

I believe in being humble and kind to others whenever I can to maintain a positive mindset and a balanced spirit. I have trained in the Martial arts my entire life and have directly worked with many top Grandmasters of martial arts for over 45 + years, and I have produced many great Black Belts, many tournament winners, and life champions. I have taught amateur to pro levels and even trained with and sparred some great martial artists and fighters, as my sons do now. In my more than 56 years of learning. This is all I have ever done as my career, working for the best teachers, so on my days off from working, I  trained and learned different Martial Arts and combative arts, including Taekwondo, HapKiDo, Karate, Judo, Kung Fu,  Muay Thai, and Boxing. Where others went out to clubs and dated, I trained and sought knowledge and studied to further my education; my vacations involved training overseas, and as a Christian, I even sat and talked with monks in China and Korea about spirituality. I guess you could say martial arts has been in my heart since I was 4 years old until this day. I have been blessed to have a wife and children involved in my life's journey. Their understanding was incredible, as I became the Master and traveled all over to compete and teach others at seminars and at large events. 

Does this mean I am the best fighter in the world?  No, it just means I have more knowledge to teach to those who want to learn, and I have developed many champions and many life champions.  I consider myself a good person, a good teacher, a good fighter, a past competitor, and a good coach, who cares about my students, whom I consider close family.  I have been training for over  56  years and teaching for over 45 years.  Since 1979, teaching martial arts has been the only job that I have ever had, so to me, teaching martial arts, self-defense, fighting, and life skills is my life.  Even today, my family continues our tradition of teaching martial arts and improving lives.

 At our school, we teach several traditional martial arts, but our main focuses are traditional family values, life skills, leadership skills, emotional development, and, in the end, building better members of society who are confident and can protect themselves and others.  As our programs continue to grow, we will do our best to produce quality Black Belts and outstanding individuals.  Global Martial Arts USA & Rocian Gracie Jr schools have competed at many top events and have produced many top fighters and champions. The bottom line is, if you work hard, we will teach you and share all the knowledge we have learned over the past 55-plus years. 

You might ask why we moved to Gallatin.   I was operating many successful schools throughout the country and overseas.  As a new grandfather and after 40 years of traveling, seminars, and operating 12 locations (California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, India), and working as vice president of several big martial art organizations. Basically, as I got older, I wanted to retire near family and spend more time with my children, grandchildren, and wonderful wife.   I  wanted to focus on teaching, writing, and enjoying a simpler country,  family lifestyle.  
So in 2011, 
I handed over my other schools, and as a family, we moved to the area to be closer to my wife’s family. 
 
We then decided to open a small academy in Gallatin, so we could offer great family martial arts. We have been open for over 14  years,  and in a smaller area, we have been focusing on building our other programs, and have recently moved to a bigger, nicer 4500-sqft facility in 2024.