Our Instructors & Staff Members
Our Instructors have spent many years devoted to training in the art of Taekwondo and other martial arts and have attained a certain level of expertise to qualify them as teachers and also mentors. Through extensive testing, certification and tournament level competition, our staff has attained mastery in this martial art and now enjoy sharing their skill and passing it on to their students. Here are a few of Gold Medal Family Karate's instructors and other staff members, starting with :
Master Daniel Allebach (Master & C.O.O.) 
In 1988 Allebach earned his 1st Dan in American Kickboxing with then Super-heavyweight world champion, Ken MacKenzie. At that time Dan was also a state competitor in Arm-Wrestling, but soon gave up the sport to train more heavily with MacKenzie. Allebach’s scholastic wrestling career led him to a distinct and definite passion for the art of Hapkido, and with MacKenzie, you just can’t get any better training in the art! Master Allebach was exposed to the best of the best in the Korean arts under the tutelage of Grandmaster MacKenzie. Do Ju Nim, Ji Han Jae, Dr. He-Young Kimm, Master Robert Ott, and many other notable Korean martial arts masters helped to mold and shape the mind of Master Allebach. It not only effected how he lived as a husband and father of three, but how he performed as a successful business owner.
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Master Scott Yates (Internationally Certified 8th Dan)
In 1983, at the age of 10, Master Scott Yates began his martial arts training without a single notion of how this new endeavor would shape and mold his future. As a teenager, he earned his first degree Black Belt certification and started his intensive Black Belt Leadership training course. For nearly 25 years, Yates has been fully devoted to achieving constant progress in pursuit of perfection in the Korean martial arts of Tae Kwon Do and SinMoo Hapkido.
Of his many achievements worth noting, a few of the most notable is that Master Scott Yates was a member of the United States Hapkido Team in 1999 and 2002, winning a gold medal at the 1999 World Hapkido Games in Mok Pho, South Korea. His experiences in that event were unlike any other he had in his career at that time. In 2005, Yates tested for his 4th Degree Masters rank in the Korean National Sport of Tae Kwon Do under the tutelage of Master Ken MacKenzie. Master Yates also tested in 2006 and was certified to the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt, making him the youngest person ever internationally certified at that rank in the Korean National Art of Sin Moo Hapkido, under the instruction of the founder, Ji Han Jae. The USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame recently recognized Master Scott Yates as "2008 Master of the Year" at their 2008 awards banquet.
Master Yates now travels the world learning, sharing, and educating people in the valuable assets that martial arts provides. Some of his recent adventures include teaching in Germany, South Korea, Austria, North Korea, Latvia, and at prestigious events such as The Karate College and the International Hapkido Summit, where he was is a featured instructor.
Master Yates has dedicated himself to helping thousands of people in our communities reach their dreams and goals by educating adults, children, and families in the valuable lessons martial arts provides. As part of the Gold Medal Family Karate staff, he has had the opportunity to work with it’s close to 1000 students, instructors, S.T.O.R.M. Teams, and staff members. More importantly, Master Yates has focused primarily on the character development and leadership aspects of martial arts. He has used these skills to help both children and adults become leaders and live more productive lives.
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Master Robert Turley (4th Dan, Master Instructor)
Grandmaster MacKenzie has given Master Turley the opportunity to train with Do Ju Nim, Ji Han Jae (Sin Moo Hapkido),
Dr. He-Young Kim (Han Mu Do), Grandmaster Lim Dong-Gyu, Grandmaster John Godwin (Tang Soo Do) and the National Teams from Finland, North Korea and China. Traveling around the world with our Gold Medal Federation Team, Turley is reminded that the Martial Arts are a great avenue to bring people together to appreciate the knowledge, kindness and dedication that the arts so powerfully express.
Turley states, “As a retired fifteen year veteran of the Department of Corrections in Camden New Jersey, I was able to understand that the greatest gift the Martial Arts offers is the ability to train the mind and body to stay in control at all times.”
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Master Scott Barnabie (Master Instructor/C.O.O.)
Master Barnabie first earned his Blackbelt as a young man. Today, Master Barnabie holds his 4th Dan Blackbelt in I.T.F. style TaeKwon-Do under Grandmaster Ken MacKenzie and is a certified Master Instructor. He also holds a 3rd Dan Blackbelt in Olympic TaeKwon-Do and a 2nd Dan in SinMoo Hapkido. Master Barnabie is an active member of both the Gold Medal Karate Federation and the North American SinMoo Hapkido Federation. Master Barnabie, a champion competitor has additional training and experience in Kickboxing, Kenpo, Wushu, Kung-Fu and Judo.
When only 18 years old, Master Barnabie helped to open a Karate school in 1996, and by the age of 19, he had become a full-time professional martial arts instructor. After the J. Kim Institute in Cherry Hill closed its doors, Master Barnabie sought out advanced training with a well-known leader in the martial arts community, Chief-Master Ken MacKenzie. Having experience in teaching, scheduling, organizing class lesson-plans, facilitating staff training, etc Master Barnabie was invited to join the staff team at MacKenzie’s Gold Medal Family Karate, Initially offered an instructor position at MacKenzie’s Pennsauken location, Master Barnabie later became Co-Owner at that location in April, 2004. The school was renamed MacKenzie and Barnabie Family Karate L.L.C. and is now a charter member of the Gold Medal Federation. Today, Master Barnabie enjoys the professionalism and camaraderie found within that organization.
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For more information about the Gold Medal Family Karate staff or training programs, please contact us at See Locations Page! or by clicking here.
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