Jonathan Whaley
Arts taught: Judo and Aikido
Jonathan began martial arts in 1993 when he found a flyer on the ground for Fayetteville Tae Kwon Do during career day at school. Seeking a higher discipline and control, he began practicing Tae Kwon Do and Aikido at that time. He has since trained a variety of combat arts including wrestling, fencing, and kendo before joining Sooner Judo Club in 2011.
Training Judo under Dr Joel Holloway and Steve Kenton, Jonathan has earned the rank of Nidan through USAJudo. After a self defense demonstration and with the encouragement of Kenton, Jonathan returned to Aikido to continue training. He has earned a Sandan in Aikido from the Kaze Uta Budo Kai training under Jack Burdett of the Stepwaters Dojo.
Jonathan has been active as a competitor in the state since 2011. In 2019, he began focusing on his coaching certification through USAJudo. As an instructor he seeks to make Judo more accessible to everyone whether they are focused on competition, kata, self defense, or are just looking for a fun activity for kids and families to participate in together.
Jonathan’s goals as the head instructor are that others may learn from his experiences and improve upon their own character and skill sets.
James Fuller
Arts taught: Aikido, Judo
James Fuller is a life-long martial artist, beginning his study of the arts with Taekwon-do in 1987. He has experience in several martial arts, with an emphasis on practical self-defense and the integration of techniques across arts.
In July 1999, he joined his current Taekwon-do school, where he began studying Ch’ang-Hŏn Taekwon-do. As of November 2019, he holds a Fifth Degree (Godan) black belt.
In October 2008, he joined his current Aikido school, where he began the study of Tomiki-ryu. As of November 2022, he holds a Fifth Degree (Godan) black belt.
In December 2019, he joined Sooner Judo Club. As of March 2024, he holds a Second Degree (Nidan) black belt, and serves as an assistant judo instructor. Additionally, in January 2024, he began teaching Tomiki-ryu Aikido classes at Sooner Judo Club, serving as the senior aikido instructor.
In addition to the ranks listed above, he has experience in: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Modern Arnis, Bujinkan Taijutsu and Xingyiquan. James’ goal is to continue to learn, and to help others learn and enjoy the martial arts.
Assistant Instructors
John Carter
Arts taught: Judo
John has over 15 years of Judo experience, he started judo in 2007 at Missouri State University and joined Sooner Judo Club in 2019.
Andrew Thiel
Arts taught: Judo
Andrew Thiel is an assistant judo coach of shodan rank (via USAJudo). His introduction to martial arts began with Taekwondo around 1998 (Leopard Chung, then several years later, Master Kim, and more recently, Joseph Netty-Marbell). He got into judo in 2009 through an OU judo class taught by Steve Kenton, and continued at Sooner Judo club with Dr Holloway. He is learning aikido from fellow instructors at Sooner (primary: James Fuller) and Jack Burdett at Stepwaters Dojo. His martial arts focus leans towards self defense application, maintaining mobility and conditioning, and efficiency of movement.