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Tom started his journey into the Martial Arts in the 7th grade when his gym coach, Tony Aileo, introduced him to western boxing. After that Tom researched and trained in several other Martial Arts and being thoroughly unimpressed, Tom felt joining the Military, The U.S. Navy, would give him more exposure. While in the service Tom got to do some serious informal training overseas. Upon returning home from his tour Tom spent the next several years traveling the country earning his living as a professional pool player. During that time Tom had ample opportunity to hone his skills as a fighter. In 1986 while at a street-fighting seminar in Oklahoma sponsored by his dear friend, the late Terry Gibson, he met Sifu Paul Vunak. It was then that he realized that Paul’s potent art, (now called Filthy MMA), was what he had been passionately searching for. Tom quickly became Paul's most devoted student. One year later Paul was asked to train the most elite of all the special warfare groups- Navy Seal Team 6. and asked Mr. Cruse to assist him.After 4 years of training the teams, Paul and Tom moved back to California and decided the most appropriate place for their violent art was the military. Over the next 15 years Tom assisted Paul in creating 50 instructional videos and training 17 government agencies. “Tom and I have been through wars together. Time and time again I have seen that man in action.” Paul Vunak Since then he has produced his own series of Martial Art instructional training videos, written numerous published articles for Black Belt, Inside Kung Fu, and MA Illustrated. Tom has also been the editor and publisher of the Probe magazine. Tom's continued devotion to working with Military units eventually earned him him the ultimate gesture of appreciation.... On October 9th, 2007 the Marine Corps first
Currently, Tom is the Vice-President of Operations and Senior Training Officer of the recently launched, (January 01, 2010) Descendants Of the Masters
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