Michael Hester has been consistently training in the martial arts for over forty years. Hester has black belts in Old-School Tae Kwon Do, American Karate, and American Freestyle and a Brown belt in Judo. He has extensive training in Military Combatives (CQC), Kajukenbo, Kali, Kickboxing, Jujutsu, Wing Chun, MMA, Muay Thai, Full Contact Karate, Savate, and Shoot-fighting as well astraining in other arts.
Hester teaches American Freestyle Bujitsu, an integrated martial arts system focused on reality- based self-defense at its core. American Freestyle is a system that contains striking, clinching, grappling, and ground-fighting. Students also learn to defend against weapon attacks and using improvisational weapons. The training helps students develop both internal and situational awareness, focusing on the development of self- discipline, developing resiliency, learning to manage negative emotions such as fear and anxiety while building confidence and sense of self-efficacy.
Hester is a Licensed Professional counselor with several professional certifications and works with a variety of clients with various psychiatric and co-occurring disorders and is employed full-time at Community Counseling Center as an Outpatient Therapist/Co-Occurring Disorders Specialist. His training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Mindfulness-based therapies, and the psychology of learning and memory have informed his methods of instruction.
Hester is an ordained minister and currently serves at the Chaffee General Baptist Church as Associate Pastor. Hester served in the US Army for seven years and is honorably discharged. In his personal life Hester is married with five grown children and eight grand-children.