Meet the Team

October 25, 2018 0 Comments

Our team aims to employ the mindset and methods of Karate, its discipline of movement, and its exacting standards as a vehicle for both physical and character development.

Karate School Manila / Karate Fitness Manila is prefected by the following individuals:

///// Jiggs Baarde
Web Infrastructure and Social Media Pointman

Marketing Director

Ecom entrepreneur and survivalist. Former karateka. Loves mountaineering and anything out of the ordinary. Our Ateneo De Manila University-educated Marketing Director dedicates himself to ensuring that all our digital touchpoints feature content that is timely, relevant, and valuable - to you.

IG @jiggsbaarde

///// Bong Abella, MD
Consulting Physician

Medical Director

Our La Salle Green Hills, Ateneo De Manila University, and UERM Medical School-educated Medical Director is a practicing surgeon who is personally invested in his own fitness and sports activities, Dr. Bong helps review all training programs to ensure the safety of the KFM / KarateSchoolManila community.

IG @docbongster

//// Rhea Madrid
Resident Instructor
Instruction and Education Department/

University of Santo Tomas-educated engineer. Dedicated, personable, professional. Rhea has spent a good part of her early years in high-level competition, eventually earning national titles. A karateka (practitioner of Karate) with more than two (2) decades of competitive and training experience. Rhea is a vital member of the technical and instruction team.

[ see RHEA'S PROFILE here ]

//// Kat Buot-Goesaert
Resident Instructor
Instruction and Education Department/

The De La Salle University-educated Psychologist has racked up years of professional practice supporting the country's elite athletes, working under the auspices the Sports Medicine Association of the Philippines. Kat is also karateka (practitioner of Karate) with more than three (3) -and-a-half decades of competitive and training experience in both the Philippines and her adopted home, Belgium. Always seeking to add value to her pedagogy, the Dutch and French-fluent Kat earned her Les Mills certification as a group exercise instructor during her European residence.

[ see KAT'S PROFILE here ]

//// Gretchen Malalad
Resident Instructor
Instruction and Education Department/

The Columbia University, NY - educated journalist, who has professionally collaborated with outfits like ABS-CBN, Reuters, Agence France Presse, and the BBC, also did stints for television and pageantry - even competing as a Binibining Pilipinas candidate. Gretchen is a multi-awarded competitor and athlete's welfare advocate; her accolades elevating her into the Philippine Sports Museum Hall of Fame.

[ see GRETCHEN'S PROFILE here ]

///// Ian Jereos

Resident Chief Instructor

Technical Director

Karate Fitness Manila at the UFC Gym Philippines

Part time entrepreneur, full time Karate Education professional. La Salle Green Hills and Ateneo De Manila University-educated. A technician through and through, Ian has accumulated a wealth of decorated experience competing and winning globally - fronting the national colors. Now on a mission to propagate Karate, he brings with him more than three (3) and-a-half decades worth of insight on the practice and instruction of this beautiful, practical, and lifesaving art.

IG @jkaphilippines
[ see IAN'S PROFILE here ]

///// JKA

(The Japan Karate Association)

Standards and Certification Authority
Parent Organization

Established 1949, with global reach and local presence - the Japan Karate Association (JKA) is one of the oldest, largest, most influential Karate organizations in the world. Operating in over 100 countries and territories, JKA has been, in large part, responsible for the spread, systemization, and professionalization of Karate practice. The JKA system facilitates exposure of every pupil to international-standard curricula, certification, and events.

[ see JKA'S PROFILE here ]

We look forward to seeing you in class. In the interim, we'll leave you with some food for thought about what's in store courtesy of Mr. Gichin Funakoshi - Shotokan Karate's founder, to wit: "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

Jiggs Baarde
Marketing Director