To say that life is a fight is a cliché. Unless you're throwing punches and kicking your way through each day like Ernie Reyes, '72 Business Administration, co-founder of West Coast World Martial Arts.
As a teacher, actor, fight choreographer and leader in martial arts, Reyes has been wielding spears and flipping through the air for more than three decades. On his birthday, between workouts of 104-degree Bikram yoga and weight training, the ponytailed son of Filipino immigrants talked about "living the life" and his love for martial arts.
"Martial arts has the power to change lives," says Reyes, who trained and taught at a small San José studio while at San José State. "I'm 62 today and it's still on my mind. It's my noble calling."
Reyes teaches more than 7,000 West Coast students to "conceive, believe and achieve" -- lessons that he says can be applied to all aspects of life. Long before the martial arts magazine cover shots and action movies, he was a scrappy basketball player from Salinas who dreamed of becoming a teacher and coach.
"I knew I was more than people thought I could be," says Reyes, who admits school wasn't easy for him. "I just decided I would make it in school some kind of way."
He's been making lots happen ever since. Supported by food stamps, student loans and hours put in at J.C. Penney and delivering medicine for the San José Medical Center, Reyes worked tirelessly for the framed San José State diploma in his office. Relentlessly hitting the training mat and punching bag has earned him national and world championships and top awards for instruction.
Nowadays he's fighting off age, which he says half-jokingly is "attacking him." But anyone who has seen him in action knows that Reyes is winning that battle. Whether he's taking on bad guys on the big screen or cheering on new black belts as they run a victory lap to the roar of "Eye of the Tiger," he is obviously where he was meant to be.
"Out of everything I do, I just love being on the floor training with kids and adults," he says. "I'm grateful I get to be the coach and teacher I wanted to be."
-- Jody Ulate, '05
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with Ernie Reyes Sr. and his son, Ernie Jr.Read Washington Square Summer 2009.
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