MICHAEL HOAG
Owner Michael Hoag is the engine behind Mindful Martial Arts.
​
Hoag, arguably the most decorated martial artist residing in Cedar City, Utah, possesses an ineffable charm to go along with an unmatched breadth and depth of martial arts knowledge to be found in the Festival City.
​
Hoag is a well-rounded martial artist with a variety of certifications spanning a gamut of styles from across the spectrum of combat training. Hoag is a fourth-degree black belt in American Karate. He earned this lofty designation under the prestigious Borowitz Black Belt Academy in McAllen, Texas. Hoag was bestowed his fourth degree in 2018 by Grandmaster David Borowitz, a ninth-degree black belt in his own right.
​
Borowitz has an incredible board of directors, including Steve Armstrong, Jim Harrison, Judo Gene Le Bell, Joe Lewis, Edmond Parker, Jhoon Goo Rhee, Robert Trias, Bob Wall and Bill Wallace. All of these luminaries have poured their expertise into the training process and procedures found at Borowitz.
​
Additionally, Hoag has captured a variety of other black belt designations throughout his three decades of martial arts training.
​
Most recently, Hoag attained the elusive Level 5 rank in Krav Maga. Krav Maga is the official hand-to-hand combat system of the Israel Defense Forces. Hoag, who has trained in Krav Maga for more than a decade and a half, is a certified Krav Maga instructor with eight years of coaching experience. Additionally, Hoag spent time learning from Darren Levine. Levine, a sixth-degree black belt, is the Chief Instructor of Krav Maga Worldwide and introduced the combat system to the United States.
​
Hoag began his nearly two-decade coaching career in Knoxville, Tennessee under the direction of Terry Bowman and Varry Vanover at Premier Martial Arts. Hoag began training at PMA in 2000, and graduated to teaching by 2002. During his time at PMA, he earned a first-degree black belt in Shaolin Kempo, and trained his students in Shaolin Kempo, Western Kickboxing and Krav Maga.
​
Additionally during his time in Knoxville, Hoag served as the program manager of Gracie Barra Jiu Jitsu.
​
Early in his career, Hoag earned a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do by the time he was 15. This designation occurred under Master David Baez in Cooper City, Florida. Under Baez’s tutelage, Hoag earned a bronze medal in continuous sparring as part of the Tae Kwon Do competition at the 1995 Junior Olympics.
​
Prior to moving to Cedar City, Utah with his wife Sonia Hahn, Hoag not only spent time at the Borowitz Black Belt Academy in Texas, he also coached self-defense classes to members of women’s athletics teams at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.