Chief Instructor


Mr. Zackery McMurray


4th Degree Black Belt


Nationally Certified Instructor 🥋

Mr. McMurray enrolled in Taekwondo in Windsor, California in the year 2007 at the age of 11 years old. In the beginning, the self-defense training is what most strongly grasped Mr. McMurray’s attention. He found the self-defense part of training extremely empowering, and unfortunately, had to use some of this training early on for self-protection while in a dangerous school environment. Soon later, he transferred to a safer school where he fortunately did not need to exercise his self-defense training to protect himself.

Even after transferring schools, Mr. McMurray’s journey as a martial artist was far from over, in fact, the journey had just begun. Martial arts is much more than just self-defense training; martial arts is also about setting goals, sharpening one’s mind, getting stronger physically, building confidence, developing leadership, endurance, perseverance, and mastering self-control. In the family-style Taekwondo school where Mr. McMurray trained under Mr. Chris Hauth, building up others in the community was greatly emphasized. It was this environment which inspired Mr. McMurray to get involved in teaching so that he could have the honor of guiding others through the ranks.

Mr. McMurray passed the instructor test, becoming a Regionally Certified Instructor in 2016 and began teaching at Mr. Hauth’s school. At the time, he was also cross-training with Judo 2-3 days a week, working as a CNA in a local hospital during the weekends, and taking full-time classes at a local community college. A year later, in 2017, Mr. McMurray got into a bad car accident, which took years to fully recover from. He was able to use his training as part of his rehabilitation. Incorporating Taekwondo as part of his rehab helped optimize his healing process. It also taught him great lessons in how to modify not only one’s own training, but also how to teach others while having profound limitations, most notably, a broken leg and debilitating migraines.

A few months after meeting the requirements and passing his “black-stripe” test, Mr. McMurray became a Nationally Certified Instructor and moved with his family from California to Florida, where he opened his own school in Venice in February of 2019.

In May of 2024, Mr. McMurray earned his Bachelor’s of Arts in World Languages and Cultures with a Concentration in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of South Florida. After earning an associate’s degree first in California from Santa Rosa Junior College, Mr. McMurray had to earn another associate’s degree in Florida from the State College of Florida before transferring to USF to finish earning his bachelor’s degree. As a one-man show, Mr. McMurray was able to keep his Taekwondo school open in Venice while living in Tampa from 2022-2024, commuting 1.5-2 hours each way, three days a week to teach TKD classes while studying for his bachelor’s degree.

Currently, Mr. McMurray is enrolled in Nova Southeastern University’s satellite campus in Clearwater, as he is working towards earning his Doctorate in Physical Therapy - NSU DPT Class of 2028. He specifically choose this program to study physical therapy because it is an online hybrid program that has the flexibility for Mr. McMurray to continue teaching and running his school in Venice. He only has to go to campus for a few days each month for in-person labs, classes, and exams.

Taekwondo is a significant part of Mr. McMurray’s life, and teaching will always be part of who he is and the lifestyle he has.

Taekwondo lineage:
General Choi, H.U. Lee, Jee Ho Lee, Master Robinson, Mister Nelson, Mister Hauth, Mister McMurray

Miss JoJo Gayler
2nd Degree Black Belt Decided
Junior Certified Instructor 🥋

Hi my name is JoJo Gayler!

I’ve been doing taekwondo for 11 years, starting at age 3, and became a 2nd-degree black belt at 12 and a Junior Certified Instructor at 14. I learned a lot about discipline and perseverance from my training and that I enjoy teaching others. Taekwondo has been a constant in my life and, no matter how busy I am with school and sports, I always try to make time to stay active in my martial arts. Some other things about me are: I started a babysitting business when I was 11 and sit for kids between about 4 and 10-11 yrs of age. I took an online course on babysitting and home safety, but I do this because I really enjoy the kids!; In sports, I made the GSI 14 Black regional club volleyball team last year and recently the VHS high school freshman volleyball team after only 8 months of playing; The last 3 years I participated in track and field in middle school and earned MVP award one year.

I would be happy to give private lessons to your aspiring black belt!

You can call or text me at 941-223-7491

Ms. Larissa Taylor


1st Degree Black Belt Decided


Regionally Certified Instructor 🥋

Ms. Taylor is a First-Degree Black Belt and Regionally Certified Instructor. At the age of 7, Ms. Taylor began training in Taekwondo in West Palm Beach, Florida. She fell in love with Taekwondo early on, because for Ms. Taylor Taekwondo isn’t about being better than others – it’s about becoming better than you used to be. It was in Taekwondo that Ms. Taylor first began to learn leadership and discipline, and during her early training years she was able to compete in many different tournaments around the state of Florida. At the age of 11, Ms. Taylor was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy and stepped away from Taekwondo training for many years but never gave up the goal of becoming a black belt. In 2023, Ms. Taylor was able to start training again and joined the family at McMurray’s Family Taekwondo, where she also enjoys helping other students of all ages and ranks. In 2025, she became a First-Degree Black Belt and a Regionally Certified Instructor. Ms. Taylor also holds two degrees from Colorado School of Mines; a Bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics (2012), and a Master’s in Applied Mathematics (2015). When she’s not in the dojang, she works full time as software developer.

Ms. Taylor is currently offering private lessons to students on Thursdays and Saturdays; please inquire at the dojang for more information.