Kung Fu sustains teacher through hardships

Kung Fu teacher Leon Trescott leads a class through a series of moves at his school in Hamilton. The children in red slacks behind Trescott are Courtney and Noah Morreale, children of Trescott’s right-hand man, Chaz Morreale. Photo by Chris Sturgis. By Chris Sturgis Kung Fu teacher Leon Trescott feels an obligation to share the ancient discipline from the other side of the world that saved his life and liberty. Trescott, 49, runs Leon Trescott’s Kung Fu Taiji Wushu Academy, 155 Turnbull Ave., Hamilton with the help of his colleague, his liaison, public relations man and friend, Chaz “Mr. Chaz” Morreale. Morreale’s respect for Trescott is so deep he never refers to his friend as by his given name, only by “Sijo,” referring to his rank as a teacher of the ancient martial art. Morreale’s two children, Noah and Courtney, study with Trescott. However, Trescott said he felt a tremendous conflict between his Christian beliefs, as reinforced by Union Baptist Church in Trenton, and the martial arts, which fascinated him with its power but repelled him with its violence. There were practical uses for self-defense skills for a 9-year-old boy who wasn’t ready for the boy crazy girls at his school, Stokes Elementary in Trenton. “I was rather popular with the young ladies, but I didn’t like young ladies. So they beat me up and I needed to protect myself,” he recalled. “It certainly helped me with the pushy little girls and it gave me some status in school,” but he felt conflicted. “Martial arts were all about who could beat who and who could kill who. There was nothing about health or self-discipline.” Unable to afford instruction, he studied Japanese karate from books, from friends, in backyards, in basements, in Cadwalader Park. “It kept me out of trouble,” he said. Yet, he fell in with street gangs. His family life was chaotic. He said he had little use for his father, Spadey Trescott, who was a criminal who took advantage of the women in his life. Trescott’s mother, Jennie T. Hayes, was a sewing machine operator at Aberdeen Sportswear in Trenton, who had schizophrenia. Both Trescott’s parents are dead now. When he was around 15, he ran away from his father’s home, where he had to stay because his mother was in a psychiatric hospital. The police picked him up and took him to the Ewing Detention Center, which he actually preferred to his father’s home, so he ran away the first chance he got. “He was too old to chase me. I was an athlete. I ran straight back to the Youth Detention Center,” Trescott recalled. About that time, he was put into foster care with Carrie Rogue of Ewing. “Foster care was heaven compared to what I had been through. All through this, the martial arts were a constant in my life, along with my belief in the Messiah.” Trescott said he came to believe he was training himself physically to withstand the rigors of living a truly spiritual life. “I’m preparing for a real fight,” he said. “It helps my preaching. It helps with my self-discipline. I don’t want to be found a hypocrite. After reading that passage (in the Book of Corinthians), I believed I could pursue this profession with peace. There was no more conflict. I understood I was not practicing martial arts to hurt people, but I was practicing martial arts to build character.” One of Trescott’s students, 27-year-old Chris Vincent of Bordentown, said he sees mental and spiritual benefits from Kung Fu, which he has been studying with Trescott at various locations for about seven years. He said the mental discipline of martial arts helps him cope with a demanding life. He supports himself as a security guard at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Hamilton and attends Rutgers University, where he is studying to be a dietician. “It’s helped me with my studies, and to prepare for tests and to retain information in class,” Vincent said. Trescott attended the private Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn., with the assistance of the A Better Chance program, which helps inner-city youths with promise get a good education. He went onto Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., where he got a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Back in Trenton, he was taken under the wing of Councilman Albert “Bo” Robinson, who got him a job coordinating an energy program for people who couldn’t pay their utility bills. After stints selling cars and encyclopedias, Trescott got a job as a parole counselor. “I got to see my old gang members behind bars. It could have been me,” he said. He continued to teach martial arts whenever and where ever he could, at the YMCA in Trenton , at the Jewish Community Center in Ewing and the Hopewell Valley YMCA in Pennington. Trescott lost his job with the parole board, which was rocked with a scandal in the early 1990s. He then became a full-time Kung Fu teacher and eventually opened his own school on White Horse-Mercerville Road by Klockner Road. He admits he got in over his head financially with the school and eventually went bankrupt. Other troubles included a diagnosis of kidney disease and a painful divorce. Yet, Trescott perseveres. He had a very rewarding experience teaching Kung Fu for the Hamilton Township School District and he rented some teaching space at the school of a former colleague and “sweet, dynamic lady,” Gerri Willever, owner of American Karate Institute. She is the author of two books on self-defense: Safe From Strangers: Empowering Children from Toddlers to Teenagers, and Safe and Secure Teenagers. For more information, contact Leon Trescott’s Kung Fu/Taiji Wushu Academy at (609) 649-4559 or (609) 931-0897 or visit the Web site leontrescottskungfu.com.