Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas

Welcome to Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas!

Please look around and feel free to contact us for more information!

We are located inside of the UMASDA, Inc. Dojo in Salinas, CA!

Biography of Head Instructor, Marcus Thornton

Marcus Thornton
Renshi, 8th Degree Black Belt

Dojo-Cho
Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas

Hello, I’m Marcus Thornton and I am the Dojo-Cho (Head Instructor) of Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas. I started my training in Seibukan Jujutsu in 2006 under the Founder of the Art, Julio Toribio Kancho. Through years of hard work and dedication, I earned my Certified Instructor credential in 2017 and my Hachidan (8th Degree Black Belt) in 2024. I have lived in the Monterey area for almost forty years and plan on living here for the rest of my life. I have a wonderful wife and son I cherish every day.

My goal as an instructor is to empower my students to create who they want to be in life as well as on the dojo mats and learn the skills they need to move through life in a positive manner. Opening Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas in 2019 has given me tremendous opportunities to help our society through the individual growth of our students.

I have been employed professionally for the last twenty five years+ working as a Preschool/PreToddler teacher for the US Navy locally in Monterey, CA. The majority of my adult life has been spent working with children, and I currently hold several credentials in early childhood care and development. My experience as a Preschool teacher has helped me to be able to connect with people and help them grow whether in a group setting or via private lessons/personal interaction. Through leveraging the skills I continue to develop, my approach to teaching has helped me and continues to help me empower and connect with all of my students.

I maintain current CPR certification in addition to my educational and martial arts credentials and seek to provide a safe and fun environment to share the wonderful art of Seibukan Jujutsu with all of our students. I look forward to meeting you and I’ll see you on the mats!

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Steve Zalazowski, Sr.
Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt
Assistant to Toribio Kancho

Steve Zalazowski, Sr. is the owner of UMASDA and Executive Director of the 501C3 Non Profit Corporation UMASDA, Inc. Steve has a wealth of experience with over 25 years of martial arts training, and over 22 years of teaching across Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and hybrid systems and styles. He earned his Shodan in Seibukan Jujutsu under Toribio Kancho and Thornton Renshi in 2021 and actively trains weekly. He is the head instructor for the other lineages taught at UMASDA and his biography can be found at our sister website umasda.com.

Information about our Dojo

Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas is located at the UMASDA, Inc. Dojo at 339 Maple St, Unit C, Salinas CA 93901.

As you enter the facility you proceed through the hallway. On the left is the Seibukan Jujutsu wall. On the right are business cards, information and white boards, and motivational posters.

Workouts Schedule: Empower Yourself! Adults, Youths, and Young Dragons Programs to fit your needs!

Seibukan Jujutsu of Salinas offers three programs that cater to different age range students, all taught by our Dojo-Cho (Head Instructor) Marcus Thornton, Renshi. All coursework for the Seibukan Jujutsu member schools are certified and approved by Julio Toribio, Kancho; founder and Head of the International Seibukan Jujutsu Association (ISJA).

Adult Program (12+) Workouts: Saturdays & Sundays 3:30-5:30PM

The adult program in Seibukan Jujutsu is geared higher than the Youth or Young Dragons programs, and the minimum age accordingly is 12. The adult program is the full Seibukan Jujutsu curriculum as part of the ISJA. Our curriculum includes empty hand and weapon based self defense as well as drills and exercises designed to develop skill sets for recognizing and responding to various strikes, grabs, locks/holds, and multiple attackers. Students will be introduced to a range of traditional and non traditional weapons as part of our curriculum.

We stress application of techniques progressing from initial learning phase of slow, correct, deliberate actions and increasing the speed and intensity up to as close to street speed as possible once the student develops the requisite skill level. Learning to protect yourself through developing skills to safely fall and roll helps in daily life should you lose your footing – imagine walking down the sidewalk and accidentally tripping over uneven pavement, but being able to simply use the momentum and roll out of the situation instead of impacting the cement!

Youth Program (8-12) Workouts: Saturday & Sunday 1:30-3PM

The youth program is for older children that can handle material delivered at a more advanced pace than the Young Dragons program, for youths 8-12 years old. The curriculum is based on the Adult coursework, with less material per level of study and an age appropriate level breakdown to encourage the student to learn and progress at a pace that rewards their effort and balances the workload with what they are already learning in school and at home.

We focus heavily on helping our youths to learn communication skills and take accountability for their own decisions and behaviors. It is equally important for our young adolescent students to learn responsibility and how to set solid goals in life as it is for them to learn their material for the dojo.

Young Dragons (5-7) Workouts: Saturday & Sunday 12:00-1PM

The Young Dragons are Seibukan Jujutsu black belts of the future. The Young Dragons focus on building positive interaction skills with classmates, listening skills and demonstrating behavioral development to help them become great students in life as well as on the mats. We empower our Young Dragons with a strong grasp of what is appropriate use of their Art in self defense, and the importance of understanding when is the right time to use their skills.

The Young Dragons curriculum is restructured from the Adult curriculum into several more levels with less material per level overall. This gives our Young Dragons age appropriate goals for their Seibukan Jujutsu training and empowers them with rewards for their hard work.