Matt grew up in the east side of Buffalo, NY with a great group of friends who always challenged him physically through street football, lawn wrestling, backyard basketball, hide-and-go-seek, etc. He was very fit, healthy, and active.
By the time Matt turned 10 years old, things started to get bad in the local area with increased crime, shootings, and gang violence which caused him and his family to move to Kenmore, NY at the start of the summer in 1999.
When he settled into his new home he didn’t have any friends and spent most of the summer playing video games, eating junk food, watching TV, and doing a whole bunch of nothing else.
By the end of that summer he had gained a lot of weight, wasn’t very happy or confident, and missed having that connection and challenge he had in his old neighborhood.
A few years later, while driving to a local store with his mom he noticed a Martial Arts school that had just opened up around the corner from his new house – Master Khechen’s School of Tae Kwon-Do. It immediately sparked his interest and got him thinking about how it could help him get back in shape, meet new people, gain his confidence back and challenge himself in new ways.
He had his mom call as soon as they got home later that day and ended up booking and attending his first Martial Arts class in April of 2001.
It was everything he had hoped for and more. He fell in love with the art and trained often, adopted a healthier lifestyle, was surrounded by like-minded people, and was given substantial opportunities to grow and develop as a student and leader of the school.
In 2004, Matt earned his black belt, became a junior instructor and hasn’t stopped teaching since.
In 2007 he attended Canisius College where he studied a range of topics including Business Administration, Philosophy, Sport Psychology, Exercise Science, Physical Education, and Health & Human Performance – all of which he found very interesting and valuable, but unappealing when it came to pursuing as a job or career.
In 2010, right before graduation, he started to gain a strong appreciation for quotations and the power of words and decided to start his own personal quote collection which later evolved into the very platform you’re surfing through today – MoveMeQuotes.com!
The hope for MoveMe Quotes was that people would utilize the quotes and resources to inspire action, spread positive energy, influence mastery mindsets, seek deeper meaning and understanding, and continue motivating not only themselves but others to keep moving forward – the only direction!
Matt graduated from Canisius College with a Bachelors of Science in Health and Human Performance in 2011 and ultimately decided that Martial Arts was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
Today, Matt is working as the Head Instructor at (what’s now known as) Master Khechen’s Martial Arts Academy in Buffalo, NY, uploads the best motivational resources he can find to MoveMe Quotes, actively blogs about living with meaning and mastering your mindset, is competing in martial arts tournaments across the U.S., and is working hard every day to realize his personal potential while helping others unleash and discover theirs!
Ask Matt a question or leave him a comment below and he will be sure to get in contact with you as soon as he can! Thank you!