The Path of
a Noble Warrior
From his earliest years Dr. Arnold van Deuren has been on a “soul mission” – driven to study and explore all areas of human endeavor in a quest to arrive at a fuller and deeper understanding of the human experience.
Dr. van Deuren grew up in Queens, NY. He attended Stuyvesant High School and earned his undergraduate degree in Science education from Queens College, NY. He went on to earn Master’s degrees in Science education (St. John’s University, NY), School Administration and Supervision (CW Post, LIU) and a PhD in Organization Development from NYU’s School of Education.
As an educator, Dr. van Deuren spent nearly forty years teaching Science in high schools and middle schools throughout New York City. He also served in various ancillary capacities including: dean, security coordinator, teacher center coordinator, editor of The Teaching Biologist, new teacher mentor (as part of the Pace University Teaching Fellows Project/NYC Board of Education) and adjunct instructor of Anatomy and Physiology at Dominican College (Orangeburg, NY).
Keenly aware of his parents’ ordeals as Holocaust survivors and himself the frequent target of bullying during his childhood, Dr. van Deuren always dreamt of one day being able to fight back against those that prey on the weak and defenseless. His opportunity came in college where he joined a lunchtime TaeKwonDo club, thereby, unwittingly beginning what would become a second career for him; one that over the next forty years would lead to his attaining the highest levels of martial arts mastery.
In 1981, Dr. van Deuren moved to Rockland County, NY. Here, while maintaining his full time teaching career in New York City, he began teaching TaeKwonDo classes in local after-school and evening adult education programs.
In 1984, having amassed a devoted following of students, Dr. van Deuren opened “The Workout Place.” He envisioned his studio to be a place where students, young and old, could learn to protect themselves from the bullies, predators and other bad-actors seeking to prey on the weak and vulnerable. He also envisioned his studio to be a place where, by fusing the principles and practices of traditional Eastern martial arts, meditative and healing traditions with those of modern Western cognitive and behavioral Science, students could achieve optimal health, happiness and productivity.
Dr. van Deuren welcomes inquiries and invites you to schedule a trial class for yourself or your child.