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Antonio Graceffo (born September 6, 1967) is a martial artist and adventure author living in Asia. He is also the host of the web TV show, Martial Arts Odyssey, which traces his ongoing journey through Asia learning martial arts in various countries. Graceffo is credited for revitalizing the lost Khmer art of Bokator by being the first to report on it. Beyond martial arts, Graceffo is also a student of multiple languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, German, Spanish, Italian, and French. ==Life and Education== Born to Sicilian parents, Antonio Graceffo is originally from New York City. When he was 9 his family moved to Tennessee and for the next 8 years he spent school days in Tennessee and holidays and summers in New York. He moved back to New York at the age of 17. Graceffo spent seven years in the United States Military starting with the Army National Guard. At Fort Benning, Georgia he went through boot camp and completed infantry school. Later, he graduated from Non-Commissioned Officer’s Academy. He then served in the Navy and the US Merchant Marines. As a child, Antonio was identified as a learning disabled dyslexic. He was in Special Ed classes until high school. In high school, his grade point average was only 1.7 on a 4 point scale. Guidance councilors told him he would most likely not be able to graduate university and certainly could not pursue languages, writing, or literature. Antonio says that because he did not do well in school, he read constantly to make up for his lack of formal education. He eventually earned his university degrees from English, foreign language, business, and teaching. He also became a published author. He cites all of these accomplishments as examples of overcoming adversity. Graceffo graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Foreign Language and English. He studied applied linguistics/translation at the University of Mainz in Germany for four years. He also did an advanced Diploma in TESOL at Trinity College, England and did graduate business diplomas through Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. He worked as a translator and teacher in Europe for most of the four years he was in school there and then worked in Costa Rica for one year. After that, he returned to New York and went through a financial training program and worked as a financial planner, and then a wealth manager. Eventually he became assistant head of private wealth management for one of the largest private banks, which, in America. The tragedy of September 11, 2001 prompted him to leave his career as an investment banker on Wall Street to pursue full-time adventure writing in Asia. Arriving in Taiwan in 2001, Graceffo’s quest to discover Asia’s diverse martial arts has led him to the original Shaolin Temple in China and a Muay Thai monastery in Thailand, as well as Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, and Burma. In 2013, Antonio was accepted into a PhD program at the Shanghai University of Sport. He is on the wrestling team, and is writing his dissertation on Chinese wrestling in Chinese language. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Antonio Graceffo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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