Named "Best Overall Martial Arts School" Worldwide by Black Belt Magazine!
BBIA-2006
 Fred Degerberg’s Degerberg Academy was named Best Overall School at the 2006 Black Belt Industry Awards. Best Overall School Fred Degerberg comes from a long line of overachievers: His father was a wrestler, his father’s father was a Rough Rider who rode with Teddy Roosevelt and his maternal grandfather was a pro boxer. From age 3, Degerberg was put in head locks and scissor holds, and his formative years were spent unwittingly blending different combat styles. He was absorbed in the martial arts in the 1950s and became, as he puts it, the “world’s worst martial arts junkie.” He even has a complete collection of Black Belt magazines, including the first issue. As a young man, Degerberg wanted to build the best martial arts school in the world, and 26 years ago, with $3,500 in his pocket, he refurbished a building in Chicago—an old candy factory where his grandmother had worked decades earlier—into the 13,000-square-foot Degerberg Academy. The comprehensive facility features its own Wall of Fame, gymnasium, matted training hall, boxing center and locker room, making it a full-fledged one-stop destination for multidiscipline integration. Over the years, approximately 200 martial arts have been taught at the Degerberg Academy. The school was started on the premise that all styles are useful, and that philosophy remains true today. Students learn a variety of disciplines, including karate, boxing, kickboxing, judo, jeet kune do, aikido, kali, muay Thai and more. Considering all the champions, masters and celebrities his school has hosted or trained—including John Belushi, Bill Wallace, Dan Akroyd, Kathy Long, Gene LeBell and others—Degerberg says he’s most proud of his everyday students, who may start as young as 3. For nearly three decades of educational excellence and expertise, Black Belt presents the Degerberg Academy with its 2006 Industry Award for Best Overall School. —Jon Thibault  About the Academy | Children's Programs | About the Founder | Press |
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