Meet Dr. Butler
Dr. Jeremy Butler is an author, professor, control tactics instructor, speaker, and former police officer. Low self-confidence and a desire to protect himself on the south side of Chicago led him to find his passion in studying martial arts at the age of 12.
At age 24, he opened Pagoda Rebirth Martial Arts, while also pursuing a career in law enforcement. During his seven years as a police officer, he worked in various roles including serving as a control tactics instructor and verbal de-escalation instructor for multiple departments via the regional police mobile training unit. During this time, Dr. Butler also earned a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He offers a variety of trainings and speaking engagements targeting law enforcement as well as civilians in physical and mental preparation for potentially violent encounters.
Over the past 17 years, he has taught martial arts and defensive tactics programs in Chicago, Urbana-Champaign, Bloomington-Normal, Los Angeles, and East Dundee. Dr. Butler is currently the lead control tactics instructor at the SVCC Police Academy, Associate Director of Project FLEX, and a Kinesiology instructor at Northern Illinois University.
Training Certifications
- Pagoda Ryu Martial Arts System, 4th Dan
- Filipino Martial Arts, Apprentice Instructor
- Dog Brothers Martial Arts, Group Leader
- Jun Fan Gung Fu/JKD Concepts, Apprentice Instructor
- Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Purple Belt
At age 24, he opened Pagoda Rebirth Martial Arts, while also pursuing a career in law enforcement. During his seven years as a police officer, he worked in various roles including serving as a control tactics instructor and verbal de-escalation instructor for multiple departments via the regional police mobile training unit. During this time, Dr. Butler also earned a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He offers a variety of trainings and speaking engagements targeting law enforcement as well as civilians in physical and mental preparation for potentially violent encounters.
Over the past 17 years, he has taught martial arts and defensive tactics programs in Chicago, Urbana-Champaign, Bloomington-Normal, Los Angeles, and East Dundee. Dr. Butler is currently the lead control tactics instructor at the SVCC Police Academy, Associate Director of Project FLEX, and a Kinesiology instructor at Northern Illinois University.
Training Certifications
- Pagoda Ryu Martial Arts System, 4th Dan
- Filipino Martial Arts, Apprentice Instructor
- Dog Brothers Martial Arts, Group Leader
- Jun Fan Gung Fu/JKD Concepts, Apprentice Instructor
- Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Purple Belt