North Idaho martial arts instructor inducted into hall of fame

Mike “Ziggy” Siegfried, a Spirit Lake-based martial arts instructor, was inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame on July 19 at the Westin San Antonio North in San Antonio as a Distinguished Law Enforcement Instructor.

Inductees included martial artists from across the United States and a sitting Texas Senator, Brian Birdwell, a Black Belt in Taekwondo. During the ceremony, the following was read as Siegfried accepted his award:

"A Medal of Valor and Medal of Meritorious Service recipient, Master Siegfried is the president of the Universal Kenpo Karate Association, holding a 6th Dan in UKKA Kenpo. He worked for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, where he was the lead defensive tactics instructor. He is a court-recognized expert in the use of force. Today, Master Seigfried is the COO of the Verbal Judo Institute, a law enforcement, military, and security de-escalation training company, teaching verbal de-escalation strategies and tactics to help defuse potentially dangerous or violent confrontations."

Siegfried is the President of the Universal Kenpo Kung Fu Association (UKKA). He is the lead Instructor of Team Idaho UKKA (a combined Spirit Lake and Sandpoint karate team) Team UKKA is sponsored by the Verbal Judo Institute, Inc., a verbal de-escalation training company based in New York and Golden Rule Brake.

To support Team UKKA as a sponsor contact Siegfried at [email protected]. 

To watch their journey on YouTube, visit youtube.com/@idahoukka