Madelynn Bernal-Herrera started her Kenpo journey in 2010 at BASIS Oro Valley, the charter school she was attending at that time. Over that year Madelynn studied diligently under the mentorship of Monica Chavez, her BASIS Kenpo PE instructor who is also a black belt under Andrew Pilch. Due to the amazing instruction Mrs. Chavez provided, Madelynn fell in love with the art of Kenpo.

When Madelynn switched schools in 2011, she was no longer able to continue her training with Mrs. Chavez so she sought out Mr. Pilch to continue her education. This was the second step that lead her to what has become a life long journey which has seen her achieving many things including becoming one of the first BASIS students to earn a Senior Black Belt with the American Institute of Kenpo.

In 2013, after earning her Junior Black Belt, Madelynn started assisting with the youngest children’s classes. By the time she earned her Senior Brown Belt Madelynn had expanded her teaching role to include the older children’s classes. Around the time Madelynn earned her Senior Black Belt, much of the senior instructing staff at Mr. Pilch’s school began teaching Kenpo PE programs at several of the BASIS charter schools in Tucson, Arizona. This was due in a large part to the exceptional job Mrs. Chavez had been doing with the program. Just as this opened opportunities for the senior instructors, this further expansion of AIK into the Tucson community also opened up opportunities for up and coming instructors like Madelynn. Over the next few years, more often than not, when students came in they would find Madelynn instructing class.

From 2019 to 2022, Madelynn found herself needing to take a step back from teaching and training. Though she trained sporadically during that extended break she was unable to return to consistent training until early 2022. After being able to consistently train, Madelynn stepped back into teaching about halfway through 2022.

The American Institute of Kenpo is always excited to have students return to train with us. Madelynn is a very capable martial artist, and we are grateful to have her back on the mats teaching for us.

~ Last Updated 7/12/2023