Born in 1964 in Mountain
View, California, Guro (Instructor) Kristine Strasburger (formerly Kristi Alonzo) began training in Eskrima in Los Gatos, California
in 1981 at the age of seventeen. She began with private instruction from
Guro Benjamin Berry for approximately eight months. When Guro Berry moved back to his hometown of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, she joined the class taught by Guro Berry’s
Instructor, Mangisursuro (System Founder) Mike Inay (1944-2000).
Kristine trained at Suro
Inay’s school continuously until leaving in 1988 to join the U.S. Army.
During these years of training, as a representative of the Inayan Eskrima
school, she assisted in teaching training seminars attended by other martial artists and law enforcement
personnel. Upon joining the United States Army, she departed the Inayan School with the rank of Katalungan
Guro (Assistant Instructor).
Kristine served on active
duty in the Regular Army as a combat medic (91A) from February 1988 until September 1991.
She was assigned to the 93rd Evacuation Hospital,
and worked in the Emergency Room of that hospital during the unit’s deployment to Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. She was
Honorably Discharged as a Sergeant (E-5). During these years, Kristine taught
Eskrima privately to individuals. She also taught a short-term group class through
the Army Morale and Welfare program during a six-month period in Honduras, Central America.
After leaving the Army,
Kristine attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated in December 1996 with a
Bachelor’s degree in Bible and Theology.
In addition to being
a current student and member of Coeur d'Escrime Fencing Club in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Kristine teaches Eskrima, swordsmanship and personal self-defense as owner
and Head Instructor of Heartland School of Eskrima and Self-Defense,
located in the mountains of northern Idaho, near Spirit Lake, where she lives with her husband, Keith, and two sons. She is also available to teach private lessons and seminars at your location.
Kristine is a member
of NWMAF, the National Women's Martial Arts Federation; of AWMAI, the Association of Women Martial Arts Instructors; and of DOTA, Daughters of the Arts.
Heartland School of Eskrima
and Self-Defense has been a member of NAPMA, the National Association of Professional Martial Artists, since 2003.
