Master ~ Russell Wright
He is founder and chief instructor of United Arts Martial Arts Academy est. 1994. He began studying the martial arts in 1985 as a student of Ralph Barden.
Earning his first Degree BlackBelt in 1987.
...Russell Wright performed a dazzling and hypnotizing rare act called Halo Aura to music provided by Jason Willis. ...Wright is one of the few to have written documentation of freedom to perform this act at will.Wright is a senior in radio, television and film at Auburn. He was born in Hawaii, and then moved to Jacksonville, FL in the third grade.He had been interested in martial arts as a young boy, and when he was 15 he started practicing martial arts."That was sort of a tension release of having never been good at sports, and so I found my forte in martial arts", Wright says. He then met Williams, creator of Halo Aura and Lissajous~Do Ryu in Jacksonville. Williams became a Father figure to Wright because he was raised mainly by his mother. Williams allowed Wright the rare opportunity to train privately with him, while also keeping an eye on Wrights academics. Wright said."They are both in sync, but yet they are both going at different speeds or tempos," he said, "and the cool thing about it is that people tend to get lost in it while they are watching it. It's like a mental meditation. For those out there performing it, it is a moving meditation."When a performance is caught on film, a theophany can be seen. A theophany is a visual manifestation of a figure that the viewer sees, like making out shapes in clouds. About the photography art of Halo Aura, Wright said, "In the still shots you are actually able to see those theophanies that are captured in 3-4 seconds of what you would typically see in the performance."
...Wright was considered for a demo team after less than a year of training. He worked with Williams on the show for four years before moving to Alexander City, where his family is originally from. Wright then got permission from Williams to do his first solo performance at Camp ASCCA.
...Wright said, "I would definitely like to be able to pass the art out to some groups that would appreciate it. One of those groups that I have seen that pretty much did was college type audiences. "I really want to be able to see people identify with something that is new and really visually and mentally stimulating. I would like to be able to do some shows while I am still here in Auburn. "Since I love Auburn so much, I would like to pass the art along and have the people appreciate it while I am in this community," Wright said.