He also trained in judo, karate and taekwondo. Burrese was a paratrooper in the Army and taught an elite class on the finer points of being a military sniper. Burrese, who is Missoula's only hapkido instructor, is perhaps UM's most accomplished fighter. He might also be the most dangerous man on campus. When Burrese and Brinkman halt their battles, they head back to the UM law school where they're both second-year students.
Fighting is a great stress reliever, they say.
Burrese and Brinkman meet three times a week for their mid-day battles. Brinkman says he gets informal hapkido training from Missoula's master of the art and Burrese says he gets someone to practice moves on for his second hapkido video, which he'll shoot with Brinkman in the spring. The Explosive Korean Art Of Self Defense, takes up a full-page ad on the back of this month's Paladin Press catalogue. Paladin Press, a publishing company out of Boulder, Colo., offers titles in its catalogue on everything from big game hunting to self defense to cannibalism as a means of survival. Palladin also sells Burrese's book Hard Won Wisdom From The School of Hard Knocks.