User:TonyTheTiger/Antonio Vernón

See Tony The Tiger (disambiguation). For the article about the cartoon mascot, see Tony The Tiger. This is a userspace page not an article in the main namespace.

Antonio "Tony The Tiger" Vernón @ the Kukkiwon Stone
June 14, 2002 Visting the Kukkiwon in Seoul, Korea.

Deluxe (Lightscribe) version of Summer 2006 Highlight CD production.

Antonio Miguel Rafael Vernón, a.k.a. "Tony The Tiger" or "El Tigre" (born June 24, 1965 in New Orleans, LA) is a prominent Chicago martial artist. He is a Kukkiwon certified Tae Kwon Do Black Belt. He is known for practicing several non-projectile weapons including nunchucks, sais, bo staff, escrima, butterfly knife, short and long chains, manriki/Surujin, cane, poi balls, jo staff, sword, and knives. He has also studied Uechi Ryu Karate. He has trained with West Side Tae Kwon Do and New York City Uechi Ryu in New York City, World Martial Arts Academy in St. Louis, MO and U.S Tae Kwon Do College in Washington, DC. Tony has instructed at East Sea Martial Arts in Chicago. Tony has been seen performing formally at the Taste of Chicago and the Wilmette Parks District Independence Day celebration. You can often see Tony performing informally in the summer along the beaches of the Milwaukee-Chicago-Gary corridor on the weekend. Most summer days Tony performs in the Chicago Park District.

Details on the first printing of the Summer 2006 highlight videos that will be available in deluxe (pictured left) and standard CD format are forthcoming. At this time the production length is about 12.5 minutes. It may be available for purchase. Preliminary prices are $99.99 for the limited edition deluxe, $39.99 deluxe and $19.99 standard. It will include approximately 75 clips from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, and Ontario beaches and parks, including his solo debut performance on July 3, 2006. It is likely that autographing will be available for an undisclosed additional fee. It is likely that there may be a limited edition deluxe version with a finite print run of less than 1000 and then an unlimited edition. If the limited edition plan is realized it will start with 600 copies of the monochrome deluxe version. If there is sufficient demand for these an additional 310 copies of the monochrome deluxe version will be printed. No further monochrome deluxe versions will be printed after these 910 are printed.

Antonio Vernon was raised in suburban Buffalo, NY. He attended the public schools in Amherst, NY, including Amherst Central High School, after brief residences in Norman, OK, Fredonia, NY, and Orchard Park, NY.

Tony Vernon was a scholar as a youth. He excelled in the sciences and mathematics. As a junior and a senior he earned scholarships from the NAACP ACTSO Olympics in both Physics and Mathematics. He received admissions offers from MIT (early action), Harvard, Yale, Brown, University of Texas-Austin, and SUNY-Buffalo as well as Princeton University. Oddly, Tony matriculated to Princeton because of personal relationships with students there. He had no close friends at any of the other out of town schools. At Princeton, Tony became a standout powerlifter in the 75kg. (middleweight) and 67.5kg weight classes. He recorded personal bests of 600lbs deadlift, 310lbs. bench press, and 470lbs. squat. He was the first collegiate middleweight to deadlift 600lbs without using steroids. At the time the national collegiate record was 585lbs, but national collegiate records must be set at the national collegiate championship meet.

After spending most of his undergraduate career at Princeton, Tony graduated from SUNY-Buffalo with a B.A. in Economics. He went on to receive an M.B.A., with distinction, from the Ross School of Business (then named the Michigan Business School), and a M.A. in Statistics from Washington University. He was attempting to become the first Afro-American to obtain a Finance Ph.D. from one of the top 5 Finance Ph.D. Programs (MIT Sloan School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania). However, he is currently in court with the University of Chicago over a breach of contract with respect to his scholarship and related matters.[1]

Tony Vernon went on to receive an M.B.A. from the Ross School of Business and a M.A. in Statistics from Washington University. He is currently in court with the University of Chicago over a breach of contract with respect to his scholarship and related matters.[2]

In addition to being known for his non-projectile weapons exhibitions, Tony is known for his catchphrase "Have nunchucks. Will travel," which is a take off on the old gunslinger motto "Have gun. Will travel." Additionally, Tony is known for performing using the nickname "Tony The Tiger". Tony's Junior and Senior High School Mascots were the Tigers. Princeton University's mascot was the Tigers. The Tiger is an important animal to martial arts and eastern cultures. Additionally, Tony's Business school alma mater, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, is just down the road from the home of the most prominent Tony The Tiger, the cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes in Battle Creek, MI.

Tony's father Carlos Vernón, a former world class sprinter from the City of Colón, Panama, in the Colón Province, was 1957 Athlete of the Year of the Republic of Panama. Tony's mother was born and raised in uptown New Orleans, LA.

Tony is also involved in ongoing litigation with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources regarding the use and display of martial arts devices in public places. You can follow along with the case at his press release page. Note that the March 1st hearing has been moved to March 7th. Due to Vista incompatibility issues Tony has not been able to update the press release page to reflect such while on business out of state.

External Links

• Official Site
• Tony @ Myspace