Shawn McGinnis started his career in law enforcement.  After a resisting arrest altercation he started training in Martial Arts so he could take control of those types of situations in the future!

Master McGinnis has a heart for teaching and began teaching Martial Arts as an assistant instructor at the American Black Belt Academy in 1997.  At this point Master McGinnis was already a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.  Upon obtaining full instructor certification in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido he continued to teach at the American Black Belt Academy in Concord.

Master McGinnis was then offered the opportunity to run his own program at the Dowd YMCA in Charlotte teaching both Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do.  He continued teaching at the Dowd YMCA for several years.

Master McGinnis then moved to Gaston County, NC, and began teaching Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and now Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from his basement which had been equipped and turned into a Martial Arts School. He continued teaching from his basement for another eight years.

Master McGinnis then met and developed a training friendship with Ben and Stephanie Causby who own and teach at Causby Karate Academy in Denver, NC, and also in Charlotte, NC.  The Causby's encouraged Master McGinnis to open his his own Academy and were instrumental in the decision to do so, and in 2015 Master McGinnis opened McGinnis Academy of Martial Arts / Checkmat Jiu Jitsu of Gastonia.

Although Master McGinnis is still involved with training some local law enforcement agencies in hand-to-hand combat techniques and Martial Arts he officially retired from the Gaston County Police force in 2016 and now teaches at the Academy full time!