Mary A. Casey II Kevin Casey
Jenn Boughn Jennifer Goran
Mary has criss-crossed the United States moving from her hometown of Allentown, PA to Miami, FL to Portland, OR to Chapel Hill, NC to Boulder, CO. In every one of these cities, she worked in the recreation field, from lifeguarding to aquatic instruction to martial arts. Recognizing this ongoing vocational choice, she earned her Master’s in Recreation Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2002.
Part of her Master's degree included an in-depth formal qualitative study of the perceived benefits of To-Shin Do among practitioners. Her study showed that her peers were experiencing many of the same positive results that she herself had noticed since beginning study in 1998. The benefits emerged in the study via repeated themes of authority, knowledge, connection, service, and personal fulfillment - themes which clearly mapped to the mandalas used in the esoteric Buddhist practice studied by the founder Stephen K. Hayes.
Through this and other experiences her sense of connection to the Buddhist lineage deepened, and the cross-training benefits of Buddhist mind study with To-Shin Do martial arts body-movement study became more apparent. In 2004 she took Practice Director vows in the Blue Lotus Assembly under Mr. Hayes, moved to Boulder, and earned her ni-dan 2nd degree black belt. This highly condensed period of major events and acknowledgements would lead to the opening of her own business, the Boulder Quest Center, later that year.
Despite the hectic hours of entrepreneurial service, she still finds time to volunteer and give free seminars to community groups, sororities and businesses on self defense and self confidence. She is the current Treasurer of the Boulder Parks and Recreation Foundation. For her own recreation, she hikes, swims, and skis with her husband Kevin.
Mary is proud to be living fully and freely as an empowered, educated woman with her own business bringing her inspiration and dream to the world. She loves nothing more than to share that power and knowledge with others, especially women finding their own way to power and dream-manifestation.
Kevin was born in San Diego, CA to a couple with an instinctive taste for adventurous exploration mixed with personal integrity. He spent his youth traveling around the United States and the Caribbean, and the travel bug was set. By the time he co-founded the Boulder Quest Center at age 29, he had visited 41 US states and 17 foreign countries.
Kevin is also an explorer of the inner landscape of psyche and spirit. Spiritual experiences wove themselves into the usual trials and lessons of childhood and adolescence, and by age 20, he had assembled a personal approach to life that blended Eastern and Western philosophies, modern pragmatism, and a touch of mysticism. Though well-read, he had given up on ever joining anything or finding truly like-minded people. Instead he tested himself out through wild and often dangerous adventures, and those few that came along for the ride earned his deepest respect.
Mary stayed longer than any other friends, and Kevin would eventually marry her by a mountain waterfall in Belize. After moving to North Carolina and establishing careers, they discovered To-Shin Do. They started training together at the Chapel Hill Quest Center in July of 1998 and were immediately struck by the outstanding human qualities of the instructors and students. Within the first year, they were contributing to the community by coaching the beginner class, and publishing a school newsletter.
They met Stephen K. Hayes and his wife Rumiko Hayes in 1999. They were greatly inspired to see authentic heroes still at work in the world. The Hayes manifested that perfect combination of connection to universal energies, great intelligence, and practical accomplishment power. Kevin was compelled to learn more, not just about the martial art of To-Shin Do, but also about Mr. Hayes' spiritual lineages.
Kevin took up a formal Buddhist practice in October 2000. Within a year, the astonishing interplay of body-movement and power exploration in To-Shin Do with the subtle and profound mind examination of esoteric Buddhism made it clear to him that he had indeed come home to the path he was meant to walk. He took the Refuge vows of Buddhism in December of 2001 and received the Dharma name Jijo. He took on further vows as a Practice Director in the lineage in 2004. In May of 2007, he became a Deshi Disciple in the Vajrayana lineage under Mr. Hayes and received the Dharma name Jikei.
Kevin still travels frequently and enjoys studying with many masters in different regions and specialties. His primary teacher and inspiration is Stephen K. Hayes in both To-Shin Do and Buddhist exploration. Kevin is energized by the vast positive change created in his life and delights in sharing the mysteries and secrets with others.
Jenn Zuko Boughn is a highly experienced fitness instructor, actor, writer, and artist. She taught gymnastics to children at the North Boulder Rec Center, was a core member of Frequent Flyers Productions aerial dance company, and has appeared onstage in local productions from the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, to the Guild Theatre, the Actor’s Ensemble and Trouble Clef companies at the Nomad Theatre, Louder Than Words Dance Theatre, and her own company, Five Funny Faces. She (along with her husband Jason) received an invitation to audition for Cirque du Soleil in 2000, but decided to settle down in her hometown of Boulder instead.
She met her husband Jason as they performed a stage combat dagger-throw trick for a group fight at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, and shortly thereafter taught the arts of stage combat at various schools, including Naropa University, the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Rec Center, the Peanut Butter Players, Jesters Theatre, Boulder Conservatory Theatre, and the University of Denver. Jenn first learned Japanese martial arts from Jason starting back in 1996, and appreciated its natural movements, effectiveness, and fun!
Currently, Jenn teaches Stage Combat, Stage Movement, and various English classes at Metro State College of Denver, writing and creativity classes for grad students at the University of Denver, and Yoga/PiYo at the Gunbarrel Athletic Club as well as here at the Boulder Quest Center. Her fitness classes draw loyal students who enjoy her rare combination of knowledge, skill, and personality.
 | Jennifer Secrist Goran |
Jennifer Secrist Goran began her tribal bellydance training in San Francisco in 1989 with well known American Tribal Style founder, instructor and performer Carolena Nericcio, director of FatChanceBellyDance (
www.fcbd.com). Jennifer was immediately impressed by the presence and poise of the instructor and by the powerful, organic feel of the dance. Occasionally, Jennifer tried her hand, or hip, with other talented belly dance instructors specializing in Raqs Sharqi, but, she knew her first love was with the form and aesthetic of American Tribal Style. To this day she remains a loyal student of Carolena's and still enjoys studying with her when in the Bay Area.
In 2001 Jennifer moved to Florida with her family and established Tallahassee's first American Tribal Style Bellydance program thru InStep Studio, the region's best known multicultural studio. In July 2007, Jennifer Secrist Goran, her Desert Rain troupemates, Lisa Goodrich & Anita Kear, along with Molly McClellan & Julia DiVerdi of TribalTique, traveled to San Francisco to complete their GS Certification in ATS. They are the first dancers in Colorado to have been honored with this certification!
Jennifer is well-known for her technical precision and ability to clearly demonstrate and communicate the foundational
movements of ATS that allow for group improv which is free yet graceful, responsive to the moment and yet naturally
beautiful and coordinated. Beginners find that she orients them effectively to the art form, and advanced students find that she embodies and delivers a detail level in the fundamentals that allows them to express their inspiration more deeply and clearly.
Currently she resides in Boulder, Colorado where she has partnered with Lisa Goodrich and continues to offer ATS lessons. Jennifer can also be seen performing with Desert Rain:
www.desertraindance.org
