Ernie Reyes Sr. grew up with his parents, working in the labor field. There he had his first lessons in discipline. This didn't work at school, because Ernie would be the first to fall asleep and the last being able to read. He did however, excel in all sports his young friends were playing; basketball, soccer, kickball, etc.

In 1967, Ernie decided he had to work harder to achieve his goals. One of those goals was becoming a great martial artist and started training once a week. After graduating from Junior College, Ernie started training more seriously in Tae Kwon Do under Dan Choi and met his lifelong friend Tony Thompson. Ernie would train for 6 days a week and teach for free. Soon Ernie would be competing and be great at it. He became a Lightweight USA National Champion. After winning many trophies, Ernie developed his dynamic West Coast Demo Team. In that time, Ernie became a popular teacher. Some of his students were Cynthia Rothrock and George Chung.

Since then, Ernie won numerous titles and awards. Some are: Black Belt and PKA's Instructor of the Year, California State Tae Kwon Do Grand Champion, USA National Tae Kwon Do Champion in Fights and Forms.