Master Scott E. Merrill has trained in Tang Soo Do for over 20 years, and currently holds the rank of Sah Dan (fourth degree master). As a law enforcement officer (both civilian and military), he has been a weapons, firearms, and defensive tactics instructor and a SWAT member for over 25 years. Mr. Merrill is involved in training law enforcement officers throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Merrill’s roots in Tang Soo Do training stem from Appalachia Tang Soo Do, where he continues to train under Master Michael White. Other training influences include Master Michael Kaye, Mr. Bill Boswell, and Master John Beam. At Appalachia, Mr. Merrill has helped instruct both adult-level and children-level classes. He has also been an instructor at Regional Gup Clinics, where he has taught defensive tactics, Hapkido, self-defense, and, in conjunction with Master White, bong (long staff). With the Penn State Martial Arts Group, Mr. Merrill has also taught special classes on breaking and practical self-defense. Mr. Merrill became the instructor of the Adult Class at PSMAG in April 1998 and since has been responsible for instructing the Adult Class at C5. Since he became involved with the Penn State Martial Arts Group, he has been active in all PSMAG activities including tournaments, clinics, and rank promotion tests.

Through his experiences in the field of law enforcement, Mr. Merrill helps expose many of his students to the real world aspects of martial training. As an instructor, he has expertise in the practical aspects of our techniques and their applications. Because of his specialty in the area of law enforcement, he has been an invited lecturer at the annual Region 8 Dan Clinics for three years, with talks entitled "Street Awareness", "Training Law Enforcement Officials in the Dojang", and "Legal Aspects of Self Defense".

On January 1, 2005, Master Michael Kaye turned over Penn State Martial Arts Group II, the Studio located at the C 5 Fitness Club, to Mr. Merrill. This followed many years of dedicated service to the Penn State Martial Arts Group, and its students. Mr. Merrill named the new studio “A Mountain Wind Martial Arts”. It is Master Kaye’s and Mr. Merrill’s plans to keep the two studios as a close knit group, continuing to have both combined Black Belt and Gup classes once a month. Both studios will work together to further the Art of Tang Soo Do, both in the State College, PA area and also throughout the world.