Master Bettencourt began his martial arts training in early 1970. He has studied Kenpo, Shotokan Karate, Okinawa-Te, Aikido, Judo, Wrestling, American Boxing, Mud Duk Kwan, Hapkido, and Taekwon-Do. He began teaching Taekwon-Do on a full time basis when he opened his first school in Longview, Washington in 1977. He eventually opened eleven more schools before returning to Portland, Oregon to establish the permanent headquarters for Bettencourt's Taekwon-Do America in 1989.

Master Bettencourt was very active in tournament competition throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada from 1974 to 1986; winning over 150 trophies, awards and medals. As a multiple gold medal winner, Master Bettencourt retired from competition and focused on teaching and coaching. However, in 1996 he entered the Taekwon-Do, Mud Duk Kwan National Championships, held in Los Angeles, California, where he earned a Gold Medal in the Advanced Black-Belt Hyung Division. Master Bettencourt has supervised the training of over 300 Black-Belt students, many of whom are Taekwon-Do instructors, having produced their own Black-Belt Students.

Master Bettencourt was the senior ranking member of a Black-Belt Taekwon-Do demonstration team to South Korea in 1985, where he brought a number of his Black-Belt students. They gave over 30 demonstrations to the Korean populace over a 12 day period and the entire team was shown on Korean National Television.

Receiving his Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology in 1983, Master Bettencourt has worked in the mental health field, both public and private sectors since 1980. He was a psychology professor at three colleges over a twelve year period, as well as a mental health Clinical Supervisor and trainer for eight years. He is a consultant in the field of Anger Management for the County Corrections Department and is the Director of Peaceful Warrior Counseling. He currently pursues a Ph.D in Psychology. In 1996, Master Bettencourt joined the International Hapkido Federation to continue his training in Hapkido under the legendary Grand Master Bong Soo Han. In 1999, Master Bettencourt was appointed the Regional IHF Director for Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Colorado.

As the author of "Gup Testing Curriculum", "Pre-Arranged Sparring", "Taekwon-Do Hyung" and "Black Belt Curriculum", Master Bettencourt has written a complete Taekwon-Do text entitled "Traditional Taekwon-Do", a Pyong Hwa Musado video tape series, a Hapkido article for "Taekwon-Do Times" magazine entitled Open Up Your Heart, written about Grand Master Bong Soo Han and a mental health article for "Focal Point" entitled The Role of Traditional Taekwon-Do for Children with Emotional and Behavorial Disorders available through our proshop and this website.

Master Bettencourt conducts seminars throughout the Pacific Northwest on Traditional Taekwon-Do, Hapkido, and weapons of the Psychology of board breaking of the Pyong Hwa Musado system; as well as martial arts, warriorship, conflict resolution and anger management. He is the founder and President of the World Musado Federation and is the creator of the Pyong Hwa Musado system.