Tanner Critz was born in Atlanta, Georgia, graduated from the Donaghey Scholars Program with a degree in Anthropology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and then discovered how he wanted to live his life while through-hiking the Appalachian Trail. After studying the martial art Cuong Nhu from the age of ten years old, he opened a school in Little Rock, Arkansas to teach students of all ages where he still lives with his family and teaches.