Dennis “Master Sup” Burgess is tired of seeing the city being overrun by gang and gun violence. At the July 15 City Council meeting, he literally showed how to crush and rip through the issue—by ripping a phone book in half and breaking four slabs of bricks with his hands.

“It’s all about mental power and respect,” said the martial arts expert and motivational speaker after the demonstration, later explaining how he performed his feat. “You have to respect yourself in order to be able to do this.”

Burgess wants the city to help raise money to acquire and remodel an abandoned building at the corner of Communipaw and Pacific avenues in order for him to run his program, Operation Character Building, for at-risk youth.

He said he strives to turn young people away from the gang life and get gang members to leave the “thug” life through martial arts training.

City Clerk Robert Byrne joked that he hoped “Mr. Burgess won’t be going to the hospital to get those hands checked out.”

Burgess will be at the Boys & Girls Club of Jersey City on July 25.

The City Council is considering his proposal for the abandoned building.