All Ages Sparring

All ages all ranks sparring began.  After brief stretching everyone geared up including Charlie Hybiske, age 4, Lizzie Hybiske, 8, Sami Van Horn, 15, Kathy Clouse, 11, April Schultz who is an enthusiastic  visiting friend from Oklahoma age 11, Tom Hybiske, 35, Sempei Marcus Van Horn, 9, and Sempei Matt Van Horn who got down to business.  Everyone had a great time and practiced sparring technique, speed, and accuracy while learning from each other, as well.  It was exhausting to some but always worth the effort.  Awesome job!!

What a perfect day, the weather was beautiful, the breeze was great, there wasn't a cloud in sight.  Family, friends, students caravanned to the lake and after our traditional stop at Nixon's on the way, we arrived at the lake before 10. We were the only ones there - the lakes was all ours!

Our favorite picnic table waited for us, we had a firepit next to us, and the inviting lake in front of us.  The kids splashed right in, Lizzie, April and Charlie were first timers and did not mind the warm refreshing cedar water at all.  Rudie, our yorkie, enjoyed the boogie board and swimming with everyone.

Next we went blueberry picking and filled the bags between tastes, the children ate more than they picked, and Rudie grabbed some from the bushes, too.  She tried to stick her face in the bag once but we had to stop her, what a dog!  Wish my mom was here as in years past but she is galavanting in Europe until November!

Looking forward to the next time and karate at the lake!

Fun at the Lake July 8th

It was an awesome day at the lake July 8th. Family and friends and also our 2 little doggies, a yorkie named Rudie and a mini poodle named Gigi, came with us to share the day.  The weather was great and the water was warm and so were the people around us.  We met a lot of interesting folks including some that brought guitars, basses, and banjos.  Everyone enjoyed swimming, tanning and kayaking or rafting, and so did our dogs. Ellie and Heide floated around while I paddled across the lake, and Ellie's two sons, David and Daniel, our neighbor Chris and his girlfriend Tiffany, and our kids Chris and Kathy had chicken fights in the water.  What a tremendously active yet relaxing day.

Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July was an exciting and amazing day. It started off with morning coffee and spending time with Heide and Christopher, then at noon we had an awesome karate class with Matt, Marcus and Samantha Van Horn.  Afterwards we prepared to go to Dr. John Lee's annual 4th of July bash on the river.

The cookout was, as usual, filled with an overabundance of international foods and it was a lively fun filled time with great people including Grandmasters and Masters and Mataw Guru Luelle Lledo, Sifu Mel Roberts, Master Allan Cheung, Master Sabato Trent, Sifu Joy and Sensei Elisa Greene and other excellent martial artists and Dr. Lee's wonderful family. Everyone was having fun on the river with canoe jousting, speed boat runs and getting rides on the Waverunner.  Heide Clouse had a wonderful time going full throttle for the first time in her life (what a rush!), she can't wait to do this again as soon as possible.

Dr. Lee started off karaoke and it was definitely a great party with great people.
 

Then, after 4 hours of food and fun Heide and I went to see Tom, Lisa, Lizzie, and Charlie Hybiske.   Tom's parents were visiting from Massachusetts, so we decided to start a bonfire while Heide, Lisa, Lizzie and Charlie were enjoying themselves in the pool.  Tom and his parents and I were sitting by the bonfire discussing martial arts and bladed weapons while Griswold kept us busy by bringing back his ball we threw for him (what an amazing dog).  Fun at the Hybiske's lasted until a little after 10pm and neighborhood fireworks ended the evening. We are all looking forward to this Sunday the 8th, for our trip to Lake Oswego where we have more fellowship, martial arts outside, and summer fun with students and family and friends.

Martial Arts Family by the Fire

After martial arts classes students and family stayed for a bonfire and roasted marshmellows or jumped on the trampoline. As usual classes weren't enough so the students decided to do some Modern Arnis by the fire and floodlight.  Sempei Matt, Sempei Marcus, and Samantha Van Horn, along with Lisa,  Tom and Charlie Hybiske, and Kathy and Heide Clouse and Grandmaster Les enjoyed laughs and good times as we brought out sticks and shared a few basics to non-students.  Little three year old Charlie was very enthused about front snap kicking a focus target and he jumped and rolled on the trampoline way past his bedtime.  It was a very good night for all.

Sunday's Adventure - Pirates on The Hudson

What an awesome day watching my son Randy who is an actor at the ongoing show Pirates of the Hudson, Siege at Sleepy Hollow.  I made the 2 and a half hour trip with Heide and Kathy and we couldn't wait to get to the show.

The first moment we arrived we were in time to see the musical performance which included Randy who was playing percussion, bongoes, and guitar with the pirate group.  Next we ran over to get a quick bite to eat of hots dogs and watermelon then headed off again and watched as a scary pirate locked Kathy up and put her in medieval dibs and then we ran through a darkened pirate ship filled with bubbles to our waists which cooled us off.

Next we thoroughly enjoyed the Main show - the Battle.  We waited for the show and suddenly saw Randy aka Pirate Steve, tied up in ropes, and gagged, running (as best as he could) past the crowd followed by other Pirates yelling and chasing him!  That was the start of the exciting and funny show.

It was amazing and even more impressive to us that Randy choreographed, produced and performed one of the leads in the swashbuckling Battle Scene which kept the whole audience mesmerized.  All of the performers were fantastic but we kept our eyes on Randy as he escaped his bonds, fought others using his fighting and athletic skills with weapons such as a stick and sword - up and down barrels, benches and crates, up and through a ladder, Randy, (Pirate Steve) climbed and fought with the others. The performers were well practiced and there was so much excitement going on at once all over the stage we just had to come back for the show two more times to take in all the skilled interaction.  It kept us all fascinated and the applause for them was great.

Words can not describe the love and pride I feel for my son.  I love you Randy, Dad Les.