Hall of Honors in Atlantic City

I just had an amazing weekend spending time with great martial arts friends, students and Hollywood's martial arts best as one of the best knife makers in the world, Steve R. from Keen Edge knives, and people from the WWF wrestling Federation.  The weekend was packed with seminars from great seminars from Masters and Grandmasters from 24 countries represented at the event.  The most amazing part was hanging out and spending time with my Canadian martial arts family.  The day was long yet too short, the award banquet started at 6:30 pm which lasted until 11pm and afterwards we topped it off with some amazing dancing Canadian style (nonstop).  

Testing in Southampton

Testing started at 12:30 pm after some review and lasted for 2 hours. Everyone went through forms, striking techniques, knife drills, and techniques followed by defensive striking maneuvers.  Rick, Tamir and Thomas were promoted to Level 2 by passing Level 1.  Great job everyone, keep up the great work!

Beginning Sandokan Curriculum at American Dojo Karate in Scranton

What an awesome seminar we had at American Dojo Karate in Scranton today!  The students were psyched and ready to learn - we went through 12 Basic Attacks and Disarms, footwork foundation, torquing, arm positioning and posting, and the various Sandokan weapons that are applicable.  It was an exhilarating class as everyone enthusiastically worked with their partners.  The American Dojo team is excellent and  incredibly skilled, and it is always a privilege to work with them.

Master Bridget and Master Stephanie motivate and encourage their students who never stopped, had a lot of laughs, and worked hard.  I congratulate all of their efforts and thank them each individually for their tremendous efforts.  In closing I am proud to be a family member of American Dojo Karate and look forward to the next time we are together in February.

1/19/2013

Happy New Year!

Despite of Heide working New Year's Eve, the evening was full of fun and laughter.  At 6 pm we took my mom Helen out for dinner.  Mom was hilarious, especially with a margarita because she suffered constant brain freezes.

Afterwards we came home and decided to make steak tartars with mom for New Years Day.  Next we were invited to Tom and Lisa Hybiske's house and wished everyone an early Happy New.

After dropping mom off at her home in Philadelphia, we decided to go to the Mummers Parade, especially since Heide had never been to one.  At the parade we met a lot of cool people,
including John and Trisha and their son Mason, and a girl from Frankfurt Germany, Nichole.  We enjoyed the costumes, revelry, and music and had a great time.

Dragon Dance Team practice for Chinese New Years 2013

I am looking forward to this year's Chinese New Year and another Dragon Dance with Dr. Lee and all of our friends.  Last year I was able to enjoy the awesome event and this year is going to be more exciting for me because Heide and I are participating with some of my students.  We had a practice today with the terrific team and Sifu Lee had us practicing basic steps and formations.  I helped keep the mood light although we worked diligently and all want to do our best to put on an excellent dance in February.

Christmas Celebrating

Christmas was a beautiful celebration with family and friends this year.  We started the merriment on Sunday with Tom and Lisa Hybiske's party with their family and friends.  The party was terrific - wonderful people, great food. The children were so excited and especially enjoyed singing and dancing.  There was even some laser sword play later that night in the front yard.

It was followed by Christmas Eve the next day with visiting Heide's mom, dad, brother and sister, niece and nephew, followed by my mom and my son Randy coming to our house for a delicious traditional fish dinner.  Everybody was having a great time, our animal friends included.

At 10 pm we decided to exchange our gifts and enjoyed simply being together.  On Christmas Day we went to see my family as well as visited Heide's 97 year old grandmom in Pennsylvania.  Christmas should last a week instead of only a few days.

December 14th Testing

5:45 pm Elyas and Ethan tested for their yellow belts, going through basics, form and techniques, looking a little nervous but confident. Awesome job guys!  Keep up the great work and congratulations on your advancement.  Keep practicing.

7:00 pm we started on schedule for 1st Kyu testing with Sempei Matt. Testing started with grueling and fast paced basics. Mark and Andie followed all the basics giving their best on the advanced. Great job guys.  Sempei Matt exemplified near perfection going through all the Kenpo Forms requirements and a Black Belt Form as well. Soon after we jumped in to all the basics with a verbal quiz as well as physical delivery, which was impeccable.  Excellent job and I am very proud of you and am glad to be your friend and your instructor.

Congratulations to all.