Austria camp

I was at Mike Haselwanter's Sommercamp in Lustenau, Austria over the 4th of July weekend. That's Mike on the right. You can see he's a strong boy. I've known Mike for years and I finally got a chance to meet his family. He has a lovely wife and two good-looking children. He even gets along with his in-laws!
With the help of his team, he put together a very well-organized weekend event. I heard many comments on how well it came together, from class timing and subjects, food, location, transportation, the Saturday evening party on the edge of Lake Konstanz. People are already looking forward to next year.


Much of the event was held outside on a soccer field next to the Rhine river. You could see the Alps from there and the foothills of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Kenpo people from Dusseldorf, Saarbruecken and Esslingen attended.

Subjects covered included extensions, lock flows, Staff Set, my defending the third person concept class, question and answer sessions and more.

Friday night in Esslingen, near Stuttgart, I sat on an exam board at Marc Sigle's Bushido ES. Three people were tested and all passed. I congratulate Friedman, Nadja, and Paul.

It was a great weekend. I can't say enough good things about the hospitality. You may want to think about going next year.

Elvis

As you know, we have a connection to Elvis in that he was a friend of Ed Parker's. Mr. Parker promoted him to 7th black and I'm told he was a good black belt. When asked if Elvis was really a 7th Mr. Parker would sometimes say "When you're dead, what degree of dead are you?" meaning Elvis was a black belt and the degree didn't matter.

Here are two links I was mailed recently that have Elvis and/or Ed Parker in them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr8VEcbSw48

Click here: A Tribute to our Flag

Mike Sanders

One of my first, and certainly one of my best, teachers was Mike Sanders of Sterling, Illinois. Over the 4th of July weekend a memorial for him was held by remaining students and practitioners of his art, which was called Bujin Kenpo. As one of my newer students pointed out, it's quite something for someone to be remembered 30 years after their passing, especially by those not in his family.

Nelson Kari coordinated it and thanked me for being there in spirit by my sending a video tribute since I had committed to be in Austria that weekend. I will post photos of the memorial when I get them.

Law of the jungle or law of the farm?

Many instructors and practitioners I have talked with recently express concern that people learning MMA are learning half of what they should. They are learning the physical techniques but not the philosophy and ethics that martial arts should. I was sent this link about a ju-jitsu instructor who addresses just that thinking. Take a look.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=7705290

POWs

I have a student some of you have heard of named Rick Stone. I have gotten some interesting information on many subjects over the years from him. Recently it's about his experience as a POW in World War Two. There was a commentary circulating on the web about prisoner mistreatment by Col. Bud Day, a Medal of Honor recipient. Col Day wrote about being tortured in a Vietnamese prison camp. Rick read it and this was his response.

Mr Wedlake,
I agree with the remarks uttered by Col Day. Both my brother and I experienced somewhat the same kind of thing in a different conflict.Only the other day my brother told me that he was having to go to the doctor at least once a month to have liquid removed from the scrotum area, this as a result of being kicked repeatedly in the testes. And this happened over 60 years ago.
Rick

There are a few lessons there.

The latest one was about the alleged existance of prison camps being readied in the US, about 800 of them. This is what Rick had to say.

Why am I not surprised.
Governments in in so-called industrialized countries have been keeping lists of people who they consider undesirable for the past 100 years and possibly more.
When the WW- 2 broke out,England rounded up many scholars and academics, most of them in the upper class schools like Eton and Cambridge. They were considered sympathetic to Germany and had been preaching fascism for a long time.
They were put into "lock downs" in the north of Scotland and guarded by troops.
Their treatment was harsh. Not all of them survived until 1945.

Didn't someone say those who could not remember the past are condemned to repeat it?

Congratulations!

One of my Chicago black belts, Ed Bilski, called me to tell me he just did his first solo flight in an airplane. That's huge! Here's the backstory. He is being taught to fly by his daughter, Tiffany, an instructor at Lewis University near Joliet, IL. I gave Tiffany her first airplane ride when the family was down here on a vacation and Ed was training with me while here.

Anyway, I guess she cut his shirt-tail off (a pilot tradition) and Ed is one of a very few people who have broken the surly bonds of earth on his own. Congrats again, Ed!

Promotions

I was invited to Steve White's Manchester Karate Studio recently to test Mr. Jim Peacock and Mr. Tim McKenzie for their 6th and 5th degrees, respectively. I have to say that the 2.5 hour exam was one of, if not the best, exam I have seen for those ranks.

Tim McKenzie, shown being kicked up here, is the senior instructor at MKS. Mr. Peacock, below, owns a studio in Mont Vernon, NH and has been with Mr. White for 23 years.

Their exam was a balance of all facets of the system, liberally laced with questions on history, terminology, ritual and etiquette, standards, teaching principles, and medical implications. Both wrote papers breaking down a technique into its components and what the strikes actually did to tissue and bone. The physical portion included demonstrations of the applications of every technique in the higher form in sequence. They also did attack categories with line interruptions and pick-ups, doing all of them spontaneously and using the formulation principle.

Both men did a fine job and I congratulate them. Their instructor, Mr. White, did a great job with them and gets an "atta-boy", too.