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 SideKick Fall Kumite Championships September 20, 2003 China Grove, NC Topics:
Dear AKANA Family Members: Congratulations to our Hanshi! He became a founding member of WorldBlackBelt alongside some of the greatest martial artists and fighters of our era, such as Chuck Norris, Bob Wall, and Howard Jackson. Go to www.worldblackbelt.com and check out Mr. Piddington's bio. It is awesome! WBB is also featuring Mr. Piddington's Roast on the front home page of their website. I would like to personally thank Bob Wall and WBB for supporting AKANA, Mr. Piddington, and our Living Legends Celebrity Roast on October 17-18, 2003. Mr. Wall and WBB are on the righteous path of recognizing the pioneers and legends of our great American Karate art form. Let's show our appreciation and thanks by joining WBB today. Make sure you select member/organization and type in Jerry Piddington/AKANA. You can meet Mr. Wall, Howard Jackson, Joe Corley, and other WBB founding members at the Living Legends Celebrity Roast in October. Remember, there is a 10% WBB discount on all events Friday and Saturday for this historical Living Legends weekend. (Must show WBB membership card to receive discount) Here is a WBB banner to make it really convenient to join.
Congratulations to the American Style Karate Team for becoming a new AKANA member. This school is headed by Christopher Shaw of Sandston, Virginia. His current rank is Sandan. Hanshi Piddington will be testing Chris in November to upgrade his rank. There are several other schools processing their charters and we look forward to having them on board this month. Congratulations to all new members of AKANA. Your names have been added to the AKANA members web page. Click here to visit.
A
big thank you to Mr. McClellan and Mr. Godfrey for their work in
preparing the sweat lodge. It was the best ever. A big
thanks to the instructors and their wives for all the time Included in the packed weekend was a Jiu-Jitsu test by Sensei Troy Price. All visiting black belts were invited to watch the jiu-jitsu students test. Congratulations to Renshi Ricky Smith, Sensei Robert Taylor, Sensei Rickey Dease, Sonia Fields, Clay Fields, Mark Vall, Wayne Beam, and Justin McDaniel for making their next rank in Shintoyoshin-ryu Jiu-Jitsu. Hanshi said he was very pleased with our progress and thanked Mr. Price for his commitment to train our instructors.
Some
important AKANA business was decided in this historical weekend.
Mr. Piddington made it mandatory for all AOS schools to practice his
seven basic kata as written and drawn in the manuals by Ricky
Smith. Naihanchi, Sanchin, Bassai, and Empi will be left up to the
discretion of the head instructors. Also, after Living Legends,
there will be one official AKANA website, www.akana.org,
hosted and maintained by Kyoshi Dan McCall. All black belts vowed
to become AKANA members and support AKANA as a team. It was agreed
that all AKANA paperwork for school charters and promotions Now for AKANA school news. Congratulations to Mr. Melvin Stewart. Sensei Stewart was selected to the United States Martial Artist Hall of Fame in the Apprentice Master Category. He received his award from Hanshi William Rankin.
Congratulations to the Concord SideKick students who made black belt. They are Matt Barthel (Jr. Shodan), Josh Cress (Jr. Shodan), Tony Siberini (Jr. Shodan), Samantha Siberini (Jr. Shodan), and Christy Ruff (Sr. Shodan) Kyoshi Abele is hosting his 24th International Martial Arts Symposium on October 3-5 in Columbia, SC. This is an AKANA endorsed event and all training hours will go toward your next rank. There is a lineup of some awesome instructors including Kyoshi Abele, Sensei Price, Robert Bowles, Pete Rabino, Devorah Dometrich, Emil Farkas, Carl Wilcox, Dan Smith, and many more. There will be a 10% discount for all WBB members at this event. You must show your card. If you are a serious martial artist and miss this event, you are not as serious as you think you are (ha ha). If you have any questions about this event, email Sensei Price at Troysbudo@aol.com or Kyoshi Abele at OeyeC@aol.com. Also, Champion Karate & Kickboxing is hosting the 4th Annual Joe Lewis Fighting Systems Black Belt Research Conference in Wilmington, NC. The instructors will be Joe Lewis, Dr. Maung Gyi, Danny Dring, Matt Hamilton, Walt Lysak, and Mike Lee Kanarek. This is also an AKANA endorsed event. For more information email MikeAllenKarate@aol.com. The Living Legends Celebrity Roast is eight weeks away and heating up. We are confirming roasters such as Bob Wall, Joe Lewis, Jeff Smith, Howard Jackson, Joe Corley, and a few surprise celebrity guests. The Living Legends Sport Karate Seminar is stacking up with legends such as Howard Jackson, Joe Lewis, and Jeff Smith. All major martial arts magazines are covering this event. Bob Wall is giving his popular history seminar about his life with Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. Hanshi is conducting a Tomoe Test which he will open to all styles for the first time. Several martial artists have already signed up for 17 Kata Tomoe and one of Hanshi's students will perform 25 Kata Tomoe. Some of the greatest pioneers of karate will be sitting in with Mr. Piddington to observe and judge these students. If anyone is thinking about performing Tomoe, this is the best and only opportunity you will have to receive a Tomoe certificate with the signature of some of the best martial artist of our time. Also, Mike Genova will teach a Kid's Stranger Danger Safety Seminar. This weekend will be extraordinary and our AKANA history will be displayed to the world of martial arts. The Living Legends event will be a sellout. Tables are going fast. The tables will be assigned in the order that payment is received from front to back. If I promised to hold tables or seats until payment - that time is officially up. Please send all committed table money to Living Legends, PO Box 922, China Grove, NC, 28023, as soon as possible. My plans are to get a seating chart up on the website in a few weeks. If your school needs flyers or posters email me right away and I will mail them to you. Also, if you know anyone who has consistently competed and won in sport karate or kickboxing from the 1960's or early 1970's and deserves recognition at this event, please let me know. If there is someone who has competed since the 1980's and holds a major title, their name would be considered also. We have been brainstorming and researching for almost a year now. It is not too late to add someone on the Living Legends Sport Karate Award list. Remember, this is a sport karate reunion. The purpose of this event is to honor a name which is the epitome of sport karate - Jerry Piddington - and educate this generation of sport karate competitors on the pioneers that invented their sport. Wow! Sincerely,
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preparation that went into the test. A big thanks to Wayne Beam
for putting up the lights and breaking down camp and cleaning up and
mowing. A big thanks to big Doug for the water truck. A big
thanks to Dean for bringing the golf cart. A big thanks to Kay for
mowing. A big thanks to all the parents who pitched in and
helped. A big thanks to the instructors who traveled from Virginia. Roger and Chris made the sparring a highlight.
The Marines put on a great exhibition and Sensei Price did a great
exhibition as usual. The kids really enjoyed Mr. Hudnall's weapon
kata. It was a great AKANA weekend! It rained all around the
camp site Saturday, but never rained on us and God showed us a
rainbow. What a blessing.
