December 2012 Belt Promotions

2012 was another great year for our school. I am so appreciative to have so many committed students. I expect even bigger and better things in 2013!

Here are the people who were promoted in the final month of the year:

Aaron A: Yellow
Anya F: Yellow
Evan M: Yellow
Angus M: Orange
Ethan B: Advanced Purple
Luke N: Blue
Maxim F: Blue
Christofer L: Advanced Blue
Joseph L: Advanced Blue
Michael L: Advanced Blue
Vince B: Advanced Blue
Justin F: 3rd Degree Brown Belt

Great job everyone!

December 8th, Bradford, Pennsylvania CKF Event

On December 8th, Matt Trejo and I went to Bradford, Pennsylvania to train with my American Kenpo instructor, CKF President, Sean Kelley. Mr. Kelley taught a 2 hour seminar on Long Form 4, and broke down the finer details of Protecting Fans through to Gathering Clouds. In the second seminar, he taught Glancing Spear, Thrust into Darkness and Deceptive Panther. A special thanks goes out to Associate Professor, Michael Miller, for hosting the event.

I have uploaded a couple of pictures from the event.

Other November 2012 Promotions

In addition to those promoted to higher ranks in my last blog, the following students were also promoted at my school in November:

Peter Z: Advanced White
Cameron R: Yellow
Maria Z: Yellow
Adam G: Advanced Yellow
Madison M: Advanced Yellow
Scott B: Advanced Yellow
Noah B: Advanced Yellow
Maia G: Advanced Blue

Congratulations everyone!

November 2nd, 2012 Grading

Two weeks ago, several of my advanced students were promoted at my school in American Kenpo. The test was 2.5 hours long and consisted of forms, sets, self-defense techniques and stand-up fighting. Congratulations to all of the following students on their promotion:

Brennan: Blue Belt
Josh: 3rd Degree Brown Belt
Neal: 3rd Degree Brown Belt
Darren: 2nd Degree Brown Belt
Michael: 1st Degree Brown Belt (Children's)
Morgan: 1st Degree Brown Belt (Children's)
Dana: 1st Degree Black Belt
Chris: 1st Degree Black Belt
Ryan: 2nd Degree Black Belt

October 2012 Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students who were promoted in October:

Anya F: Advanced White
Blake L: Advanced White
Cameron R: Advanced White
Keira L: Advanced White
Madison M: Yellow
Scott B: Yellow
Harrison F: Orange
Mackenzie F: Orange
Miles B: Blue

Keep up the great work!

September 2012 Belt Promotions

Congratulations to all of my students who were promoted in American Kenpo in September:

Angus M: Advanced Yellow
Christofer L: Blue
Joseph L: Blue
Michael L: Blue
Madison S: Advanced Blue
Justin F: Advanced Green

Great job everyone.

Ryan Welsh Wins 2 Gold Medals at 2012 WKC World Championships!

Hi Everyone,

Last weekend Ryan Welsh won the Gold Medal for Canada in both Black Belt Team Forms and Black Belt Team Fighting at the WKC World Championships in Montreal, Quebec.

Ryan is an awesome role model for both children and adults and will be testing for his 2nd Degree Black Belt (Assistant Instructor) in American Kenpo November 2nd at the Berkshire Club, which is open to the public.

Congratulations Ryan!!

Jamie

Madison Seabrook Promoted to Children's Advanced Blue Belt

On September 20th, 2012, my youngest daughter Madison was promoted by me to children's advanced Blue Belt in American Kenpo. Madison began training with me back in early 2009, so she now has about 3.5 years experience in Kenpo. In addition to her martial arts skills, Madison is also a very talented soccer and hockey player and plays in competitive leagues in both sports. Way to go Madison!!

Results from the 2012 Ontario Grand Nationals

Congratulations to all five of my new students who competed in the Ontario Grand Nationals in London, Ontario, yesterday. This tournament is an elite AAA rated event with some of the best competitors around.

I would like to highlight two of my advanced students who did exceptionally well:

Ryan Welsh won 1st place in Black Belt Weapons and 2nd place in Black Belt Fighting, and then went on to win the overall Grand Championships as well! Ryan is one of the top competitors around and will be grading for his 2nd Degree Black Belt in American Kenpo on November 2nd.

In addition to Ryan's accomplishments, Dana Broadhead won 1st place in 18+ Advanced Fighting, 2nd place in 30-39 Women's Forms, 2nd place in Women's Weapons, 3rd place in 18+ Advanced Forms, and 3rd Place in 30-39 Advanced Women's Fighting. Dana is a two-time WKC World Champion, and will be testing for her 1st Degree Black Belt in American Kenpo on November 2nd.

Another great day of success!

August 2012 Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students on their recent American Kenpo belt promotions:

Scott B: Advanced White
Noah B: Yellow
Ethan B: Purple
Luke N: Advanced Purple
Maxim F: Advanced Purple
Timothy B:: Advanced Purple
Vince B: Blue
Chloe B: Advanced Blue

New Modern Arnis Video

Hi Everyone,

It has been about a year since I lasted posted a martial arts video on youtube, but here is one of my newest videos that was made just this past week. In the video clip, I break down modern single sinawali with double vs. double and single vs. double poking drills, respectively. The drills come from Modern Arnis, which is a Filipino martial arts system founded by the late Grandmaster Remy Presas, whom I had the privilege of training with and being promoted to Black Belt by, back in 1991 in East Lansing, Michigan.

My partner for this drill is one of my two, 3rd Degree Black Belts, Evan Wiley.

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJAYk5US0_w

July 2012 Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following 3 students who were promoted by me in American Kenpo this month:

Faith J: Advanced White
Jennifer B: Blue
Tiffany B: Blue

2012 Power Nationals Martial Arts Challenge

I wanted to take this time to congratulate Jennifer Brock, a Blue Belt with me in American Kenpo, who won 2nd place in Kata (Forms) at the 2012 Power Nationals Martial Arts Challenge in London, Ontario. Jenn performed Long Form 2, which she has been diligently practicing over the last several months. Congratulations Jenn!!

June 2012 Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students who were promoted at my school in June:

Evan M: Advanced White
Madison M: Advanced White
Noah B: Advanced White
Payton M: Advanced White
Angus M: Yellow
Claire H: Advanced Blue
Reese W: Advanced Blue
Jacob C: Green

2012 CKF East Coast Fall Kenpo Camp

This fall, September 7-8th, Michael Miller's Kenpo Karate Dojo,443 East Main Street, Bradford, Pa 16701, will be hosting its first annual CKF East Coast Kenpo Camp. The camp instructors include Associate Master Rainer Schulte (8th degree black belt), Senior Professor Sean Kelley (7th degree black belt), Senior Professor Rich Hale (7th degree black belt), and Associate Professor Mike Friedman (5th degree black belt).

Class times and topics:

Friday, Sept. 7

7:00– 8:30pm Instructor: Rich Hale
Topic: Technique Breakdown – Usable Combative Sequences (Part 1)

Saturday, Sept. 8

10 – 11am (Child Class)
Instructor: Sean Kelley
Topic: Stomp the Bullying

11:30am – 12:30pm Instructor: Mike Friedman
Topic: Hubud Drills as Technique Entries

Lunch Break

2:00-3:00pm Instructor: Rainer Schulte
Topic: Self-Defense/Offense Concepts and Principles

3:15 - 4:30pm Instructor: Rich Hale
Topic: Technique Breakdown – Usable Combative Sequences (Part 2)

4:30 – 6:00pm Instructor: Sean Kelley
Topic: Variable Expansion

Seminar Fee:

$140 Adults

$40 per class or $120 for all 5 classes (Juniors)

$30 Child Stomp the Bullying class

- the child class is for Little Dragons and Kenpo Kids
- Mr. Kelley will autograph the child’s belt at the end of the class.

Checks can be made out to Michael Miller.

This is a big event and space is limited so act fast.

You can register any time to save your spot.

CKF VIP Advanced Training

This past weekend, myself and a few of my students were in Bradford, Pennsylvania, training at a Chinese Karate Federation (CKF) event hosted by Associate Professor, Michael Miller. The event included 5 hours of seminars taught by CKF President, Sean Kelley. Mr. Kelley taught for 2 hours on Long Form 3, and then did a 3 hour seminar covering the following techniques: Leap from Danger, Broken Gift, Twirling Sacrifice, Kneel of Compulsion, and Intercepting the Ram. The training was intense and everyone improved their knowledge of Kenpo, both in terms of the academic stage of Kenpo, as well as the combative side.

I highly encourage all of you to to attend the next CKF training camp being held at Michael Miller's Dojo in Bradford, Pennsylvania, September 7-9th, which will include seminars by CKF Vice-President Rainer Schulte, CKF President Sean Kelley, Senior Professor Rich Hale, and Associate Professor Mike Friedman. The event is open to students of all belt ranks.

May Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students who were promoted at my school in May:

Joshua A: Yellow
Michael R: Advanced Yellow
Ethan B: Advanced Orange
Christofer L: Advanced Purple
Joseph L: Advanced Purple
Michael L: Advanced Purple
Myles B: Advanced Purple
Maia G: Blue
Claire H: Blue

WKC National Team Tryout Results

I would like to take this time to congratulate two of my students on their success at the World Karate and Kickboxing Council (WKC) National Team tryouts in Montreal, Quebec, which was held May 18-20, 2012. Ryan Welsh won the silver medal in Black Belt fighting, and Dana Broadhead won the silver medal in Advanced Forms, and the bronze medal in Advanced Fighting. The two of them have now qualified for the Canadian Team who will be competing at the WKC World Championships in October.

April Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students who were promoted at my school in April:

Angus M: Advanced White
Konrad M: Yellow
Noelle M: Yellow
Harrison F: Advanced Yellow
Jacob K: Advanced Yellow
Luke N: Purple
Maxim F: Purple
Vince B: Advanced Purple
Chloe B: Blue
Feras A: Blue
Reese W: Blue
Jacob C: Advanced Blue
Justin F: Green

World Karate & Kickboxing Council (WKC) Provincial Tryouts

This past weekend, four of my students qualified for the Canadian WKC Championships by winning at the Provincial Tryouts in London, Ontario. Ryan Welsh won 1st place in Black Belt fighting, 2nd place in Chinese Forms, and 3rd place in weapons; Dana Broadhead won 1st place in Advanced Chinese Forms and 2nd place in Advanced fighting; Jenn and Vince Brock both won 5th place in Forms, and both had to compete against Black Belts despite being Advanced Purple Belts. All four will now advance to the Canadian Championships in Saint-Hyacinth, Quebec, May 18-20th.

CKF Advanced Seminar

On Saturday, June 16th 2012, Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley will be conducting advanced seminars at Michael Miller's Kenpo Karate school in Bradford, Pennsylvania. The seminars are open to any CKF adult Green Belt or higher and will consist of 5 hours of training.

The seminars will run from 11am - 1 pm and from 2-5 pm. Topics for these seminars include Long Form 3, and the following self-defense techniques: Leap from Danger, Broken Gift, Twirling Sacrifice, Kneel of Compulsion, Intercepting the Ram, Glancing Spear, Thrust into Darkness, Deceptive Panther, Gathering of the Snakes, Dominating Circles, and Parting of the Snakes.

The cost of the event is $100 U.S. (cash only at the door).

This is an event you do not want to miss.

March Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students who were promoted in American Kenpo in March:

Joshua A: Advanced White
Michael R: Yellow
Adam G: Yellow
Mackenzie F: Advanced Yellow
Timothy B: Purple
Tiffany B: Advanced Purple
Jenn B: Advanced Purple
Maddie S: Blue
Nathan T: Green
Neal F: Advanced Green
Josh G: Advanced Green
Dana B: 1st Degree Brown Belt
Chris N: 1st Degree Brown Belt

Great job everyone!!

5th Annual Martial Arts Boot Camp

Hi Everyone,

The Dynamic Academy Of Martial Arts is hosting its 5th annual martial arts boot camp in Sarnia, Ontario, April 13-15th. The seminars run from 6-9 pm on April 13th, 9-5 pm on April 14th and 11-4pm on April 15th.

The Dynamic Academy of Martial Arts is located at 100 East Street S. in Sarnia.

Below is a list of instructors that will be teaching at the event, along with their respective seminar topics:

Dennis Tosten, 10th degree Black Belt: Arnis, Sparring, and Kenpo Theory

Mike Donovan, 9th degree Black Belt: Single Sinawali Applications, Gun Disarms

Jamie Seabrook, 6th degree Black Belt: Kickboxing, Family Groupings, Storm techniques

Rob Broad, 6th degree Black Belt: Passive Defenses, Self Defense & Canadian Law

Matt Trejo, 3rd degree Black Belt: Flow Drills, Striking Set 2

For registration, please call 519-344-3221 or 519-491-6276.
Email: info@dynamickenpo.ca
Cost: $150.00 for 15 hours of training

Michael Miller's 5th Degree Black Belt Promotion

A huge congratulations goes out to Michael Miller on his promotion on February 12, 2012 to 5th Degree Black Belt (Associate Professor) in American Kenpo under Chinese Karate Federation (CKF) President, Sean Kelley.

Since 2008, Michael and I have become close friends who train together at least 3-4 times per year. Michael runs one of the best Kenpo Karate programs in all of the United States, and is an awesome instructor and role model. I can't think of anyone more deserving of that rank.

GM Dennis Tosten Seminar

This past Sunday I attended a sparring seminar by GM Dennis Tosten in London, Ontario. Mr. Tosten taught the importance of moving just enough distance away from your attacker where you are safe from being hit, but where can still effectively counter. He also taught how to use zones of sanctuary when our opponent is attacking so that we are on a safer angle from being hit while quickly counterattacking. We worked on foot maneuvers, jabs, roundhouse kicks, hook kicks, cross punches, defense side kicks, back knuckle strikes, and even spinning back kicks.

It was great to finally see Mr. Tosten again as it had been 16 years since I last attended one of his seminars.

The seminar was also attended by three blacks from my school: Matt Trejo, Evan Wiley, and Brennan Weatherhead.

Above are a couple of pictures from the event.

January 2012 Belt Promotions

Congratulations to the following students who were promoted to their new belt ranks at my school this month:

Michael R: Advanced White
Konrad M: Advanced White
Noelle M: Advanced White
Harrison F: Yellow
Mackenzie F: Yellow
Chloe G: Yellow
Tom G: Yellow
Ethan B: Orange
Maxim F: Advanced Orange
Joseph L: Purple
Michael L: Purple
Christofer L: Purple
Miles B: Purple

Great work all of you!!

Royce Gracie Seminar, London, Ontario

Hi Everyone,

On May 5th, 2012, my good friend Simon Sherbourne is bringing UFC legend Royce Gracie to London, Ontario, at Wilfrid Jury Public School to conduct a seminar from 12-3 pm. I have had the opportunity of working with Royce before, and all I can say is that you are in for some of the best training in your life.

If you are interested in participating in this seminar, a money order in the amount of $165 Canadian can be made out to: Arts of Budo Inc.

The mailing address for the money order is:

M. L. Sherbourne C/O Arts of Budo Inc.
48 Northcrest Dr.
London, ON.
N5X 3V8

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Simon Sherbourne at:

wkkjf.budo@gmail.com

My 2011 Martial Arts Training Log

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope all of you had a great holiday season and that 2012 brings you more blessings than you've ever experienced in your life.

To kick-start 2012, I am going to post my entire 2011 martial arts training log. For several years now, I have been trying to motivate my students to log everything that they practice on a daily basis. The advantage of doing so is that it motivates one to push their training to new heights, and to ensure that each person has not neglected certain aspects of his/her training routine. I know that at least a couple of my black belts have been logging their training routines for some time as well.

Here is my training log:

Days that I practiced martial arts: 339/365
Days that I taught martial arts: 211/365
Total number of classes that I taught: 576
Days that I sparred against a quality black belt: 63
Days that I worked on SPK Knife Drills – 35
Days that I worked on kickboxing pad drills: 52
Days of weight training: 91
Pushups – 3575
Sit-ups – 3655
Biking to and from work (22 km): 23.5
Yellow Belt Freestyle Techniques: 13
Orange Freestyle Techniques: 4
Blocking Set 1 – 121
Blocking Set 2 – 46
Kicking Set 1 – 61
Kicking Set 2 – 12
Finger Set 1 – 102
Finger Set 2 – 12
Coordination Set 1 – 43
Coordination Set 2 – 12
Striking Set 1 – 30
Striking Set 2 – 13
Stance Set 1 – 103
Stance Set 2 – 42
Two Man Set – 12
Staff Set – 13
Short Form 1 – 104
Short Form 2 – 134
Short Form 3 – 100
Long Form 1 – 55
Long Form 2 – 62
Long Form 3 - 26
Long Form 4 – 17
Long Form 5 – 12
Long Form 6 – 12
Long Form 7 – 12
Long Form 8 – 12
Random Kenpo Techniques (separate from techniques below)– 4657
10 Yellow Techniques – 12
12 Orange Techniques – 12
12 Purple Techniques – 12
16 Blue Techniques – 12
20 Green Techniques – 12
20 3rd Degree Brown Techniques – 12
20 2nd Degree Brown Techniques – 12
20 1st Degree Brown Techniques – 12
20 1st Degree Black Techniques – 12
Orange Belt technique extensions – 12
Purple Belt technique extensions – 12
Blue Belt technique extensions - 12
Green Belt technique extensions - 12
Brown Belt technique extensions (CKF curriculum)- 12
Anyo Isa – 12
Anyo Dalawa – 12
Anyo Tatlo – 12
Anyo Apat – 12
12 Basic Strikes – 39
12 Basic Defenses – 15
Tapi Tapi (block, check, counter, check counter): 9
Six-count drill - 16
Trapping Hands – 5
Figure eight – 4
Reverse Figure eight – 36
Single Sinawali – 4
Double Sinawali – 3
Reverse Sinawali - 1
Single Stick Sparring – 3
Redonda - 3
Tiger and Crane – 3
Book Set – 2
Cross Path 1 – 7
Long Fist 1 – 1
Long Fist 2 – 4
Roaring Tiger - 3
Breathing Law 1 - 10
Single Dragon Short Stick - 7
Double Dragon Short Stick – 2
Wandering Dragon Staff - 9
Orr Fai Do Fa – 35
Tonfa Set 1 (NBD) – 6
Tonfa Set 2 – 1
Bando Knife Form - 8