NEWS from the AKaTo
Promotions at Richardson YMCA.
Nam Seo Kwan Tae Kwon Do held an exam on August 21. Passing to first brown was Austin Brown. Miles Chrietzberg earned his first dan black belt and Caleb Skipper was promoted to second dan. See the photo gallery page for pictures from the test. Congratulations to these three young men.
Merhout Dojo Exam Results
Ysabel Merhout held an exam on August 1st. Passing to blue strip was Emily Davis. New blue belts are Valerie, Abbie and Ammie Cisnero (all granddaughters of a proud Mrs. Merhout). See the photo gallery.
JuJitsu Exam Results
Duane Ethington’s Iss Hogai Jujitsu held an exam on Saturday, July 24. Congratulations to these students.
Orange Belt: Jose Gonzales
Brown Belt: Jesse Reyna, Willie Burgess, Viola Prieto, Haley Banks, Sara Prieto, Anna Prieto
Gospel Martial Arts
Troy Dorsey, William Shelton, Duane Ethington and Steve Selby headlined the regional conference of the Gospel Martial Arts Union on July 17. Almost 40 students benefitted from the excellent teaching from these well-known martial artists (See the photo gallery page). Lunchtime speaker was Dr. Todd Bradley from Dallas Theological Seminary who addressed the topic, “Does the Bible teach we are to be pacifists?”
Keith D. Yates is the Chairman of this international organization and their big annual conference is in November in Indianapolis. Go to www.gmau.org for more details on the event in Indiana.
U.S. Championships
Several AKATO students and black belts participated in the U.S. Championships on June 19. See Mr. Yates’s blog for his take on the activities.
May 8th Iss Hogai Exam
Making 2nd Black: Chris Houtchens
Making 1st Black: Scott Rose, Robbie Steed and Milton Garcia
Making Red Belt: Bobby Blakey, Mike Garcia, David Arehart, Elisabeth Garlington, Yogi Ybarra and Joseph Ybarra.
The board consisted of Duane Ethington, Mark Wendell, Keith Ince, Elam Fontenot, and Austin Henry.
The night before, Mark Wendell held a TKD test down in Louisiana and Elam Fontenot made 3rd Black and Austin Henry made 3rd Black.
April 17th Black Belt Exam
The Richardson YMCA hosted a big black belt exam where five exhausted new black belts celebrated the culmination of a year’s long journey. Andrew Hollon, David Burford, Steve Servin, Paul Montgomery and Bill Cleary all earned their first degrees. They had worked long and hard with several AKATO instructors including Caroline Goodspeed, Ceaser Johnson, Lyman Roark, Max Rodriguez, Tim Looney, Keith Yates and many others. Actually the journey for these dedicated martial artists has only begun.
The day also featured three yidan (second degree black belt) exams. Each candidate had to show a “specialty” demonstration as well as write a formal paper on their topic. Steve Lincoln, who has been studying kung fu, demonstrated forms and chi kung (internal power) exercises. Rob Whapham showed kata from the four major martial arts countries of Korea, Japan, China and Okinawa. Alex Brown, a high school student, demonstrated self-defense in a public school setting. See the photo page for pictures from the day.
Mr. Yates also presented two higher dan promotions. Tim Looney is now a fourth degree black belt and Bob Woerner was promoted to seventh dan. Congratulations to all these fine martial artists.