Hello All from the Boulder School of Self Defense, BSSD. First of all, we moved into our new dojo earlier this year. Boy, what an improvement over the previous two that I've experienced in my eight years with the program. The floors are padded; we have a sitting area for visitors; ample bathroom facilities, including a shower; even a small kitchen with a micro-wave oven. But most importantly we have about 1000 square feet of workout space. It sure makes recruiting much easier.

Our school has grown over the past several months(we are up to 10 students). Four new students have recently joined: Sumanth Channabasappa, Dan Havey, Marijke Unger, and Yaga Beres. We also welcome back Gokyu Mark Cohen who took a needed leave of absence for a couple of years. He is back and jumping into the fray. We have two new Green Belts: Deb Miller and Jamie Riggs; 2 new Orange Belts: Jim Churnside and Sumanth Channabasappa; and two new Yellow Belts: Shelby Thompson and Dan Havey. Congratulations to all of you for your accomplishments. You have done what many people only wish they could do, and that is to extend yourselves a little beyond your comfort zone to learn and grow as individuals.

BSSD, in partnership with DART, has also conducted a couple of self-defense classes over the past 6 months. Master Dusenbery is the lead instructor. He is assisted by Sempai Joanne Edwards and Gokyu Deb Miller. The first had four participants, one of whom was my uncle who was visiting from Bermuda at the time. The second class was attended by 18 moms and their daughters, ages 11 and older. Thanks deb Miller for helping recruit so many enthusiastic partticipants. It is very gratifying to see the expressions on their faces when they learn how to escape from a simple wrist grab, or if grabbed or approached from the front, what a simple "open the door" or "swat the fly" technique can do. The "natural motions" techniques were created by Yondan Wilkewitz and have been used successfully in his very successful eight-hour class. The next classes are scheduled for September 23 and 24, and October 28 and 29.

The Tiger Line Advance Class just completed its annual Advance Retreat, Sept. 5-7, led by Yondan Tom Thompson. It was held in Estes Park, Colorado, beside the roaring Big Thompson river. We broke with tradition and retreated to a condo instead of camping out, which gave us more time to cover lots of good material. Our meditations were massaged by the soothing sound of the flowing river. Seven students attended: 5 Black Belts and 2 Brown Belts. The theme of the retreat was "Integration and Soft Power". Topics presented were Fear, Soft Power, What does it mean to be an Advance Student in our Art, and Chi Gung. The presentations were very well done and created lots of discussion. We had a good solid 8 hours of workout, including Advance Basics, Kata, Chi Sao, Knife and Club, and our favorite, sparring, including tips on refereeing and judging. By Saturday night, everyone was ready for a good shower and hearty dinner. In addition to the serious stuff, we also had fun. What good is an association if we cannot associate on more than one level. We each have a great deal to offer, and some of the best sharing is done in an informal or relaxed atmosphere. Good job Tiger Line students for a wonderful Advance Retreat, 2003.

We are currently working on the BSSD web site. The effort is led by Sumanth, who has taken copious pictures of events in the dojo.

Deb Miller getting ready to get it done on her Green Belt test!	Deb Miller getting it done on her Green Belt test!
But she can't be the only one having fun!

Another summer has passed that we can all say we survived here in Fort Collins. Especially for Jordana Briggs who can say she survived the intermediate ranks and passed through the gates into our Advanced ranks this past August. Congradulations to our new Sankyu. As we searched for a place to study our art we made our home in the local Rolland Moore Park the past few months. It looks like that will soon change as we have a few good leads for a dojo space heading into fall. (Thank goodness!) Our recent promotions have been Chad Anonson and Dan Gearheardt our new Yonkyus, Ryan Pappert and Monica Shah, our new Gokkyus, Trevor Anonson and Zeb Holbrook our orange belts, and congrats to our large number of yellow belts. They all make a great (and large) part of our dojo. We truly are blessed for our growing number of students and the variety in rank.

Sensei Dan Wilkewitz once again successfully held another Women's Self Defense course in which we had a large number of active participants. Thanks to Robin and Sensei Dan for their time and their energy for helping these ladies out and our assisant helpers as well.

With our recent advance retreat our advanced students will hope to bring back our lessons and incorporate them into our own art as well as the entire class's. We look forward to our fall and winter season as we hope it will be filled with just as much if not more excitement as the spring and summer has brought and hopefully we will have a new dojo to call home.

Fall is here and exciting things are happening at the Dragon Warrior Dojo. We have just ended our Summer semester and are getting started with the new Fall semester. Our non-credit class has fifteen students and there are five in our credit class this fall. Six of these students are new while the rest are returning from the spring and summer classes. This is our best retention of students over semester break so far. We also have just successfully completed our first yellow belt testing with two of our students.

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The Mountainview Academy of Self Defense has held steady at six students through the summer months.

Cody Crim was successful in his effort to attain the rank of Yon-kyu, Purple belt, so he is now the senior student and Nick Heilman is making BIG noises about being a Purple belt after October 9th (we'll have to see if the dreaded "Sensei-itis" strikes that night).

Jared Avey became our newest Orange belt.

Go-Kyu Randy Freidlander has returned from a summer of fighting forest fires in the Inland Northwest with tales of doing his katas on mountain trails during breaks.

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Hello from the Personal Protection Agency of Tyler, TX. Here, the summer heat slowly fades to a warm fall and we know the leaves will be changing soon. Our numbers dwindle usually during the summer but around this time old faces tend to reappear and new faces always seem to make themselves known. We did have people promoted in the recent months and we are proud to announce Darrel Gillespie made his orange belt,Michelle Loftin achieved her green belt and Shaun Smith made his San Kyu while Shodan Ho Michael George tested and past his certification for Shodan.

Over the past several months, Yondan Bushue put a considerable amount of time in to learning the Japanese terms for a large number of the techniques in karate. He implemented them slowly as not to overwhelm any one and we all have more to learn. Like wise, as a class we have explored a classical routine of opening and closing etiquette that really focuses on respect as well as introspection at the beginning and end of practice. We look forward hearing the news from around the association and hope all of our karate family does well throughout the year.

New Class Announcement: For those of you who just can't get enough: Black Belt Rick Downs will be running a new class at the Rose School of Karate on Monday evenings beginning August 11, 2003. In addition to standard class material, Mr. Downs has also been approved to teach forms up through and including NiFanchi Ich, so if you need assistance you now have a great opportunity! As always, students of other local C&S clubs are welcome to stop in and participate.

This is something Mr. Downs has wanted to do for himself as opposed to my asking him, so it's his deck! He is free to organize workouts in whatever way he sees best to meet the needs of those who come in - so take advantage of this terrific opportunity to expand your training. Mr. Downs will continue to train with us on Thursday evenings as he has for the past 5 years (after taking a 20 year break from an initial 2 years training back in the 1980's). He brings a lot of life experience to his position besides just teaching "the moves". He trains daily in his specially converted home karate club, and is an example to all of hard work and dedication consistent with what is expected of a good martial artist.

Mr. Downs also heads our Early Bird organization and continues to run the early Sunday morning class as he has done for many years. Take advantage of that as well. What better way to start the day than outside by the ocean doing forms and practicing your art! A little brisk in the dead of New England Winter, but he prefers to think of it as "refreshing". For more information, contact Mr. Downs at: graydogs74@aol.com.

Watch her go! Congratulations to Mary Faron-French who only took 13 classes to go from a dead stop to Orange Belt! Mary is on a mission: After going through our basic self defense class, she made a commitment to intense training. She and her husband leave in mid October for the winter and she wanted to get as close to Green Belt as she could and she came really close! She is hoping to test during a short visit in November. Mary is also an artist, and we got her to allow us to show you her painting "Opressed Women of the Middle East" —

Grandmaster Rose has been stdying the cane under CaneMaster Yondan Bruce Vinciguerra of the Somersworth School of Self Defense and has in turn been training Nidan James Nancarrow of the Northwood School of Self Defense and Pending Black Belts Scott Williams and Rick Downs of the Rose School of Karate. There is always something new to learn and exciting to do! Even the "old dogs" can learn new tricks!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome back an old friend and former student, David Duquenne. David trined with me for a couple of years back in the early 1980s. He was just getting ready to test for 3rd Degree Brown Belt, but his job committments forced him to discontinue his training. But after 23 years he has returned. And I'll tell you all this: though he didn't remember most of the drills or forms, his Sanchin was outstanding, and the power and precision of his basics was like he had never left. When I say I teach fundamentals and they stick, believe it! Welcome back, David. Now we can get back to some of those backgammon marathons we used to have!

And speaking of backgammon, there has been quite a bit of interest in the game since Grandmaster and David started banging heads over the board at Applebee's resturant Thursday's after class. Purple Belt Andy Benjamin, Green Belt Mike Houdek, and Pending Black Belt Scott Williams have all been to battle. Not to be left behind, Pending Black Belt Rick Downs learned how to play one night, bought a book, and has been bloodied up several times already. And Nidan James Nancarrow may very well jump in here as well, though he has a pretty early call in the morning for work; Grandmaster and David Duquenne are asked to leave so the crew can close Applebee's up!

Greetings from the beautiful Lakes Region Of New Hampshire!

The ever evolving Sachem School has added a third day of classes. In addition to classes on Tuesday and Thursday, The Sachem School now offers Saturday morning classes. Keep your eyes open for the new Sachem web site soon to be unveiled.

My thanks to all who attended and made the Sankyu test in June a rousing success.

Finally, my congratulations to the following Sachems on their promotions:

• Tom Reneau - Nikyu
• Amanda Maguire - Rokokyu
• Kelci Honeycut - Shichikyu
• Ken Powell - Shichikyu
• Taylor Derepentigny - Shichikyu

Shadow Dragon Karate Guild is happy to announce that we are under construction! I am in the process of remodeling a house that my fiancée and my self have recently purchased. I will be teaching out of my basement as soon as construction is complete sometime in late October. Right now enrollment is unfortunately at zero but with a little hard work and some perseverance we should be rolling right along.....

We have had cause to celebrate growth in our school, growth of our students, personal celebrations and loss over the past few months.

In May, we were saddened by the loss of our friend and fellow martial artist - David Kelly. We first came to know David when he started at the Rose School of Karate many years ago. Although he later separated from the school, martial arts was his life and he eventually started his own school - The Eagle's Nest Dojo - in Portsmouth NH. David later became associated with Cane Masters - a self defense system based on the common cane. Mr. Kelly also rekindled his association with C&S through his ongoing friendship with Sensei Vinciguerra. When Sensei Vinciguerra injured his knee, he turned to Mr. Kelly and began to study the cane with him and earned the rank of Black Belt in the Cane Masters System under Mr. Kelly . Sensing a need for better training material in the cane system, Sensei began to develop a manual detailing the basic techniques of the Cane System. Working with Sandan Tim House and Mr. Kelly, he was able to create a new manual that was met with extreme excitement by the head of the Cane Masters system - Master Mark Shuey Sr. This led to the realization of a personal goal of Sensei Vinciguerra when his book was professionally published by Master Shuey. For his work and dedication with the cane and the depth and breadth of material in the manual, Master Shuey promoted Sensei Vinciguerra to Canemaster. It is also important to recognize Mr. David Kelly for his participation on the book as well his occasional participation in our classes. For his depth of knowledge of himself, his Art and his way, Mr. Kelly was promoted, posthumously, to the rank of Shodan in the C&S Association by Sensei Vinciguerra. [For more information on Cane Masters, check out http://www.canemasters.com]

Over the past summer months we have been fortunate to have 3 new students start their martial arts journey with us. We welcome the brother and sister team of Eric and Sarah Plant as well as Amanda Pokrzywinski to our school.

On June 4th we were invited to the Sachem School in Laconia, NH. A few of our students participated in Tom Reneau's Brown Belt Exam. We would like to congratulate Tom on his double promotion to NiKyu. We would also like to thank our host, Sandan Russ Jones, for his gracious hospitality.

We are also excited to announce the promotion of Arthur Souriolle to the rank of IkKyu. Arthur, a member of the Marine Reserve was also recently promoted to Tan Belt in the United States Marine's Martial Art's program. Way to go Arthur! We are glad you are on our side!! In July, our two resident IkKyu's, Marty Richter and Arthur Souriolle were treated to an Advanced Student Retreat led by Nidan Holman. The brain cells and the muscles had quite a workout that weekend! (Catch the double front kicks below) Hopefully we'll see some petitions for Pending Black in the near future!

Lastly, we would like to recognize some significant personal celebrations. We would like to congratulate Becky Stuart and her husband Jim, the proud new parents of baby Audrey (pictured below). Audrey was born on June 17 and came into the world weighing 7 lbs 6oz. We would also like to congratulate Chris Grover and his new wife Coleen as well as congratulate Josh Grover and his new wife Melody. Chris, a Purple Belt, and Josh, a Green Belt, are brothers who had two distinctly different wedding ceremonies over the summer. It was an honor to share in the excitement of the first day of their new lives.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Marty Richter for putting together a surprise dinner for our school at which Sensei Vinciguerra formally declared Nidan Holman as the Sempai of the school. During the dinner, Sensei Vinciguerra and Sempai Holman were both presented certificates of achievement from C&S for reaching a milestone of twenty years in the martial arts.

In mid August it was discovered that Sempai Holman had a blockage in one of the arteries of his heart. Sempai had to undergo a procedure to implant a stent to open up the blocked artery. I am happy to report that Sempai is on the mend and we wish him well with his recovery. Be sure to read Sempai Holman's article on his experiences in the Views page.

Finally, the SSOSD finished up the summer activities by attending a party at the home of Sandan Tim House. Sandan House is the Sensei of our sister school, Tai Chien Dojo. We all had a great time; Thank you Sandan House.

It has been a great year so far and we look forward to many more exciting challenges and opportunities in the year to come.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying the autumn season. We have had a nice leaf display this year, after two disappointing years due to lack of rain. I had the pleasure of making my usual Sunday morning appearance at Yondan Larison's annual camp-out. The attendees were treated to a raging storm the night before and at one point had to retreat from the tents to their vehicles for shelter. Conditions were a bit muddy for my presentation on recovering from unfavorable tactical positions, and I accidentally propelled Yondan Larison head over heels into the mud. But otherwise we had a good time as usual. We are now entering the hectic holiday season and our time will be taken up by many projects, events, traditions, that will tend to keep us out of our normal routines. This is a time when our Art is therefore often similarly neglected. Remember that we are who we are because of our dedication to our Art. To varying degrees it is a great part of what defines us. So remember to take the time to continue your studies, even when time is in such short supply. Just think if you do this, on January first you will not have " Start back working on Karate" on your resolution list.

Another year has nearly passed us by, man how time flies. After a warm summer we're moving into the most beautiful time of the year, the fall. With the turning of the leaves and the cool night it's a wonderful time to appreciate and admire nature.

The highlight of our summer was our annual class campout. All the students enjoyed the fishing, swimming and setting around the campout. Although we had to deal with a little rain, we all stayed dry for the most part. The lakeside proved to be a most excellent place for our early morning sanchin and meditation. Master Landers was kind enough to attend the Sunday morning class at campsite, and shared some close in fighting techniques with us.

I would like to announce the promotion of Thomas Waldhoff and Stephen Austin to the rank of Nikyu, along with Curtis Roley to the rank of Sankyu. These brown belts are an important asset to our class. They handle a large part of the teaching responsible, as any brown belts should. Class time wouldn't go so smooth with out there help.

JOB WELL DONE

Since the last newsletter a lot has happened. Tai Chien Dojo grew to four students. Tony Houde was promoted to Rokukyu and Jeremy Beek to Shichikyu. They are both working hard for their next promotion and enjoying their current rank as well. Stacy Beek (Yonkyu), Jeremy's wife, is expecting soon and we wish them the best. She tells us that she will be in class, working out, as soon as she is able because she wants to be a Brown Belt.

This past August marked the first anniversary of the existence of Tai Chien Dojo. A party was held for this occasion and also made it the "end of the summer" party as well. Students from Somersworth School of Self Defense had joined us and are happy to have them. Cindy was in charge of the activities, which included a three legged race, nylon removal from the head, egg on a spoon race and tennis ball transfer from person to person. Sensei was the cook - "burgs" and "dogs." Everyone had a great time and look forward to next year.

Beginning 9/22/03 Tai Chien Dojo will be having classes on Mondays and Tuesday. This is one more night a week so that the students are able to workout together and receive instruction.

Tony Houde volunteered to be the program photographer and, with his skills in web designing, hopefully create a good looking website for Tai Chien Dojo. We will let you all know when the website is complete.