A very humbling moment in my life:

Big news from the Headquarters: Senior Grandmaster Al Tracy announced my promotion to Kudan, meaning 9th Degree Black Belt - September 26, 2013. He said that the unwavering faithfulness to the system, contributions for which it stands, and longevity of martial arts practice brought this honor to me. I am proud to have earned this honor to give you, my students of the past, present and future, all something to be a part and proud of as well. A very long journey . . .

The Tiger Set

Lesson for the night of September 26, 2013

Tonight besides the regular bag workout, we will working on break falls again to review and to make them a reflex. In my life I have seen two falls that could maybe have saved the life of one person and another who might have not hit his head. All it takes is practice. This will be extremely useful for youths as one never knows with all the activities that they do, when, not if they will fall.

I may have some new item to teach out of the ordinary if you had not thought of this in terms of self defense. Catch ya later. :)

Started a basic introduction to self defense with regards to being around or in the water. Mainly to  start understanding the theories, how they are with respect to adrenaline, your natural reactions and/or fears of the water.

Tonight's Class September 19, 2013

     We will start the class with a bag portion, heavy workout then work on a couple of streetwise self-defense techniques that are not covered within the curriculum; however, its application is derived from a  combination of several of our techniques:  A couple of my instructors know of these and they will help you to practice and learn them. Also with our new students we will review the basics to falling for preparation to ground defense. We will finish with new techniques for your advancement.
     Be sure to bring in any friends to introduce them, as you can see by the news etc that Springfield is not getting to be a "friendlier" city. I am being more cautious of my surroundings thankful I know what I do. I would hate to have to walk around with blinders on and hope I am not the next target.
     The children's portion will include a continuation of their Kata and basic requirements for advancement to their next level.

Japanese Fall Festival September 6-8, 2013

     We had the honor of being invited to perform our 9th annual demonstration as Tracy's Karate Studios. As always we draw a very nice crowd and this year we, as we have in the past couple of years, have changed some approaches, made additions and in general got the audience fired up and into our presentation. We added the kubaton and the cane defense techniques to demonstrate to the audience simple everyday items that can be used for defense. My instructors, who are as my brothers, were phenomenal and made me very proud of them. I know that my legacy is in good hands. Truly this year was our best one yet.
     Some pictures will be posted here shortly.