| . The Maestro passes on..DR. PETER URBAN, America's first 10th dan & the
beloved Founder of U.S. GOJU died at his home in New Jersey on April 7th after a
long bout with Cancer. According to sources, his final act was a "Lion like "
roar to heaven to announce to his peers and teachers that he was on his way .A
Man who was "bigger than life", MAESTRO URBAN epitomized everything that a great
teacher should be. He was a great friend & member of this Council. Please
remember him in your prayers. I would also ask that you extend your condolences
to his Daughter, Julia Urban Kimmerley at 522 Delsea Dr., Sewell, NJ. USA 08080;
E-mail address BKRockit2u@yahoo.com along with any monetary contributions you
can give. As many of you know, the Maestro was not a rich man & much of the
expense connected with his cremation is still unpaid for. Your donations would
help his Daughter defray some of this cost. THANK YOU.
In honor of my late great friend, the AMERICAN LION OF GOJU, PETER URBAN, there
will be NO PHOTOS in this newsletter to detract from his passing as we relate
the news of our Council members below. Instead, I would ask that you REMEMBER
HIM IN YOUR MIND AS YOU WOULD CHOOSE TO REMEMBER HIM. I believe the Maestro
would have wanted it that way.
In our "DID YOU KNOW THAT..." section..MAESTRO URBAN's birth date has been given
incorrectly over the years..He was BORN on the 14th of August, NOT the 15th per
correspondence that he faxed to me on August 15, 1996…He attributed the
incorrect date to the Koreans & Gosei Yamaguchi followers in California
disliking the fact that his Birthday fell on V-J Day ("Victory over Japan
Day")..
A tribute was paid to MAESTRO PETER URBAN at Shihan Al Gotay's 15th ALL GOJU RYU
URBAN CUP INVITATIONAL KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS on April 25th at the John Jay
College of Criminal Justice in New York...Also, giving tribute to MAESTRO URBAN
on that day was GRANDMASTER GARY ALEXANDER at his Annual I.A.M.A. 2004 KARATE,
TKD, KUNG-FU CHAMPIONSHIPS in New Jersey. During that event, GRANDMASTER
ALEXANDER was also presented with an AMERICAN PATRIOT Award from our Council.
GRANDMASTER RON BALAS' Dad also passed away recently after years of declining
health..Please send your condolences to RON at
ronbalas@GBRonline.com Our
sincerest sympathies over your loss, RON..
HANSHI SID CAMPBELL of California appeared February 14th on the "on the Edge"
Internet Radio Show hosted by Datu Kelly S. Worden. You can hear his archived
radio interview by going to www.kellyworden.com and clicking on "On the Edge
Radio"..
In other media news, are own GRANDMASTER RICHARD HACKWORTH of Ocoee, Flordia was
recently signed to a 156 show deal to appear on the "BANG" TV Show to be
broadcast on UPN & Fox Television. RICHARD also hosts his own award winning
weekly radio show called MARTIAL ARTS SUCCESS for the MARTIAL ARTS RADIO NETWORK
based in Florida.....
On April 18th..GRANDMASTER JOHN PELLEGRINI of COMBAT HAPKIDO became the first
American in history to receive 9th dan certification from the WORLD KI-DO
FEDERATION / HANMINJOK HAPKIDO ASSOCIATION. The promotion was presented by
Grandmaster In Sun Seo at the 4th International Martial Arts Competition &
Masters Exhibition in Busan, Korea...
The Philippine Government will also be presenting GRANDMASTER BRAM FRANK with
recognition of his CSSD-COMBAT ARNIS as an official branch of MODERN ARNIS. BRAM
was also one of the designers of the new official USMC Bayonete which was
recently featured on the cover of "Tactical Knives" Magazine.
SHIDOSHI STEPHEN HAYES of Ohio wrote to say that he is being featured in an
upcoming DISCOVERY CHANNEL "UNSOLVED HISTORY SHOW" on June 2nd. The show is a
one hour special on the Ninja art of Japan featuring AN-SHU STEPHEN HAYES, his
Wife, Rumiko & their Hombu school in Ohio...Be watching for it!
GRANDMASTER CRIMI of California was recently made a Representative for the
European JuJutsu/ JuJitsu Union & was part of the Honors Committee for the WBI
JUJITSU WORLD CUP held in Paris, France, May 29th & 30th.
MASTER BEN BERWERF, Founder of TORI RYU JUJITSU & Head of the U.S. JUDO
ASSOCIATION'S JUJITSU DIVISION wrote to say that he has retired after 50 years
of work to Charleston, South Carolina. BEN will be spending his time jogging on
the beach & teaching week-end clinics throughout the U.S...Ah, the good life!
GOOD FRIEND, GRANDMASTER LOU ANGEL celebrates his 50th Anniversary in the
martial arts with a special weekend of seminars, tournament competition & a
banquet dinner on June 4th -5th in Joplin, Missouri. ...
SIJO ADRIANO EMPERADO celebrates his 78th Birthday during a special banquet at
the KAJUKENBO SELF-DEFENSE INSTITUTE, INC's ANNUAL K.S.D.I. OPEN MARTIAL ARTS
TOURNAMENT & SEMINAR slated to take place at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in
Las Vegas, Nevada, July 9th - 10th. GM. DECHI EMPERADO will be hosting the
event.
HANSHI J.R. RUIZ's 18th ANNUAL IKKU SUMMER CAMP takes place June 4th - 6th at
Oxford College in Atlanta, Georgia..
SHIHAN KEVIN BLOK, Founder of the CHUDOKAI AIKIDO FEDERATION
INTERNATIONAL & WKF Director of Aikido in Canada wrote to say that he also the
Founder and Director of ON GUARD - CONTROL & SELF-DEFENSE TACTICS SYSTEMS &
Chief Defensive Tactics Instructor for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the
Canadian Police College in Ottawa, Canada..
Judoka pioneer, SHIHAN EDWIN MALEY has another award to add to his long list of
accolades...He was presented with a "2004 FAVORITE SONS & DAUGHTERS" Award from
the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners in Florida on April 28th
..CONGRATULATIONS, PROFESSOR!
DR. RIC BLACK has a new website for his latest DVD on Cyclist defense called
CYCLIST DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC...He is also looking for National, Regional & State
Representatives for his United States Police Defensive Tactics Association which
he Founded in 1979. You can access his websites at
http://cyclistdefense.com &
http://uspdta.com for more information on both.
GRANDMASTER JURG ZIEGLER of Switzerland e-mailed to say that he has been busy
teaching the Cambodia Police & Army units in Phnom Penh & has published two new
pocket size training manuals in German & English on GUO LO WING CHUN KUNG-FU/
PIN SAN KUNE. For more information, you can contact
JURG at asiatop@compuserve.com
GRANDMASTER SAM KUOHA of KARAHO KEMPO wrote to say that Daughter, SENSEI KA'IMI
is featured in a National "Drug Free America" Commercial ..So, be watching for
it!
Received a DVD from our member, SIFU JOHNNY WU of Ohio who was mentioned in our
last newsletter as being one of the "movers & shakers" of martial arts in the
Ohio area. Aside from his martial arts activities, he is also a film maker with
a number of short films on the festival circuit to his credit. You can view his
work at www.mdifilm.com or
www.mdifilm.com/thechase .
Lastly in International news, I hope that all of you are planning to attend our
next Annual Meeting/ Seminar Symposium/ International Hall of Fame Banquet
slated for September 3rd -4th in Orlando, Florida..It's like a family reunion of
your peers.. DON'T MISS OUT ON THE GREAT KARMA (FEELING) THAT IS A PART OF THIS
ANNUAL EVENT!
In our "New Members" department..Nominated by our International Screener, SOKE
EDDIE BADIANG of Hawaii, we have PROFESSOR JAIME ABREGANA JR. of the HAWAII
MARTIAL ARTS INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY in Ewa Beach, Hawaii..WELCOME TO OUR COUNCIL
OF THE WORLD'S MARTIAL ARTS ELITE, PROFESSOR JAIME!
In the media this month (magazines currently on the newsstands as of this
writing)... The July issue of BLACK BELT Magazine features a tribute to the late
MAESTRO PETER URBAN, Black Belt's 2004 Man of the Year with remarks by DON WARRENER & RON VAN CLIEF; GRANDMASTER BILL WALLACE's
"FULL CONTACT" Column; A
review of MASTER JACKIE CHAN's video "City Hunter"; an article by GRANDMASTER
GEORGE ALEXANDER; & News release on GRANDMASTER RICHARD HACKWORTH's new TV deal
with "Bang" TV...The May issue of INSIDE KUNG-FU features an article on LIMA
LAMA with TUUMAMAO "TINO" TUIOLOSEGA & an article on MASTER JACKIE CHAN's new
restaurant called JACKIE'S KITCHEN in Hawaii..Lastly, TAEKWONDO TIMES May issue
features mentions of the INTERNATIONAL KWANMUKAN SYMPOSIUM held recently in Ohio
by GRANDMASTER GEORGE ANDERSON; a KONG SHIN BUP Seminar with GRANDMASTER RUDY
TIMMERMAN held in Northern Ontario, Canada; the appointment of Mr. Greg Walker
in San Francisco, California as "Special Military Tactics Instructor" for MODERN FARANG MUL SUL by its Founder, GRANDMASTER MICHAEL DE ALBA; the appointment of
Daniel Brankline as Vice President of GRANDMASTER ROBERT H. WILLIAMS' MAKOTO RYU
AIKI JUJITSU Organization; and an article by YOURS TRULY on SAN-JITSU Rolling
techniques..
Well this concludes our issue for this bi-monthly period of April - May. As
always, remember to send in your newsworthy items for publication & in the
meantime, stay "aggressive" & "fair" in all you do until next time!......Since
we did not have enough space to print our new Master membership in this issue,
we will have the names posted to our Website at
http://Bushido.org/whfsc . So,
be watching for this new addition in the near future! |
