Last Sunday, we were invited to do a martial arts demonstration at St. Francis Assisi. A church located off of Wilmington Pike across Wallmart store. Gary Berger, who is a long time friend of mine since 1978, a member of the church, invited us to do a martial arts demo. It was both symbolic and a celebration for the church’s debt free. Many came in for the gathering for the potluck lunch and the celebration. There was plenty of food. I waited to eat after our martial arts demonstration. My “Kid’s Karate demo team” helped me do the demo.
I first met Gary at NCR who happens to be the photographer for the world NCR headquarters. I was being photographed for their worldwide newsletter. One of my feats of becoming a world champion at the early age. I was working full-time at that time and running my martial arts club in the evening three times a week. Gary went on to become a student of mine for a couple of years. He has been a friend of mine for all of these years. Gary is one of my sincere friend who I can count on for anything even on hard times. We all have that.
After the initial prayer by Pastor Tom Schmidt, the TAMA Karate kids demo team ate before our demo. And I was thinking; I hope no one gets sick during the demo. It was a beautiful day and you can tell FALL is around the corner by just looking at the trees that surround the property at St. Francis Assisi. It was a great day to have the potluck outside.
Thank you to the parents that brought these children to the church. Thank you to these children who demonstrated on Sunday. They are Christian Escobar, Riley Lombard, Ty and Jasper Wetzel, Katie Cardulla, Yuridia and Kathleen Hernandez who demonstrated their skills under the hot sun. They performed their basic Kempo drills, their kata (forms), combination sparring sets along with the Kobudo kata and self-defense. In turn, I did a couple of empty hand forms and Kobudo Bo form and jiujitsu lock flow.
I am thankful that we can do this martial art every day. God has put me in this place to mentor these wonderful and skillful Karate Kids. I am going onto my 41 years of teaching martial arts in the Dayton and surrounding communities. Thank you to all the Kid’s Karate Demo Team!