Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

First I want to wish everyone a great holiday. Santa has been watching and I hope you've been good :) Soon it will be a new year. Time to look back at all the things that have happened and look forward to all the great things to come. Everyone has been working really hard this past year and it really shows. You all are becoming fantastic karate-ka and I'm proud of everyone of you. I also want to thank everyone who went to this years christmas party hope to see more of you next year it was a blast!

Caleb got Student of the Year(Kids) as well as both of his patches. Sonia got Most Improved(Adults) and The Spirit Award(Kids). Katie got Most Dedicated(Adults) and First Stripe Brown Belt. Brian got The Spirit Award(Adults) and First Stripe Brown Belt. Dan got Student of the Year.(Adults) Chris got his Kumade Nobushi Kyokai patch. Sensei Justin got presented his Kumade Nobushi Kyokai Black Belt Diploma. And I got presented with my Shihan Award. We also had some awards for some students who couldn't make it this year. Joshua got Most Improved(Kids) and his Kumade Nobushi Kyokai patch. And Zack got Most Dedicated.(Kids)

There was a lot of other well deserved awards for the students of Mountain Top Martial Arts. Everyone is working so hard and doing excellent. There was also a lot of high rank given out this year too. Master Dixon got his 4th in both Kumade Nobushi Kyokai and Fudoshin Kai. As well as Master Gilbert in Fudoshin Kai. Sensei Darcie got her 3rd in both Kumade Nobushi Kyokai and Fudoshin Kai. Sensei Tommy and Sensei Scott both got there 2nd in Fudoshin Kai. And Sensei O'Leary got his 1st in Kumade Nobushi Kyokai and 2nd in Fudoshin Kai. Whew! That's a lot of rank! All I can say is that I'm very proud and honored to be part of two great systems with such amazing teachers and outstanding students.

I also want to say congratulations to Caleb on his Orange Belt and Dan on his Yellow Belt. You guys both did an excellent job and should be proud of yourselves. You work hard and continue to push yourselves. You are both becoming great martial artists really fast. Keep up the good work. You make my job easy!

I just want to say that (again) I am proud of each and every one of you and we are all like a great big family. Have a happy holiday and a brand new year. Eojsensei :)

P.S I fixed it so anyone can leave comments now. I look forward to hear what you guys have to say.

"SENSEI " JUSTIN !

Finally! It seems like it's been forever. (11 years is pretty close.) Our brand new Black Belt, Sensei Justin Toporcer. After 3 long and crazy days it's finally over, you made it. You rose to the occasion and over came obstacles and no one can take that away from you. Deep down it is all about you and pushing yourself to the limit mentally and physically. Striving for perfection in everything you do. It's been a long journey so far and it is just the beginning. Now comes the hard part of the road towards mastery. It is even harder than the road toward black belt because only you know where you will end up and how long the journey will be. But never be afraid to ask for help if you need it. You have many friends along the way to help guide you. You earned this rank/title, wear it with pride and honor. Never forget where you came from and always look to the future, always moving forward never back. I am honored to call you Sensei. Congratulations! Eoj Sensei :)

FIGHT SCIENCE

Hello Again!
I just got an ad for a martial arts show on the National Geographic Channel called "Fight Science". It's going to be on Sunday, August 20th @ 9PM. I don't get the channel but if anyone does and wants to record it maybe we can have another movie night and watch it. It looks really interesting. It's going to look at all the science behind a lot of different martial arts. There is going to be a lot of great martial artists on it like James Lew,Rickson Gracie...and Dan Inosanto!
You can find out more about it at..
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience/

Pretty neat stuff :) Eojsensei

Update!

Hi Everyone sorry it's been so long since I've updated. It's been crazy!
Here are some long over due congratulations..

Great job to Joshua on his Orange Belt Test!

And excellent job to Dan on his Orange Belt Test also!

Our two new Brown Belts, Katie and Brian, did a fantastic job as well. KEEP IT UP! (Picture Coming Soon)

Everyone is doing very well and working hard.Don't get frustrated just keep on pushing yourselves and there is no telling how awesome you can become!

:) Eojsensei

Congratulations Everyone!

I have to say I'm really proud of everyone!

First we have Chris who did a fantanstic
job on his Green Belt test.

I knew you wouldn't have any problems.
Just keep on challenging youself without
being too hard on yourself either.
The next test's the killer! :)

Then we have Dan, Zack and Daniel.
You guys did outstanding at Grant's Tournament!


Dan placed 1st for Self-Defense, 1st in Sparring,
and 2nd for Kata. Zack placed 1st for Kata,
2nd in Self-Defense, and 3rd in Sparring.
And Daniel placed 2nd in Weapons, and 3rd
in Sparring. You guy's kicked butt!

You should be proud of yourselves, you all did
great, especially the two Dans on their first tournament.
And Zack for holding onto his "title".

I'm proud of all my students and I'm so glad you take

pride in yourself and your school.

P.S. I also want to give a "shout-out" to Katie and Brian

who where such good/bad guy's Eojsensei :)

Dan Inosanto / JKD

Hey Everyone.
Dan Inosanto is one of Bruce Lee's oldest students and the one who Bruce Lee wanted to pass on his concept of Jeet Kune Do.He is a brilliant martial artist and really knows how to teach.I found a google video of him talking about various martial arts and ideas.
I found it to be very interesting. It's a little long but well worth it!
For those who didn't know Bruce Lee was a huge influence on me when I started the martial arts, he was way ahead of his time and you can see it in his student Dan Inosanto.
Here is the link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8676886721845918930&q=jeet+kune+do&pl=true
Enjoy! :) Eojsensei

Shoalin/Kung Fu/JuJitsu Man

Hey Everyone.
Here is yet another link to some Martial Arts videos.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Eric+Mattingly+
The link will take you to 3 Google Videos of a guy named Eric Mattingly.
Video #1 and #3 are good but #2 isn't that great.I think some of the takedowns and throws are pretty neat and some of the bo stuff he does is good too.I like to see different takes on self-defense and martial arts.The takedowns with the leg-scissors are pretty neat but not very practical but still nicely done.
Just something different to see...Hope you enjoy them.

P.S.I added a picture below of Sonia after getting her Green Belt sorry it's a little late :) Eojsensei

Way to Go Sonia!

I want to say excellent job to our newest green belt at Sembach, Sonia Toporcer. I'm very proud at how well you did during your test.
Welcome to the next level,it just gets harder from here :)
All the students are doing extremely well. I hope to see you all one day share all that YOU know with others to help our system and school grow.


OK! New Monday class starts March 6th.Taught by the great Master Yurkin!I recommend you learn everything you can from him (I know I'm still trying too!)
He will have Self-Defense from 6:00-7:00pm and Sparring from 7:00-8:00pm every other Monday. Everyone's invited.
One last thing...
If anyone wants to see a really cool and funny show that has Martial Arts
in it you definitely need to watch "Avatar.The Last Airbender"
I'm not sure what time it comes on TV but I just bought the first DVD and
it has a cool section about the different Martial Arts they use in the show.
Definitely check it out! :) Eojsensei

New Schedule Starts Now!

Hi everyone!The new schedule starts this Feb.The main classes are:
Morning Class- Tues.Wed.Thurs. (10-12) and Sat.(10-11)
Kids Class- Wed. Thurs. (5:30-6:30)
Adults Class- Wed. Thurs. (6:30-8:00)
Open Class- Wed. Thurs. (8:00-8:30)
Possible Monday and Tuesday Classes soon to be announced.
Here is yet another quick site with some information about
Kenwa Mabuni and some characteristics of Shito Ryu Karate-Do.
Check it out and tell me what you think about it :) Eojsensei
http://www.karate.butsu.net/hpage28.html

Official Shito Ryu Site

Here is another good link to the official Shito Ryu Karate-Do website.It has a lot of good info on history,terminology,and katas.Be sure to check out the "cyber academy" and watch the kata videos.They have a couple that we do and you could see some of the differences. I like to look around online and in books and videos to see a lot of different takes on the martial arts.There is always something new you could learn.
http://www.shitokai.com/index.php
Eojsensei :)

KungFu Science...Learning is FUN!

Hello Again.I found this link the other day about Karate Breaking and physics.It just so happens that I was going over breaking with the class the other day, thought this was interesting and maybe could explain things a little better than me. Take a look :)
http://www.kungfuscience.org/
Eojsensei

Welcome!

Hey, I'm just checking things to see if this works.
So bare with me if this is stupid :) Eojsensei