Greetings Everyone: Happy Holidays & Happy New Year. I wish everybody the best for the new year. 2013 is gone already and another year is upon us. 2013 was a good year for us and we accomplished everything we set out to do for the year.

The new ISKKF Honbu Dojo in Philmont, New York continues to attract visitors for training as well as maintaining a training schedule for our students who live locally. Our regularly scheduled classes are in karate, kickboxing, Asian Fitness and jujitsu. Additionally, we organized and held our Summer Camp and seminars in Upstate New York for the second year, which was a big success. We also held seminars in Ohio, Wisconsin and New Jersey. We got to go to Okinawa for an incredible tour. So all in all it was quite a year. The main event planned so far in 2014 is the Summer Seminars & Camp. This will be held July 31st, August 1st & 2nd 2014. It’s always the first weekend in August. You can sign up now for the camp and get a Discount. Go to  http://www.yamazato-vidoes.com and click on the tab for summer camp. For hotel reservations you can go to the Vanderbilt House /http://www.vanderbilt-house.com/ or Won Dharma Center http://www.wondharmacenter.org/.  We already have people signed up for the camp & seminars. Our Okinawa Tour was such a success we already have people signed up for the next trip. We have the next trip tentatively scheduled for February of 2015. I had people who were on this last tour say to me that they can’t wait that long but I said, “Patience grasshopper.” We will just have to wait until then. Too many other things booked. As you know I started another book called “Seeking the Way” and have sent out a number of pieces from the work. Many of you have commented positively on it and seemed to like it so I’ll keep sending them. I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked with yet another project but not to worry–the completion of “Seeking the Way” is high on my list and I will start back on the book shortly. I have a good excuse though. I started teaching for SUNY (State University of New York). We just finished this semester and the course History of Japan and will also be teaching the History of Modern China beginning in May 2014. I’ve also completed a year of post doctoral study and published four academic papers that amounted to 70,000 words. But I’m finished with that for the moment (you’re never finished) and will be back on other projects shortly including “Seeking the Way” and the kendo book. The kendo book which Sensei Randy Randolph and I have been working on for some time should be released and published before too long. The title is “Essential Kendo The way of the Sword.”  In other news, we had some people promoted during the year that need to be acknowledged. Rui Barreto of LAPD who studied jujitsu with Hanshi Ken Penland for over thirty years was promoted to10th Dan in Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu. Sensei George Delaportas of Montreal, Canada was promoted to 5th Dan in Shorin Ryu karate by the ISKKF (International Shorin Ryu Karate Kobudo Federation). Sensei Massimo Gori was promoted to 5th dan in Jujitsu and has been appointed the International Director of the ISJF (International Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu Federation) for Italy. Sensei DR MacGregor was promoted to 5th dan in kobudo and 4th dan in Hakutsuru Kenpo. Sensei Ed Wojciechowski at the Summer Camp successfully completed his test for 4th Dan in iaido and Carlos Trueba received his nidan in iaido. Finally Lisa Ehrhardt received here shodan in shorin ryu karate this year and Marshal Lane received his nidan in shorin ryu karate. Sensei Peter Porter, 10th Dan of Vermont visited the honbu dojo twice this year. He brought a group to train at the honbu dojo in December. Sensei Charles Riedmiller brought the largest group [from Ohio] to this year’s camp. Sensei Josh Usera taught MMA and kickboxing at the year’s camp and is always a pleasure to train with. Sensei Robin Tremblay of Montreal, Canada received his shodan in both judo and jujitsu. Two other senior sensei that have been recognized by the World Budokan Martial Arts Federation are Hanshi Gholamreza Gholami, 10th Dan of Iran and Hanshi Giuseppe Di Garbo, 10th Dan of Italy. I have discovered social media this year! Actually Sensei Scot Mertz worked on our page in May while still in Okinawa. In particular fb (Face Book). So if you have time go to https://www.facebook.com/george.alexander.75054689 Lots of photos and info. I would like to let everybody know about an organization called the Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences. This group is headquartered in the UK but they are worldwide in scope. IMAS is a professional martial arts educational group whose faculty are all academics. Their mission is to bring a level of professionalism to the martial arts through coursework and higher education. They have a professional online academic journal as well. Check them out. http://www.instituteofmartialartsandsciences.com/ Anyone interested in membership to one or all of our worldwide martial arts organizations ISKKF please visit http://www.worldbudokan.com/ Don’t forget Sifu Alan Goldberg’s Action Martial Arts event Jan 24-26 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. See ad below. Its all about table 45! Finally, if I forgot anybody or left anything out please don’t be offended. Let me know. We did a lot this year. All the best for the new year! Cheers, Photo Gallery: Okinawa Tour 2013

Kyokushinkai tournament April 2013. New Paltz, NY.

Sensei Shigeru Oyama. Please! Soon.

Honbu Dojo – New York