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Promotions: |
Shodan 11/16/07 |
| Family Members: |
Wife-Cathy; Children: Joe (19 Yrs) College Student (the original California Kid); Jenny (17 Yrs) Irish Step Dancer/HS Senior (and loving life); Nicky (9 Yrs) Black Belt in Training/Drummer (he’s got the beat) |
| Favorite Foods: |
A to Z Baby! If it can be boiled, roasted, grilled, fried, broasted, rotisseried, or broiled, plated, skewered, grabbed on the run, or wrapped in a tortilla and comes from the land, out of the sea, or out of the air, I’m on it! It is all about the food. Doing it yourself makes it all the better. Don’t forget the chocolate. (Manmade stuff is OK too!) |
| Hobbies: |
Cooking, Eating, Karate, and middle age music struggles |
| Pets: |
Ghillie the dog; Stripey and Zoltaan the orange kitties; Cami the Siameezer kitty |
| Age: |
Besides being long in the tooth and stiff in the hip with an age divisible (with decmals) by most of the other students ages, I am 51 years old. |
What Being A Black Belt Means to Me: Being a Black Belt is my perfecting the art of being a student. It is a lesson taught and a lesson learned in humility. I started Karate to show my son Joe that respect could be earned through knowledge and skill regardless of age. Humility is having a 9 year old rip on your Kata in front of a whole class knowing that they are right (Love is hearing about it all the way home). Karate has helped me develop self confidence, learn to advocate for myself and others, and exercise patience and perseverance.
Becoming a Black Belt allows me to stand among the company of those I most respect, admire, and have become my friends. My Father said that education is something no one can take away yet like cooking it is something I can also share with others. As for Mr. Jones, I came to this freely, I worked hard, I showed patience, I persevered, and I saw it through. Being a Black Belt is more than being another name on the plaque, but a representative of the passion, commitment, and legacy you forged with the creation of this School. A person once asked how you choose a Martial Arts style? I told them that you do not pick the style, you pick the guy. Anyone can teach kicking and punching but not everyone can teach leadership (and have fun at the same time). So, don’t shed a tear for me, I am here for you.
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