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| Group photo of 20th Anniversary Participants |
We started the day with of course Junbi Undo and then
followed with a review of kihon waza by Willis Sensei, we then moved on to
Sanchin kata and received instruction from Johnson Sensei. It was then on to a
review of Gekisai Dai Ichi, Gekisai Dai Ni, Saifa and Seiunchin with me acting
as lead instructor for that portion, with comments and suggestion from the
guest instructors. We also had several discussions about the different ways
each of our kai-ha performed different sections of the kata and why.
We then took a lunch break, and enjoyed a nice lunch as prepared
by my lovely wife. After lunch, we resumed training with some more kata and
then Hallburg Sensei taught a session on
how to use Koshi and Gamaku as taught in the Shinjinbukan, he then continued by
teaching alternate methods for hikite. I then gave a brief overview of the two
person drills taught at the yushikan. We then ended by Hallburg Sensei leading
us through the Seri Undo as used at the Shinjinbukan.
We then spent a nice evening sitting and talking about budo
and firearms, while drinking some Kirin. I enjoyed myself and am grateful that
some of my friends came to help me celebrate the occasion
.
The days leading up to the anniversary and a few days since
has had me reminiscing about the past and what lead me to the foundation of the
Yushikan. I remember assisting my father at his dojo for several years, I
remember him appointing me as the Chief Instructor for his Marion dojo in
January of 1992 and in January of 1993 we took on one of the yudansha as a
partner, like anything when you have partners it does not always work out. I
remember that over the Christmas break in December of 1993 sitting at home with
my wife and our eight month old twins, that we had several discussion about how
I did not like or agree with certain things regarding the dojo and expressed a
wish to start my own. Having two new
babies and leaving an established dojo behind seemed crazy but I did it. After
my wife and I spoke, I made some phone calls to my seniors and decided that I
would leave the dojo and establish my own. My wife (Amber) drew the dojo mon
(patch) that I still use to this day.
My father ended his part in the partnership and concentrated
his efforts on his Indianapolis dojo and on January 2, 1994 I began my first
class at my new dojo in a dedicated room at the YMCA in Marion, Indiana. For
the first time since I started karate or started teaching I used a different
name for my dojo then my father did for his. Of course we were still teacher
and student but I was pretty much on my own. With-in a month I had branch dojo
in Gas City, Upland and Sweetser. By the next month I had 100 students at each
branch dojo and 325 students at the main dojo. In 1995 my wife and I found out we were going
to have a third child and I ran all four dojo until May of 1995 when I took a
job with benefits for my family and moved to Carmel, Indiana. I turned the
dojos over to Pat Mitchell and within a few weeks set up a small dojo in
Carmel. In 2000, I moved the dojo to a much larger location in Carmel and in
2005 I moved the dojo to its current location in Swayzee.
My wife is extremely organized and kept records of my
students and the promotions I issued over the years. From the first class until
the 20th Anniversary I have had a couple thousand students through
the doors and out of those I have 10 that I have promoted to black belt. I also
have a third generation of my family on the floor training at all most every
class. There have been ups and downs like anything but I am proud of my
students and happy with the progress.
2013 was a good year and we had a lot of good training, 2014
started out with a bang and I hope w make it through at least another 20.
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