Greetings to all.

I look forward to meeting and visiting with Hanshi, Shihan, Sensei, Sempai and Deshi at each of the Northeast dojos during the August promotions. I will be in the New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts areas August 1st through August 10th. By the end of 1998 and/or early 1999 I will visit the other locations in our organization, Shorin-Ryu Karate USA under the direction of Hanshi Ansei Ueshiro, including Israel and Hawaii. I wish everyone well and hope for most successful promotions for all participants.
Arigato,

Kyoshi

Hombu Dojo (Headquarters School)

Midtown Karate Dojo
465 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Sensei David Baker, Denshi/Shihan, Go-Dan
212-599-1966

A special Domo Arigato Gozaimasu to Kyoshi for running the show for 'lo these many years. By giving the Shihan and Club Directors wide discretion within their own dojo and clubs, he has given us the ability to fail, learn, and the to do it better the next time.

I've always thought that karate does not forge in its practitioners a singular, cookie cutter personality as some believe, but rather it gives one the courage to develop fully according to one's own personality. As a result we have many, highly diversified personalities at the top of the hierarchy, held together by Kyoshi's own strong personality.

I would also like to point out that Kyoshi has taught us over the years how to show loyalty to those above. This is shown us by how he comports himself with Hanshi and for Hanshi. This is contrasted by another high-ranking Black Belt in our system from years ago that now has no Black Belts remaining from the years that we trained together; he taught disloyalty to his deshi by how he conducted himself in relation to Hanshi. It is no wonder that this other high ranking Black Belt's deshi have exhibited disloyalty to him, given their prior training in that regard by him. So, for this reason also, I say "Domo Arigato Kyoshi."

We now look forward to our annual Summer Workout on Sunday July 19 at 8 AM at Sherwood Island State Park in Connecticut, near both the Norwalk and Westport clubs. Everyone from the other dojo and clubs is invited to train with us there on the beach that day and then to continue the drive afterwards to the Pine Forest Karate School in Northampton, MA, to help that club with their construction project.

That will prepare us for the August Belt Promotion and Kyoshi's trip and we invite all our fellow dojo and clubs to also participate and perform demonstrations on that day - Sunday August 2 at 11 AM - as our guests.

Happy summer to everyone and let's get ready for August.

Arigato,

David Baker

Downtown Karate Dojo
661 Auahi Street, Suite 202
Honolulu, HI 96813
Sensei Matthew Kaplan, Denshi/Shihan, Yon-Dan
(808) 533-1111 Work: (808) 566-2485 Fax: (808)-544-9306

Greetings to all Shorin-Ryu members from our Hawaiian paradise. Our biggest news is that we have just completed a tip-test for several deshi. It's always nice to see new students moving into the one & two-green tip ranks. Also, the recently completed Katathon was a great success. We had more than a dozen deshi who completed 100 kata. In the process we raised $1,111.00 for the museum fund.

Other exciting news for us and for Shorin-Ryu in general is that Lyle Kleush (who just recently made Sho-Dan at the 35th Anniversary gathering in New York this past Christmas), has moved from the island of Oahu to the island of Maui in pursuit of a great job opportunity. It's sad for all of us here at the Downtown Karate Dojo to see him leave, but yet it's great to know that he will be spreading Shorin-Ryu karate to yet more people.

As far as the future is concerned we are very much looking forward to our next beach workout in July at Waimea Bay. More so because we are expecting visitors, Shelly Schlossberg-Gucker and her husband, Jeff, from the Denver Shorin-Ryu Karate Club. Also expected are Lyle Kleush (on a return visit from Maui) and Grace Wilson (Ni-Kyu) one of the first Hawaii group members who is now living in California.

And if anyone else just happens to be in Hawaii in late July, drop by the Downtown Karate Dojo and join us for the beach workout (actually any workout).

Mahalo

East Meets West Okinawan Karate
320 West 37th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10018
Sensei Robert Hodes, Denshi/Shihan, Yon-Dan
(212) 366-0831

Onegai shimasu to everyone! We at East Meets West are happy to report that all is well. We are practicing on a full schedule in our new location on 37th street and we are proud to have had so many visitors come and train with us. We hope that many more of you will join us for a visit over the coming months, especially during Kyoshi's visit to the New York Area for August promotions.

April and June were tip test months, and several new students have been promoted to Ro-Kyu at the dojo. Also our off-site programs have sprouted many new Ro-Kyu among the ranks of children. (45 new Ro-Kyu children--off site--ranging in age from 5 years old to 8 years old!)

Hodes Sensei was honored to author the Thought for the Week of June 15th, 1998. It was "Outreach--Karate Scholarship and Study". Plans are moving full speed, full power, ahead on this study that will introduce our style to over 60 children as part of their regular gym program in

the public schools of the City of New York. There is still time for you to get involved! Contact Hodes Sensei for more information!

Good luck to all during August promotions! Arigato gozaimasu to all!!!!

The deshi of East Meets West.

Israel Karate Dojo
PO Box 824
Eilat, Israel 88000
Mr. Shlomo Dadon, Sho-Dan
001-972-7-6317393
Sensei Nir Zamir, sponsor

Onegai shimasu Hanshi, Kyoshi, Sensei, Sempai, and Karateka.

Greetings from Eilat Israel.

One month has passed since the visit of Sensei Hodes in Eilat. Of course his purpose was to see his son yet he dedicated an evening of his time to train with us in the dojo. Many benefits occurred:

Domo Arigato Sensei Hodes.

Until today the workout in my dojo was every Sunday and Wednesday for children, and Monday and Thursday for Adults. Three weeks ago I got a new job as a Marine Officer on a Russian Casino ship based out of Eilat. This job requires most of my time so I have been forced to move all of the classes to Sunday/Wednesday. Classes now run from 5:00 until 8:00 on both Sunday and Wednesday.

From every bad thing comes a good thing. While on the ship, I have the opportunity to instruct some of the crew in Karate. The crew consists of two English, three Hungarians, two Israelis, and three Russians. I am very happy that I have time on the ship to teach our karate in hope that one day perhaps our style of Karate will be in each of those counties.

Finally, we are planning our to hold our belt promotion on August 8^th. All are welcome!

Arigato,

Shlomo Dadon

Okinawan Karate Dojo
1755 South Tropical Trail
Merritt Island, Fl 32952
Sensei Judith T. Scaglione, Denshi/Shihan, Go-Dan
(407) 459-3000

August 9th, 13 deshi were promoted at our Ro-Kyu/Go-Kyu testing. This was one of the biggest green tip tests in years! Something new that we are doing here in Florida is sharing a regular Tues./Thurs. class with another instructor. In other words, two Black belts co-instruct the workout. It has become the most popular class on the schedule. At times we have upwards of 20 deshi on the deck.(Most of the other classes average 3 to 6 students.) Usually an Ik-Kyu will assist with another level (making 3 instructors) and the class runs smoothly. Our population of children has steadily been climbing but our total number of students is still holding at 70.

Sensei Judy has been conducting a class with 10 daycare children every Tuesday morning. It is amazing how calming the classic traditional exercises are when working with a group of assorted sizes and ages of kids in street clothes. Learning the basics of Karate from the beginning step by step is very relaxing. Four library demonstrations are scheduled for the summer. 150 children attended our last demonstration, and they all learned the proper etiquette! The comments after were; "Can you imagine how much learning there would be if the public schools would only allow the words thank you or please teach me during a class? The public school system needs some overhauling!".

Sempai Shane Scaglione is now living in New York City. He found an apartment with 3 roommates in Washington Heights and is really enjoying it there. We all wish him the best. Sensei Judy and Mr. Barnhart will be married on July 4^th. All deshi are welcome to attend the ceremony. More about this through the e-mail!

Museum News:

The Shorin-Ryu Karate USA Museum and Learning Annex has joined the Chamber of Commerce. Our plan is to network with other local merchants, eventually opening our doors to tourists and local residents.

The Katathon was a huge success, generating upwards of $8,000 from the 14 clubs and dojos. Everyone did an outstanding job. A few honorable mentions:

Gamiel Ramson of the Midtown dojo completed 100 repetitions of Chinto

Alex Martin of the Merritt Island dojo completed 254 katas

The Mortgage on the museum building is now down to $35,000 from the original $62,000 just three short years ago. As a family, we should all be proud of how we made this dream a reality. Norman Steenholt, our artist, has transformed the museum building from an abandoned "7-11" into our own "Taj Mahal"! And just as we run our dojos, nobody gets paid. We call this a labor of love...and it shows.

Please visit us soon and enjoy what we've all created!

Pine Forest Karate Dojo of Northampton
Arts and Industry Building
221 Pine Street
Florence, MA 01062
Sempai Pat Moriarty, Ni-Dan, Shihan
Work: (413) 787-9308 Home: (413) 529-9339
Sensei David Baker, sponsor

Ohayo Gozaimasu to all from the Northampton Deshi.

This has been an exciting and spirited spring for us here in Western Massachusetts.

On May 17th we held our first outdoor workout at the Chapel Brook Falls Reservation. Spirits were high despite gloomy weather. After the workout, accomplished climber, Lou Ruvolo (Go-Kyu), provided mountaineering/repelling instruction.

On June 5th, a tip test was conducted, with three students moving forward on the Karatedo path by obtaining the rank of Ro-Kyu and five to Go-Kyu.

On May 28th, Pine Forest Karate of Northampton successfully obtained a special permit to operate a membership club in the Arts & Industry Building in Northampton. Few buildings in this area allow such activities without permits. Much work is needed before classes will be held in our new home. Demolition of the existing interior office has already begun. We have set a goal of having the space ready for the August 1 rank promotion & Kyoshi’s visit on August 5th.

The following is a local newspaper article concerning the new Shorin-Ryu Karate USA workout space:

Karate Club Wins OK for Move to Old Factory. By Greg Kerstetter Staff Writer