AKS Quarterly Newsletter

"The Punchline Editorial"
March 2021

The Master's Edge

Frederic A. Reinecke
9th Dan
AKS Chief Instructor

2021 Should Be
A Better Year

We haven't posted a newsletter in a while, basically because there wasn't much to talk about. This year is starting off a little better. On the Covid front, West Michigan seems to be opening up. Mark Soderstrom's class in Norton Shores has started again. Tom Twining and myself are also offering classes on the east side of Muskegon. We are no longer going through Orchard View. We are teaching out of a building on the south side of Apple Avenue and Wolf Lake Road (5571 Apple Ave). It used to be Weihl's Karate. We really haven't settled on a new name, but if you look on FB you can find info under FAR Karate or Northwinds Martial Arts. Both names have been used by Tom and myself to describe our clubs.

Now that the vaccine is being distributed, I am confident that, in a few months, we will return to some form of normalcy. I had my first shot this week and will get the second by the end of the month. Keep looking for announcements concerning future AKS events.

As I look back at last year, one of the best things is that because we were forced to social distance, working on Forms has become the class normal. Now for those interested, we finally have gotten Cat Form 5 down again. So we will be spending time making sure anyone interested, especially those who might be looking to test for 5th Degree in the future, can perform this form.

The summer of 2019 we had talked about trying to get all the clubs to submit the best version of all the AKS forms. Well unfortunately that didn't happen. So as a way to get the ball rolling, Mr. Twining and myself have been recording the forms and temporarily posting them on his Northwinds Martial Arts, YouTube channel. In the future, we hope to have them linked with our AKS website. [Check our Videos Page for these forms comming soon.] I also have shared them on our AKS FB page. Any one in our style is welcome to record any of our forms and submit them to Andy Eckhart for our Google drive folder. We still have the long range plan of taking a look at what is recorded; codifying all the forms of the AKS. We also would like to do the same with other style forms and weapons.

Depending on how things, go I would like to propose having a Summer camp in July. Please contact me with some suggestions on training. We will make our decision about that sometime around the beginning of May. So let me know how you feel about this and what you would like to see.

Until then, please still stay safe and do all that you can to avoid Covid.

Sincerely,
Frederic A. Reinecke 9th Dan
Chief Instructor AKS
231-777-1996

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Far Karate Facebook Page

You may also check our AKS Facebook Page for information.

KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS!

The DoJo

Dave Thomas
8th Dan AKS

DoJo Memories

by Dave Thomas

Training in the American Karate System has given me great friends and many memorable experiences. The thrill of working with talented martial artists, while learning new and different skills, made the hard work something I would always look forward to. Here are some memorable moments from training in the American Karate System.

Many years ago when I was a yellow belt, a group of us were talking about what we had learned to that point. We were recounting our limited glories and experiences, having almost a year of training behind us. One of our group was a very nice guy named Tomas Hinajosa. He was not very tall, but had a stocky build. Tomas was quiet, hardworking and talented as a rookie karateka. As we sat reliving our exploits to that point, Tomas said, "Karate is great, but not like I used to do."

"What was that?" one of our group asked.

"I used to ride Brahma bulls in the rodeo," he said quietly.

A hush fell over the yellow belt fraternity, then one of the guys broke the silence with, "You win."

One night, Mr. Lieb had a group of brown belts practicing kicks on the heavy bag. We were all in our mid-twenties and pretty adept at what he was asking us to do; multiple kicks, jump kicks and spinning kicks. It was great fun and got the adrenaline flowing as we tried to kick harder and jump higher than our classmates.

One of the brown belts was Steve Lewicke. At the time he was a school teacher in Grand Rapids. Steve is a big guy. He had played college football at the University of Texas-El Paso the year they won the Sun Bowl. He also played in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals. Steve loved to compete; he went to karate tournaments all over the Midwest. He was respected for his size and skill and usually placed very well.

On this training night after 30 minutes of continuous kicking, Steve asked Mr. Lieb, "Sensei, can I sit out? My knees are starting to bother me." The years of football had taken a toll on his knees. Mr. Lieb said sure, no problem. As one of his good friends was coming off the bag and making his way back to the end of the line, he paused to ask Steve, "What's the matter, can't keep up with the rest of us?"

Steve just smiled, "Wanna compare trophies?"
Crickets.

Mr. Lieb hosted a weekend training seminar taught by Sensei Tadashi Yamashita. By this time, Sensei Yamashita had already been on television and starred in several movies. The seminar was for grade ranks to train on Saturday and Black Belts would train on Sunday. I attended that Saturday session just to help out.

During the grade rank seminar, everyone had to wear a name badge as we had students from a number of different styles from West Michigan schools. One of the AKS Brown Belts was Mr. Jeff Organ. Jeff was a student of Mr. Tom Twining's. He was a good student, intense and dedicated.

When Jeff practiced his techniques, he was so focused he tended to lose sight of those around him. As Sensei Yamashita was walking the down the line of students, Jeff threw a punch about a quarter inch in front of Sensei Yamashita's nose. There was a noticeable gasp in the room. Sensei Yamashita, stopped and looked at his nametag then said, "Jeff, you lucky, Organ." And then walked on. The new name stayed with him for many years.

Mr. Tom Apostle is one of my favorite Black Belts to train with. Tom is a very hardworking and talented Black Belt, so training with him forced me to be better and work harder.

When Tom was in high school, he was well known to the administration because he never backed down from a challenge. Back in the day, he was known to have a temper. After emigrating from Greece, on his first day in American public school, he was expelled for locking another kid in a locker. The kid was bullying Tom for not being able to speak English.

By the time he was in high school, his cousin suggested they go to the karate class at the community college. "Then we can fight and not get in trouble." So began his martial arts career.

Tom was never at a loss for words, one of his more memorable moments was when he was walking into the room for his Fourth Dan testing. One of the testing board members quizzed him an obscure question on Chinese Kung-Fu. "I don't know, that's why I took American Karate," he responded.

Many great friends, many great times.

I wish you the same.

Dave Thomas
8th Dan