I heard Tuesday night that Brandon has a MMA match coming up soon... does anyone have the "Specifics" on it... I'd like to see about going and cheering his corner...

Mick  (o:

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who showed up last night for our monthly Family Night.  I for one had a ball.  It looked like  everyone came fired up and ready to play.  That tickles me, I even saw several people bleeding a little, including me.  I am always humbled to see some of the upper ranking black belts taking time out to work with the younger belts on improving their skills. 

If anyone lost a Timex IronMan watch, I have it in my bag.  It doesn't look good with my skin tone so if you would like it back please stop by Halls on Tuesday or Thursday nights and I will be happy to return it to you.

This Saturday Night I will be in Nashville, proudly watching as my "brothers" and fellow Martial Artists are inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame ....

Sensei Bradley Walker - Instructor of the Year

In my opinion Brad is the future of our family, his resolve to stick with the traditional values of Isshinryu as a Martial Art and avoid the every changing whims of sport karate while incorporating proven self defense from other styles has impressed me.  This Honor is greatly deserved and overdue.

Sensei Keith Cofer - Kata Master of the Year

What can I say that I've not already said a thousand times .... Sensei Cofer has spent years examining every nuance of our kata and we are all better Martial Artist for it.

Master Ron Tolliver

To be honest I'm not sure what category Master Tolliver is being inducted under, but I can say that when I think of the term Martial Artist I can come up with no better representative than Ron Tolliver.  Those of you that know Ron know exactly what I mean.  Master Tolliver is what we train to achieve.

Master Gregg McMahan - Master of the Year

One of the the few "old dogs" who have been around as long as I have.  Although we might have slowed down just a little bit over the years all of the knowledge is still intact and no one likes sharing that knowledge more than Master McMahan.  From self-defense, tournament, Michael D and now Sambo Mater McMahon is as versatile as they come.


Congratulations to all of you and thank you for your continued dedication to the Martial Arts, Our Family and your Students!!


Lastly, on a personal note I would like to thank Master Mills for the nomination I received for Arnis Instructor of the year, regrettably due to my lack of rank and my respect for Master Bowers I could not accept such an honor.

What a fantastic day for Kevin, with 10 people in his division, Kevin fought a total of 4xs to come home with the hardware. Kevin is really excited and I'm very proud of him.

Good Luck to the Brothers Baird, as I understand it they will be competing in the same division this time around and that is definitely something worth seeing ....

Also keep an eye on Kevin Gentry as he tries to break his H.O.F. curse .... 

Best of Luck to All who attend!!!

It's wonderful to talk and blog about this great family of martial artists but are we going to back it up?

Gregg's put out a call for help so let's step up ....

I know it's short notice but if you can make the time even a couple hours will be appreciated ....

Thanks,  See you Saturday ...

Michael Allan

Crossfest is a Christian music festival that will be held on July 19, it's from 11am-9pm. It will be held inside a tent in the field adjoining Dutch Valley Church of God.

The Pastor has asked me to find some volunteers from our karate family to work security at the event. If you're interested  we can sure use your help. The more we can get the better because we can run 2 shifts. We're expecting anywhere from 1200-5000 people to attend.

We will also be setting up a booth to promote our classes. This may be a great way to gain some new students as people will be coming from all over the area. I'm going to find out tonight about doing a demo on the stage as well as have on runnuing throughout the day at our booth.

So I'm asking for much needed help in working security as well as having a team together to do demo's and handout fliers to promote our classes. Remember this is what we're about, serving Jesus as they may well be several get saved this Saturday.

Please contact me soon as this is short notice and the 19th will be here before we know it. You can email me at northkoxisshinryu@earthlink.net .

                                               Thank you, and God Bless

                                                 Master, McMahan

Great class last night at The Halls Dojo!!
Thanks for the bumps and bruises ...

Hey Wayne, look at this .......

By the way who was that nut hanging out of his truck after class?

See ya next time .....

July 31, 2008 - Family Night at The Halls Dojo

The following dates are tentative.  Head Instructors if the dates need to change please let me know and i will update.

August 28, 2008 - Family Night at The NorthKnox Dojo

September 25, 2008 - Family Night at the Karns Dojo

October 30, 2008 - Family Night at Lewis School of Isshin-Ryu

The Backroom of North Knox was more than honored to have Master Louie Grinnell humble our Arnis Class last night.

As most of you know I’m not easily impressed, but Master Grinnell in a matter of minutes changed my entire perspective of the Martial Arts … 

He started the night off with some demonstrations of Pressure Points and Energy Flow that not only shattered my skepticism but literally took me to my knees.  From there he moved on to kata bunkai beginning with the first move of Seisan which immediately put this Go-Dan in his place as an eternal student.  Finally wrapping up with Arnis, from disarms to empty hand … throughout the night I was most impressed by his seemingly effortless power and economy of motion.

Needless to say it will take months to process, learn and hopefully implement just a few of the many concepts he tossed our way.

I’m sure I will pay dearly for my praise and overuse of the title, but trust me the knowledge is worth the pain…

Hopefully Master Bowers  and myself were not to inept that we can convince Master Grinnell to return in the near future for more seminars …  If and when this happens I hope that all of you serious about Martial Arts will jump at the opportunity to train with a true Sensei of Sensei’s ….