Kobudo Rank Advancement - December 2012

Congratulations to the following kobudo students, who advanced in rank in December 2012:

Benjamin Lowder - 9th kyu orange belt
Meredith Lowder - 9th kyu orange belt

Gavon Mitchell - 3rd kyu brown belt
Christian Pace - 3rd kyu brown belt
Richie Gleason - 3rd kyu brown belt

Omedetougozaimasu!!

Kobudo Rank Advancement - November 2012

Congratulations to Parker Sperrazza, who tested for the rank of 5th kyu green belt in kobudo on November 7th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Karate Rank Advancement - October 2012

Congratulations to the following youth karate students, who advanced in rank in October 2012:

Rhianna Candido - 7th kyu yellow belt
Daniel DeChristopher - 7th kyu yellow belt
Diego Vasquez - 7th kyu yellow belt

Victor Versace - 5th kyu green belt
Alexandra Scialdone - 5th kyu green belt
Dylan Aviles - 5th kyu green belt

Victoria Spitzer - 4th kyu purple belt

Kelby Dath - 3rd kyu brown belt

Kevin McMullen - 2nd kyu brown belt

. . .and to the following adult karate students, who also advanced in rank in October 2012:

Alex Patino - 6th kyu blue belt

Zulie Dath - 5th kyu green belt

Patrick Tiangco - 4th kyu purple belt
Lynne Ward - 4th kyu purple belt

Caroline Pace - 3rd kyu brown belt

Sarina Matalon - 2nd kyu brown belt

Rohan Ketwaroo - 1st kyu brown belt

Omedetougozaimasu!!

Jujitsu Rank Advancement - October 2012

Congratulations to the following jujitsu students, who advanced in rank in October 2012:

Michelle Lee-Kenez - 5th kyu yellow belt

Chris Cardillo - 2nd kyu brown belt

Omedetougozaimasu!!

Lil' Dragons Karate Rank Advancement - October 2012

Congratulations to the following Lil' Dragons karate students, who advanced in rank on October 6th 2012:

Genna Candido - yellow stripe
Rylie Hayden - yellow stripe
Andrew Grippo - yellow stripe
Nicholas Grippo - yellow stripe
Patrick Keeley - yellow stripe

Jack Gilhooley - blue stripe

Christian Ramos - green stripe

T.J. Conti - purple stripe


Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Classes CANCELED 10/27/12

All classes except for youth karate will be CANCELED on October 27th due to an unexpected family commitment.


Lil' Dragons karate, kobudo, adult karate, and jujitsu classes are all canceled.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Jujitsu Rank Advancement - August 2012

Congratulations to Zulie Dath, who tested for the rank of 5th kyu yellow belt in jujitsu on August 18th 2012.

Omedetougozaimasu!

Autumn 2012 Schedule of Events & Closings

The autumn schedule of events and closings (through December 2012) is now avialable to view here:


http://mountainstreambudo.com/webcalendar1/month.php


Paper copies are also available at the dojo.

Jujitsu Black Belt Grading - July 2012

Congratulations to Noah Mitchell-sensei, who tested for the rank of Yon-Mokuroku (4th degree black belt) in jujitsu on July 22nd 2012.

Omedetougozaimasu!

Kobudo Rank Advancement - July 2012

Congratulations to Marc Molloy, who tested for the rank of 7th kyu blue belt in kobudo on July 21st 2012.

Omedetougozaimasu!!

Youth Karate Rank Advancement - July 2012

Congratulations to the following youth karate students, who advanced in rank in July 2012:

Rhianna Candido - 8th kyu orange belt
Diego Vasquez - 8th kyu orange belt

Christopher Soliz - 6th kyu blue belt
Dylan Aviles - 6th kyu blue belt

Benjamin Lowder - 5th kyu green belt
Victoria Spitzer - 5th kyu green belt

Kelby Dath - 4th kyu purple belt

Keith Weed - Shodan-ho junior black belt 2nd level

Gavon Mitchell - Shodan-ho junior black belt 3rd level
Richie Gleason - Shodan-ho junior black belt 3rd level
Noah Kemp - Shodan-ho junior black belt 3rd level


Omedetougozaimasu!!

Lil' Dragons Karate Rank Advancement - July 2012

Congratulations to the following Lil' Dragons karate students, who advanced in rank in July 2012:

Rylie Hayden - orange stripe
Andrew Grippo - orange stripe
Nicholas Grippo - orange stripe
Genna Candido - orange stripe

Jack Gilhooley - yellow stripe

Miranda Sposato - blue stripe
Christian Ramos - blue stripe
Evan Cross - blue stripe

T.J. Conti - green stripe

Noah Angelico - orange belt

Omedetougozaimasu!

Jujitsu Rank Advancement - July 2012

Congratulations to Michelle Lee-Kenez, who tested for the rank of 6th kyu orange belt in jujitsu on July 7th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!

Kobudo Black Belt Grading - June 2012

Congratulations to Susan Brocchi, who tested for the rank of Shodan (1st degree black belt), and to Noah & Carol Mitchell, who tested for the rank of Yondan (4th degree black belt) in kobudo on June 8th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Police Tactics Jujitsu Rank Advancement - June 2012

Congratulations to Nick Fiorisi, who tested for the rank of 6th kyu orange belt in police tactics jujitsu on June 4th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Congratulations, Kyoshi Stolsmark!

Congrats to Stolsmark-sensei on his grading to Kyoshi Hachidan in karate in May 2012!  Omedetougozaimasu from all of us at MSB!!

Jujitsu Rank Advancement - May 2012

Congratulations to Zulie Dath, who tested for the rank of 6th kyu orange belt in jujitsu on May 12th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Karate Rank Advancement - April 2012

Congratulations to the following youth karate students, who advanced in rank in April 2012:

Jacob Solomon - 8th kyu orange belt
Daniel DeChristopher - 8th kyu orange belt
Maya Leveille - 8th kyu orange belt

Dylan Aviles - 7th kyu yellow belt

Benjamin Lowder - 6th kyu blue belt
Victor Versace - 6th kyu blue belt
Alexandra Scialdone - 6th kyu blue belt
Victoria Spitzer - 6th kyu blue belt

Kelby Dath - 5th kyu green belt

Kevin McMullen - 3rd kyu brown belt

Caroline Pace - 2nd kyu brown belt
Abigail Lowder - 2nd kyu brown belt
Parker Sperrazza - 2nd kyu brown belt

Sarina Matalon - Shodan-ho junior black belt


. . .and to the following adult karate students, who also advanced in rank in April 2012:


Alex Patino - 7th kyu yellow belt

Zulie Dath - 6th kyu blue belt

Lynne Ward - 5th kyu green belt
Vicki Ponarski - 5th kyu green belt

Noah Matalon - 3rd kyu brown belt
Donald Emery - 3rd kyu brown belt

Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Congratulations to Noah-sensei

Congratulations to Sensei Noah Mitchell, who tested for the rank of Renshi Rokudan (6th degree black belt) in karate on April 15th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu, Sensei!

Lil' Dragon Karate Rank Advancement - April 2012

Congratulations to the following Lil' Dragon karate students, all of whom advanced in rank on April 14th 2012:

Jack Gilhooley - orange stripe
Jaden Tesher - orange stripe
Patrick Keeley - orange stripe

Eddie Bradley - yellow stripe
Evan Cross - yellow stripe
Christian Ramos - yellow stripe

T.J. Conti - blue stripe
Brandon Van Valkenburg - blue stripe

Noah Angelico - brown stripe

Alex Enea - orange belt

Diego Vasquez - double yellow stripe


Omedetou gozaimasu!!!

Kobudo Rank Advancement - April 2012

Congratulations to Parker Sperrazza, who tested for the rank of 6th kyu green belt in kobudo on April 4th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!!

Thoughts on ACTIVE Training

According to Mountain Stream Budo's bylaws/reigi, if a student is absent from training for 365 consecutive days or longer, he will forfeit his rank upon returning to the dojo, don a white belt as a demonstration of humility, and then, following a sufficient period of time, will re-test either for his prior rank or a lower rank depending upon how much he remembers and how sharp his skill level is.

However, how long can this type of "inactive" training go on? Should a student be allowed to take one class every 364 days for countless years and still maintain his rank? Should a student who doesn't care about progressing in rank be permitted to train for a month, take 5 months off, train again briefly, take 8 months off, etc.?

Certainly at the black belt level, students are expected to train regularly and consistently. A black belt student who stops by for a class once or twice a year just in order to keep his rank is not the same as a green belt student who does the same. Although a black belt student who misses 360 days of training and then returns would be allowed to keep his rank, consistent weekly training should then resume. Of course, exceptions can be made for students away in college or with significant injuries or illnesses.

Part of the discipline of training in a martial art is getting into class regularly, training when you don't feel like it, and maintaining a regular regimen. Everyone has a job, a family, kids, homework, stress, and a hundred other "real-life" reasons to miss a class. I'm not saying that martial arts is as important as any of these by any means, but it's necessary to find a balance if you consider your martial arts training a life-long endeavor and part of who you are.

Thus, every martial artist should have short and long-term goals, which we mark with rank. It's a lot easier to earn your brown belt, or black belt, or 3rd dan or whatever, and to sit back and tell yourself that you've reached your primary goal as a martial artist, and that you don't feel the need to progress any further. This is where laziness and humility can become confused; although no accomplished martial artist wants to hunger specifically for his next rank, he should always strive to improve by training harder and continuing to learn - as his skills and experience grow, he will come in a roundabout way to be ready for a higher rank. Rank is, after all, nothing more than an outward designation of skill, experience, and wisdom.

So, although the rules say that one can train once per year and still maintain rank for an open-ended period of time, I think it's important to qualify this so as to prevent people from taking advantage of it. At some point in a student's training, at black belt say, after having missed a year or so at the dojo, one needs to commit to resuming full-time, year-round ACTIVE training in order to keep and maintain one's rank.

I wouldn't want to be represented by a lawyer who only tries a few cases a year, or have surgery performed on me by a doctor who's last operation occurred 10 months ago. . .and I certainly wouldn't want to be taught by a martial arts instructor who only trains sporadically at best.

Special Guest Instructor - March 31st 2012

On Saturday March 31st, Mountain Stream Budo is proud to welcome Sensei Julie Keil (4th dan Shorin-ryu karate, 4th dan Okinawa kobudo) and her granddaughter Giang (1st dan karate, 1st dan kobudo) from Midland, Michigan. If travel arrangements work out, they will be joining us for kobudo class on 3/31 and possibly adult karate as well. Please join us in training with our very special guests!!

Kobudo Rank Advancement - March 2012

Congratulations to Casey Dath and Marc Molloy, who tested for the rank of 8th kyu yellow belt in kobudo on March 10th 2012.

Omedetou!!

Jujitsu Rank Advancement - March 2012

Congratulations to John Scialdone, who tested for the rank of 3rd kyu brown belt in jujitsu on March 3rd 2012.

Omedetou!!!

MARCH 2012 is Try a Free Art Month at MSB

March 2012 is "Try a Free Art Month" at Mountain Stream Budo!

All students who are currently enrolled at MSB are eligible to train for free in a second or third art of their choice during the month of March.

Alternately, students who choose not to try a second art are welcome to invite a family member to train for free in any one art.

Please remember that the minimum age requirement for kobudo is 8, and for jujitsu is 15.

Please e-mail Sensei with any questions, and we hope to see all of you take advantage and check out a new art next month!!

Spring 2012 Schedule of Dojo Events & Closings

Jujitsu Rank Advancement - February 2012

Congratulations to Vincent Menniti, who tested for the rank of 5th kyu yellow belt in jujitsu on February 4th 2012.

Omedetou!!

Lil' Dragons Karate Rank Advancement - January 2012

Congratulations to the following Lil' Dragons karate students, who advanced in rank on January 28th 2012:

Arianna Carey - orange stripe
Eddie Bradley - orange stripe
Evan Cross - orange stripe
Jaden Tesher - orange stripe
Christian Ramos - orange stripe
Jack Tran - orange stripe

T.J. Conti - yellow stripe
Brandon Van Valkenburg - yellow stripe

Noah Angelico - purple stripe

Alex Enea - brown stripe

Jacob Solomon - yellow belt


Omedetou!!

Youth Karate Rank Advancement - January 2012

Congratulations to the following youth karate students, who advanced in rank in January 2012:

Dylan Aviles - 8th kyu orange belt
Dylan O'Leary - 8th kyu orange belt
Ryan Guadagno - 8th kyu orange belt

Alexandra Scialdone - 7th kyu yellow belt
Benjamin Lowder - 7th kyu yellow belt
Christopher Soliz - 7th kyu yellow belt
Victor Versace - 7th kyu yellow belt
Victoria Spitzer - 7th kyu yellow belt

Kelby Dath - 6th kyu blue belt

Marc Leveille - 4th kyu purple belt

Matthew Simpson - 2nd kyu brown belt

Claire Campos - Shodan-ho junior black belt
Chris Annabi - Shodan-ho junior black belt

James DeRonda - Shodan-ho junior black belt 2nd level


Omedetou!!

Noah-sensei's Karate Rank Test

Noah Mitchell-sensei will be testing for rank in karate on Sunday April 15th 2012 at 12:00pm the dojo. This will be an open event - all MSB students and families are welcome to attend.

Kobudo Rank Advancement - January 2012

Congratulations to Kathryn Brocchi, who tested for the rank of 3rd kyu brown belt in kobudo on January 4th 2012.

Omedetou gozaimasu!!