September - October  2001

WORLD GRANDMASTER'S COUNCIL


Editor: Soke Frank E. Sanchez / Layout: Sensei Matthew Sanchez

Ph: 904-745-6019 6035

Fax: 904-744-4625 (24hours/day)

Ft. Caroline Rd. Unit 22 Jacksonville, Fl 32277


Sept 1st WHFSC Annual Achievement Awards Packs the Radisson Universal Hotel

For those of you that typically get the printed version of our newsletter every two months, I have to apologize for the last bi-monthly newsletter which failed to be delivered due to the recent death of my Mother. She went into the Hospital because of respiratory problems & died of a heart attack on July 4th. Since it was actually too late to send out a copy of the newsletter after recovering somewhat from my grief, we settled for just putting a copy of the July - August Newsletter on-line at our Website for those who wanted to read it…….I have to admit that the old adage of enjoying your loved ones while they are still here "hits home" to me now. It is probably one of the truest statements that was ever made about anything, whether it be your significant other, Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Uncle, Aunt, Cousin, loving pet….Well, you get the picture…… As much as we love the martial arts, PLEASE remember to "make time" each day to hug those special to you & tell them you "love them", particularly in these troubled times of ours’. You won’t know how much you’ll miss them, until they’re actually gone…… Other members who have recently lost loved ones include GRANDMASTER ERNESTO PRESAS of the Philippines whose Brother, GRANDMASTER REMY PRESAS died in Canada after a bout with Cancer; GRANDMASTER NEAL HUMMERSTONE who lost his Sister to heart disease and PROFESSOR JOHN CHAMBERS whose Son was murdered in an incident here in Jacksonville which is still under investigation. As I understand from news accounts here, his Son was trying to get in a cab when two other men had a disagreement with him & knocked him down to the pavement He died later at the hospital of head injuries……Our sincerest condolences to all of you for your loss…..Also reported by SOKE EDWARD BADIANG of Hawaii is the recent death of KEMPO Pioneer, Professor Walter Godin…..Although Professor Godin was not a part of our Council, his death certainly bears mentioning as one of the historical figures of Kempo there. He led a controversial life which culminated with his becoming a Minister of the Lord & with an autobiographical book that is just now coming out after his death on his life story.

On a much nicer note….CONGRATULATIONS to HANSHI GEORGE ANDERSON on his 70th Birthday!…..Friends of George will be paying tribute to this American Icon of Karate at the St. George Cultural Center in Massillon, Ohio.on November 2nd and also to GRANDMASTER JOHN BYRNE OF Omaha, Nebraska for the new Grand Daughter….No doubt, John she will be a "Corn Husker" (Football) Fan like yourself!

 

Some of the Grandmasters & Masters of the WHFSC gather for an informal photo shoot after Annual Meeting at WHFSC Function in Orlando, Florida

Well, our 7th International Hall of Fame/ Seminar Symposium & Annual Meeting has come & gone & from all indications it was another FANTASTIC SUCCESS even larger & better than previous functions!!!…..Hundreds of people attended the seminars taped by GEORGE DENSON PRODUCTIONS of North Carolina & conducted by 27 of the greatest martial artists from around the world under the direction of Professor Joseph Connally. The Grand Ballroom of the Radisson Hotel where our International Hall of Fame took place was also filled to capacity. Along with the largest gathering of KNOWN (as opposed to "unknown" or "wannabe" types which fill most of these types of gatherings elsewhere) grandmasters were special guests; boxing legend, Chuck Wepner of "Rocky" Movie fame, who is also a Black Belt in MICHI BUDO RYU under GRANDMASTER VINCENT MARCHETTI of New Jersey & 5 time world kickboxing champion, KATHY LONG.. Special thanks to DR. JERRY AIELLO, Star of "WARRIOR TALK" Radio for emceeing as usual (we concluded the awards banquet at around 9:30pm, which seems to be our average time for completion under the "Doc’s" direction) & to GRANDMASTERS PAMUBUAN & BAET for the fantastic ice carving demonstrations which they have done for us 2 years in a row. Kudos also go out to GRANDMASTERS RON "THE BLACK DRAGON" VAN CLIEF, RAFFY PAMBUAN & MARK SHUEY for some great performances during the banquet. Also to RICHARD PRICE of BLACK BELT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. who supplied "free" complimentary issues of BLACK BELT Magazine for the attendees & to all the exhibitors who took part. If you have never been to one of our functions, it is like a "homecoming" among friends of all nations….It is always held on LABOR DAY WEEKEND in Orlando, Florida & only the "best of the best" are in attendance….Along with the top martial artists Internationally, you never know who will be there…..Past inductees have included such illustrious movie personalities as MASTER JACKIE CHAN, MASTER JEFF SPEAKMAN, MASTER DON "THE DRAGON" WILSON, etc…..The "best" reason to come though, is because it is only for the BEST & It is done only once a year…..Make sure you make plans early to attend next years’ event!!

BRAVO to GRANDMASTERS FOSTER MCLEOD & DOUG DEVLIN of the POLICE MARTIAL ARTS ASSOCIATION of Canada for conducting our FIRST ever Police training seminar on Sunday, September 2nd in Orlando. This is sure to be a popular new addition to our annual WHFSC Functions, along with the R.O.S.S. Russian Martial Art Training Seminars which are held yearly by WHFSC Russian Representative GRANDMASTER ALEXANDER RETUINSKIH on the Sunday following our Annual Achievement Awards Dinner…..According to GRANDMASTER GLENN WILSON, he will also have his students, movie personalities, MASTERS DON WILSON & CYNTHIA ROTHROCK conducting a special Sunday seminar at our next function….This will be the first time Cynthia has ever attended one of our affairs, while it will be the 2nd time for Don, who is also an Honorary Member of our Council.

GRANDMASTER STEVE LEE SWIFT is looking for talented lady martial artists to take part in his new ESPN TV Special next year on lady martial artists. If you are interested or have talented lady students that would like to take part, let me hear from you & I’ll pass the word to Steve…..We will have more information in future issues of this newsletter as time goes on.

RECENT TERRORISM IN AMERICA SPARKS COUNCIL TO ACTION……As part of our efforts to help with the relief effort in New York and Washington, we are collecting funds for the AMERICAN RED CROSS. Any of our International & domestic members wishing to contribute to this humanitarian concern can send their contributions directly to our Headquarters & we will forward them on……Please REMEMBER to make out your remittance to the AMERICAN RED CROSS.

In response to an Editorial written by Geoff Metcalf, a columnist for WORLDNETDAILY entitled "OPERATION RESTORE WARRIOR SPIRIT", this Council is requesting that all our membership make available to its citizens, courses of instruction in basic survival self-defense…..In this respect, MASTER SCOTT SONNON of our WHFSC MASTERS DIVISION and Director of the AMERICAN ANNEX OF RUSSIAN MARTIAL ART is pledging their support to this cause…… GRANDMASTER GARY ALEXANDER of New Jersey has volunteered his services to teach his "no nonsense" self-defense tactics at Roosevelt Park in Edison, New Jersey & is organizing others to do the same on November 11th in a show of STRENGTH for America; PROFESSOR GARY DILL of Oklahoma is offering Military "hand-to-hand" & YOURS TRULY is teaching the Marine R.O.T.C. at Jacksonville University here in Jacksonville the hardcore system of SAN-JITSU after their being exposed to such non-combat related activities as Karate Aerobics & TaeBo (great for the average citizen to keep in shape with, but Military hopefuls??!)……In view of the current terrorist situation & the demasculization of the common man in society, we, as martial artists should aid in empowering the male populous once again with a "take charge" warrior ethic, particularly in these dangerous times of ours’……"God Bless" JUDO Champion, Jeremy Glick & the others who responded on the airliner which went down in Pennsylvania. If they had not attacked the hijackers, the plane certainly would have meant death to many more hundreds or thousands of people had it been allowed to reach its final destination….This is the selfless "warrior spirit" which needs to be cultivated.

NEW RECORDING PUT OUT IN MEMORY OF RECENT TERRORISM IN U.S……GRANDMASTER PETER SIRINGANO JR. of New York has a new recording on sale under the stage name of "Peter Michaels". You can access http://www.petermichaels.com/?index.htm/ to see how to order it.

My apologies to MR. PAUL CLIFTON of England’s COMBAT Magazine for not being able to attend his prestigious Martial Arts Hall of Fame event there. I received notification of my induction just a few days before the actual event due to the mail problems which followed the recent terrorist actions in the U.S. I have also been waylaid by a fractured ankle which caused me to cancel all of my seminars this year, including some excellent ones sponsored by the individual organizations of members, HANSHIS BRUCE JUCHNIK, PETER BROWNE & MASTER RUSS COELHO.

SHORINRYU Pioneer, HANSHI SID CAMPBELL’s "GREEN DRAGON" Demo Team is featured in the new book by John Corcoran & John Graden called the "Ultimate Q & A Book"…..

PROFESSOR WALLY JAY’s "SMALL CIRCLE JU-JITSU INTERNATIONAL" is now officially dissolved. As of September 1, 2001. There are now only 2 official factions of "SMALL CIRCLE JU-JITSU". Each has been granted the authority by Wally to work independent of one another. One is "SMALL CIRCLE JU-JITSU EUROPE" under WALLY’s son, Leon, who lives in England & the other is the "UNITED STATES SMALL CIRCLE JU-JITSU" ASSOCIATION under Ed Melaugh in Massachusetts.

DR. KENT HARALSON’s "GOSPEL MARTIAL ARTS UNION" just held their 2ND ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE in Indianapolis, Indiana. The clinic was held in the new 28,000 square foot facility of the "CHRISTIAN MARTIAL ARTS FELLOWSHIP MINISTRY", which also serves as the International headquarters of the GMAU. Over 50 students & 32 Black Belts attended the conference.

SOKE GLENN PREMRU’s "OKINAWAN KARATE FEDERATION" is hosting its FIRST ANNUAL O.K.F. MARTIAL ARTS CAMP on November 2nd, 3rd & 4th at the Renaissance Fallsview Hotel in Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada. Featured seminar instructors will include GLENN & Internationally acclaimed students, Master John Hamilton, Master Michael Farrell & Master Rodney Willlis.

GRANDMASTER ALEXANDER RETUINSKIH’s R.O.S.S. Organization will be opening up a R.O.S.S. Museum shortly in Russia documenting the historical development (one that is continuing) of the R.O.S.S. System in Russia, as well as worldwide.

Lastly in International news…..SOKE GERARDO CANTORE of Argentina is building a new central world training center for his system of SHINSHINKAN KARATE in the Mountains of Patagonia. All WHFSC Members & their students have been extended an open invitation to come & train there in the spirit of Brotherhood & to be closer to nature. Please notify him a minimum of 1 month beforehand. He can be reached at: SHINSHINKAN KARATE ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL HOMBU, VILLEGAS 815, 8300 NEUGUEN CITY, PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA or through e-mail at SHINSHINKAN@hotmail.com

The latest members to be added to the WHFSC include the following illustrious individuals: From Mexico, by appointment of GRANDMASTER RON VAN CLIEF, SOKE GLENN PERRY who will Head GRANDMASTER VAN CLIEF’S CHINESE GOJU…..From Hawaii, the well known Head of the VILLABRILLE-LARGUSA KALI SYSTEM, APONHANG TUHAN (GRANDMASTER ) BEN T. LARGUSA…….From California, GRANDMASTER PARKER LINEKIN, 7th generation JUNG SHEE OF TIGER TAI CHI CHUAN (DOO’S FAMILY) & GRANDMASTER BRIAN ADAMS, Founder of INTEGRATED MARTIAL ARTS SYSTEMS & ONE OF THE ORIGINAL STUDENTS OF KENPO GREAT, GRANDMASTER ED PARKER.

Welcome gentlemen to our elite family of the world’s greatest martial artists!

In the media this time around……The November issue of BLACK BELT features mentions of GRANDMASTER JOHN PELLEGRINI, JIM ARVANITIS & YOURS TRULY while its December issue features a column by GRANDMASTER BILL WALLACE……The September issue of INSIDE KUNG-FU has an article on MASTER ED PARKER JR entitled "KEEPER OF THE KENPO FLAME"…..while its December issue features GRANDMASTER DOUGLAS WONG & MASTER JACKIE CHAN…….MARTIAL ARTS & COMBAT SPORTS highlights GRANDMASTERS STEPHEN HAYES & LEO FONG with a mention of MASTER DON "THE DRAGON" WILSON……and lastly, TAEKWONDO TIMES features articles on GRANDMASTERS JON BLUMING, PARKER LINEKIN, BRIAN ADAMS, JAMES LACY & YOURS TRULY with mentions of GRANDMASTERS JIM ARVANITIS & JOHN PELLEGRINI

 

Well, this concludes our edition of the newsletter for this bi-monthly period….’Till next time, stay "aggressive" and "fair" in all that you do.

Sincerely yours in martial arts brotherhood,

 

Grandmaster Frank E. Sanchez

10th dan judan

Founder/ Executive Director International

 

NOTE: The WHFSC has been in existence since May of 1993 and is a private enterprise of Soke Frank E. Sanchez in service to its grandmaster membership. Any additions or deletions to its membership must be in writing. All 2 year membership certificates are not automatically renewed and MUST be renewed by written request to our Headquarters.