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Editor: Soke Frank E. Sanchez

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April - May   2004

 WORLD GRANDMASTERS COUNCIL


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The Maestro passes on..DR. PETER URBAN, America's first 10th dan & the beloved Founder of U.S. GOJU died at his home in New Jersey on April 7th after a long bout with Cancer. According to sources, his final act was a "Lion like " roar to heaven to announce to his peers and teachers that he was on his way .A Man who was "bigger than life", MAESTRO URBAN epitomized everything that a great teacher should be. He was a great friend & member of this Council. Please remember him in your prayers. I would also ask that you extend your condolences to his Daughter, Julia Urban Kimmerley at 522 Delsea Dr., Sewell, NJ. USA 08080; E-mail address BKRockit2u@yahoo.com  along with any monetary contributions you can give. As many of you know, the Maestro was not a rich man & much of the expense connected with his cremation is still unpaid for. Your donations would help his Daughter defray some of this cost. THANK YOU.

In honor of my late great friend, the AMERICAN LION OF GOJU, PETER URBAN, there will be NO PHOTOS in this newsletter to detract from his passing as we relate the news of our Council members below. Instead, I would ask that you REMEMBER HIM IN YOUR MIND AS YOU WOULD CHOOSE TO REMEMBER HIM. I believe the Maestro would have wanted it that way.

In our "DID YOU KNOW THAT..." section..MAESTRO URBAN's birth date has been given incorrectly over the years..He was BORN on the 14th of August, NOT the 15th per correspondence that he faxed to me on August 15, 1996�He attributed the incorrect date to the Koreans & Gosei Yamaguchi followers in California disliking the fact that his Birthday fell on V-J Day ("Victory over Japan Day")..

A tribute was paid to MAESTRO PETER URBAN at Shihan Al Gotay's 15th ALL GOJU RYU URBAN CUP INVITATIONAL KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS on April 25th at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York...Also, giving tribute to MAESTRO URBAN on that day was GRANDMASTER GARY ALEXANDER at his Annual I.A.M.A. 2004 KARATE, TKD, KUNG-FU CHAMPIONSHIPS in New Jersey. During that event, GRANDMASTER ALEXANDER was also presented with an AMERICAN PATRIOT Award from our Council.

GRANDMASTER RON BALAS' Dad also passed away recently after years of declining health..Please send your condolences to RON at ronbalas@GBRonline.com  Our sincerest sympathies over your loss, RON..


HANSHI SID CAMPBELL of California appeared February 14th on the "on the Edge" Internet Radio Show hosted by Datu Kelly S. Worden. You can hear his archived radio interview by going to www.kellyworden.com  and clicking on "On the Edge Radio"..

In other media news, are own GRANDMASTER RICHARD HACKWORTH of Ocoee, Flordia was recently signed to a 156 show deal to appear on the "BANG" TV Show to be broadcast on UPN & Fox Television. RICHARD also hosts his own award winning weekly radio show called MARTIAL ARTS SUCCESS for the MARTIAL ARTS RADIO NETWORK based in Florida.....

On April 18th..GRANDMASTER JOHN PELLEGRINI of COMBAT HAPKIDO became the first American in history to receive 9th dan certification from the WORLD KI-DO FEDERATION / HANMINJOK HAPKIDO ASSOCIATION. The promotion was presented by Grandmaster In Sun Seo at the 4th International Martial Arts Competition & Masters Exhibition in Busan, Korea...

The Philippine Government will also be presenting GRANDMASTER BRAM FRANK with recognition of his CSSD-COMBAT ARNIS as an official branch of MODERN ARNIS. BRAM was also one of the designers of the new official USMC Bayonete which was recently featured on the cover of "Tactical Knives" Magazine.

SHIDOSHI STEPHEN HAYES of Ohio wrote to say that he is being featured in an upcoming DISCOVERY CHANNEL "UNSOLVED HISTORY SHOW" on June 2nd. The show is a one hour special on the Ninja art of Japan featuring AN-SHU STEPHEN HAYES, his Wife, Rumiko & their Hombu school in Ohio...Be watching for it!

GRANDMASTER CRIMI of California was recently made a Representative for the European JuJutsu/ JuJitsu Union & was part of the Honors Committee for the WBI JUJITSU WORLD CUP held in Paris, France, May 29th & 30th.

MASTER BEN BERWERF, Founder of TORI RYU JUJITSU & Head of the U.S. JUDO ASSOCIATION'S JUJITSU DIVISION wrote to say that he has retired after 50 years of work to Charleston, South Carolina. BEN will be spending his time jogging on the beach & teaching week-end clinics throughout the U.S...Ah, the good life!

GOOD FRIEND, GRANDMASTER LOU ANGEL celebrates his 50th Anniversary in the martial arts with a special weekend of seminars, tournament competition & a banquet dinner on June 4th -5th in Joplin, Missouri. ...

SIJO ADRIANO EMPERADO celebrates his 78th Birthday during a special banquet at the KAJUKENBO SELF-DEFENSE INSTITUTE, INC's ANNUAL K.S.D.I. OPEN MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT & SEMINAR slated to take place at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 9th - 10th. GM. DECHI EMPERADO will be hosting the event.

HANSHI J.R. RUIZ's 18th ANNUAL IKKU SUMMER CAMP takes place June 4th - 6th at Oxford College in Atlanta, Georgia..

SHIHAN KEVIN BLOK, Founder of the CHUDOKAI AIKIDO FEDERATION
INTERNATIONAL & WKF Director of Aikido in Canada wrote to say that he also the Founder and Director of ON GUARD - CONTROL & SELF-DEFENSE TACTICS SYSTEMS & Chief Defensive Tactics Instructor for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa, Canada..

Judoka pioneer, SHIHAN EDWIN MALEY has another award to add to his long list of accolades...He was presented with a "2004 FAVORITE SONS & DAUGHTERS" Award from the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners in Florida on April 28th ..CONGRATULATIONS, PROFESSOR!

DR. RIC BLACK has a new website for his latest DVD on Cyclist defense called CYCLIST DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC...He is also looking for National, Regional & State Representatives for his United States Police Defensive Tactics Association which he Founded in 1979. You can access his websites at http://cyclistdefense.com  & http://uspdta.com  for more information on both.

GRANDMASTER JURG ZIEGLER of Switzerland e-mailed to say that he has been busy teaching the Cambodia Police & Army units in Phnom Penh & has published two new pocket size training manuals in German & English on GUO LO WING CHUN KUNG-FU/ PIN SAN KUNE. For more information, you can contact
JURG at asiatop@compuserve.com

GRANDMASTER SAM KUOHA of KARAHO KEMPO wrote to say that Daughter, SENSEI KA'IMI is featured in a National "Drug Free America" Commercial ..So, be watching for it!

Received a DVD from our member, SIFU JOHNNY WU of Ohio who was mentioned in our last newsletter as being one of the "movers & shakers" of martial arts in the Ohio area. Aside from his martial arts activities, he is also a film maker with a number of short films on the festival circuit to his credit. You can view his work at www.mdifilm.com  or www.mdifilm.com/thechase  .

Lastly in International news, I hope that all of you are planning to attend our next Annual Meeting/ Seminar Symposium/ International Hall of Fame Banquet slated for September 3rd -4th in Orlando, Florida..It's like a family reunion of your peers.. DON'T MISS OUT ON THE GREAT KARMA (FEELING) THAT IS A PART OF THIS ANNUAL EVENT!

In our "New Members" department..Nominated by our International Screener, SOKE EDDIE BADIANG of Hawaii, we have PROFESSOR JAIME ABREGANA JR. of the HAWAII MARTIAL ARTS INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY in Ewa Beach, Hawaii..WELCOME TO OUR COUNCIL OF THE WORLD'S MARTIAL ARTS ELITE, PROFESSOR JAIME!

In the media this month (magazines currently on the newsstands as of this writing)... The July issue of BLACK BELT Magazine features a tribute to the late MAESTRO PETER URBAN, Black Belt's 2004 Man of the Year with remarks by DON WARRENER & RON VAN CLIEF; GRANDMASTER BILL WALLACE's "FULL CONTACT" Column; A review of MASTER JACKIE CHAN's video "City Hunter"; an article by GRANDMASTER GEORGE ALEXANDER; & News release on GRANDMASTER RICHARD HACKWORTH's new TV deal with "Bang" TV...The May issue of INSIDE KUNG-FU features an article on LIMA LAMA with TUUMAMAO "TINO" TUIOLOSEGA & an article on MASTER JACKIE CHAN's new restaurant called JACKIE'S KITCHEN in Hawaii..Lastly, TAEKWONDO TIMES May issue features mentions of the INTERNATIONAL KWANMUKAN SYMPOSIUM held recently in Ohio by GRANDMASTER GEORGE ANDERSON; a KONG SHIN BUP Seminar with GRANDMASTER RUDY TIMMERMAN held in Northern Ontario, Canada; the appointment of Mr. Greg Walker in San Francisco, California as "Special Military Tactics Instructor" for MODERN FARANG MUL SUL by its Founder, GRANDMASTER MICHAEL DE ALBA; the appointment of Daniel Brankline as Vice President of GRANDMASTER ROBERT H. WILLIAMS' MAKOTO RYU AIKI JUJITSU Organization; and an article by YOURS TRULY on SAN-JITSU Rolling techniques..

Well this concludes our issue for this bi-monthly period of April - May. As always, remember to send in your newsworthy items for publication & in the meantime, stay "aggressive" & "fair" in all you do until next time!......Since we did not have enough space to print our new Master membership in this issue, we will have the names posted to our Website at http://Bushido.org/whfsc  . So, be watching for this new addition in the near future!

 


GRA

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 membership. Any additions or deletions to its membership must be in writing..RECEIVING THIS NEWSLETTER DOES NOT CONSTITUTE YOUR BEING AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THIS COUNCIL. All membership certificates with an expiration date are NOT automatically renewed and MUST be renewed by written request to our Headquarters.