APRIL - JUNE 2006

CONGRATULATIONS to WHFSC Member, GRANDMASTER RON VAN CLIEF of New York & his lovely Wife, Semina on the birth of their new Son, KAI  VAN CLIEF... The newest member of the  VAN CLIEF Family was born March 13^th at 7 lbs 4 ounces... Another member of the VAN CLIEF clan, Shihan Ronnie Van Clief is  following fast in the footsteps of his famous Father & is featured in a limited release film entitled "SPIT" which premiered June 22^nd on the East & West Coasts.

SOKE HARRIS WARREN of Florida recently "tied the knot" in Florida with his new Bride Edna Stacker Warren.... Showing his dedication to the Council, both SOKE Harris & Mrs. Warren showed up at the Council's Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida on May 27th where they were given a round of applause before setting off on their Honeymoon.  Now, that's what I call "dedication" to this Council!....Also showing true dedication to this Council was PROFESSOR JOHN CASAREZ who drove all the way from Ohio with his group to do a seminar for our event after undergoing quadruple by-pass surgery just weeks before.... Now that's a warrior folks!.....It reminds me of the time when another WHFSC Member, the venerable PROFESSOR WALLY JAY in California had his by-pass surgery & then offered that he was hurting after doing some push-ups (WALLY has a daily regimen of doing 100 push-ups a day).  & this was just days after he had his surgery.... I had to "ask" WALLY to "take it easy" & heal up first.... Seems we just can't  keep ourselves off the mat even when we're hurting!....

New martial arts merit badge for the Girl Scouts - GRANDMASTER RON BALAS of Ohio recently succeeded in getting the Girl Scouts in Northern Ohio to accept martial arts training as a means to earn a Merit Badge. They even created a special Merit Badge for the program that RON put together for them! ( shown at left) GRANDMASTER SAM KUOHA of KARA HO KEMPO aside from appearing on the February cover of INSIDE KUNG-FU Magazine & doing 3 films this year (one starring his lovely daughter & Heir Apparent, of KARA HO KEMPO, KA'IMI )  is also having his home spotlighted in 3 landscape magazines.... The  recently renovated backyard of SAMS' looks like a resort in Hawaii & caught the eye of the Los Angeles Times which recently did an article  with  the 3 landscape magazines also set to do feature articles, as well....

PROFESSOR SCOTT SONNON's RMAX System won 3^rd place in BLACK BELT MAGAZINE'S INDUSTRY AWARDS for "BEST ECLECTIC SCHOOL" .... CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT!

MARTIAL ARTS TV - RADIO HOST & MAGAZINE COLUMNIST , DR. RICHARD HACKWORTH is offering  free e-mail tips on the business side of running your school WITHOUT changing "what" you teach.... If you would like to be on his e-mail list,  you can contact him at Martialartsradio@hotmail.com  . He also runs a consultant firm for martial arts businesses specializing in the above.

The late Professor Remy Presas' Modern Arnis organization in the Philippines recently adopted one of GRANDMASTER BRAM FRANK's knife creations as the "official knife" of Modern Arnis.... BRAM is a student of the late Grandmaster Presas & Founder of CSSD.

NINJA GRANDMASTER RICHARD VAN DONK  has a new magazine out called "SHINKEN".... You can check out the first issue at  http://www.ninpocolombia.com/shinkenmagazine/shinkin1.pdf

 UNIVERSAL HARMONY DAY is coming!.......An idea thought up by Sensei John Mirrione of New York, UNIVERSAL HARMONY DAY pays tribute to what happened on 9/11 when the World Trade Center in New York & the Pentagon in Washington were attacked.... Martial artists from all over the world will be participating in events to draw attention to the aspects of doing good for our communities with some of these events to be televised on the national news.... This is a worldwide effort to show the terrorists that we are "united" in helping one another & that their efforts to disrupt our way of life is futile.... Please visit our website at http://Bushido.org/~whfsc  for more information & to get involved in this worthwhile project.

SPECIAL THANKS to Marketing Director, Master Adam James &  C.E.O, Grandmaster Bob Wall of the Chuck Norris/ Bob Wall Website  www.WorldBlackBelt.com  for spotlighting our Council on the home page of WORLD BLACK BELT INC.  just before our May 26^th - 27^th Annual WHFSC Event took place.   

Master Charles Barrett of www.dojos.com is offering free listings for WHFSC Members in his website martial arts directory. To contact him for a  fee listing, send an e-mail to masters@dojos.com & let him know that you are a member of the Council....

HANSHI RALPH VIGGIANO of MASSACHUSETTS was featured in the April issue of NEW YORK SPORTS SCENE Magazine.  RALPH, who is the inheritor of JOHNNY KUHL (a deceased member of the WHFSC)  COMBAT KARATE  had a great write up concerning his school; his inheriting the system; & his subsequent  membership in the WORLD HEAD OF FAMILY SOKESHIP COUNCIL......Also, featured in the BRANDON NEWS of BRANDON, FLORIDA was PROFESSOR EDWIN MALEY ,  historical figure of Judo awarding a 6^th  Degree Black Belt to his Son, Keith.... CONGRATULATIONS GENTLEMEN!

Received the new book completed by member, OLOHE  SOLOMON KAIHEWALU on his art of LUA entitled "ANCIENT HAWAIIAN MARTIAL ART OF KAIHEWALU OHANA LUA.  Myself and member, SIFU JAMES IBRAO wrote the forwarding notes for the book (along with Martial Arts History Museum President, Sifu Michael Matsuda) . It should become a "classic" for LUA, Brother SOLOMON!

Other books by members, include HANSHI STEPHEN KAUFMAN's new book entitled "THE SWORD IN THE BOARDROOM"; a science  fiction novel by DR. RIC BLACK entitled "THE ARMAGEDDON COMPLEX"; & a  book on our deceased member, the legendary DR. RICHARD "BIGGIE" KIM entitled "20^th CENTURY SAMURAI" by new member, GRANDMASTER DON WARRENER . For more information on these books you can contact the authors at Hanshi422@earthlink.net ; Daisokeblack@aol.com ; &  Donrw@earthlink.net  respectively.

GRANDMASTER GARY ALEXANDER's 43^rd I.A.M.A. KARATE, TKD, KUNG FU CHAMPIONSHIPS held April 9^th in Somerset, New Jersey was a resounding success as always.... In attendance were  the "cream of the crop" of the East Coast .... For more information on next years event, you can contact GARY at GaryAlex@bellatlantic.net 

KYOSHI JOHN THERIEN's WORLD KOBUDO FEDERATION  held  its annual CAPITAL CONQUEST  seminar symposium  on May 18^th - 22^nd in OTTAWA, CANADA....  For more information on the next WORLD KOBUDO symposium, contact JOHN at Kyoshi@jiu-jitsu.com .... GRANDMASTER BRUCE JUNICH of the MARTIAL ARTS COLLECTIVE SOCIETY also has his 2006 GATHERING in SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA scheduled for October 7^th - 8^th in Sacramento, California. For more information call 916-308-2606....  Both are outstanding events!

HANSHI LEON WRIGHT held an oriental rules kickboxing match on July 7^th in Virginia under the sponsorship of the WORLD KARATE ASSOCIATION & KENJOU DOJO.... No news as of this writing as to the outcome, but we hope to have more for you in the next newsletter....

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Our 13^th Annual WHFSC Function held May 26^th -27^th in Orlando, Florida celebrating our 14^th year of existence was a resounding success with over 500 participants  from around the world attending from as far away as South Africa & Sri Lanka. Entertainment included Master Danny Zaino's Pepsi Cola Demo Team; Jamaica Johnson & Hip Hop recording  artists, DWB; & Universal Studios ice sculpturer Ama Guro Raffy Pambuan, a member of our Council. Honored at our Annual Meeting on that day was SOKE JOSEPH RUIZ  who received a certificate of recognition by the WHFSC for his promotion to 10^th dan by the KOTO SU HA SHITO RYU KARATE Organization of GEORGIA. We  also received a card of thanks  from the PHILIPPINE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NORTH CAROLINA  for helping them raise funds through their representative, Sean McClean who sold pens at our event. Monies raised from the sales went to benefit the CAROLINA MEDICAL MISSION in the PHILIPPINES....  of course, we were more than happy to help out! .... Please mark your calendars for next years' WHFSC Annual Meeting; seminar symposium  & Banquet  scheduled for May 25^th - 26^th in beautiful Orlando, Florida!

AND NOW TO OUR LATEST MEMBERS....  We HAVE well known martial arts author & historian, GRANDMASTER DON WARRENER of GOJU RYU KARATE joining us from CANADA.... .From the PHILIPPINES, GRANDMASTER RENE TONGSON - member of the Senior Master Council of Modern Arnis & Founder of TRES PUNTAS; GRANDMASTER VIC SANCHEZ - member of the Senior Master Council of Modern Arnis & Founder of KALI ARNIS INTERNATIONAL; & GRANDMASTER ROLAND DANTES, Head of the Senior Master Council of Modern Arnis & Founder of FMA OPEN STYLE.... From ISRAEL, we have 1OTH DAN GRAND MASTER HAIM ZUT of KRAV MAGA.... .From SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - GRANDMASTER SANTIAGO ARMSTRONG, 9^th dan DAI KAIDEN SHIHAN in HOTEIKAN RYU & from FLORIDA., we have the following new members.... GRANDMASTER WILLIAM WENDELL, 9^TH degree Black Belt in NISEI GOJU (founded by WHFSC Member, the late GRANDMASTER FRANK RUIZ) & Founder of MUSHIN RYU MARTIAL ARTS; Martial arts Action Radio Network Host,  GRANDMASTER GREG LEE  of JUNGKIDO YUSOOL & GRANDMASTER GARY POINTER - 9^th dan in HAPKIDO & Executive Board Member of the KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION.... In our MASTERS DIVISION, we have  new members GURO SAMUEL SCOTT of TALAHID KUNTAO from MARYLAND who was BLACK BELT Magazine's "Instructor of the Year" in 1996; PROFESSOR THOMAS R. MACK of MAKOTO RYU AIKI JUJITSU from NEW JERSEY; MASTER MICHAEL MARTELLE of NORTHERN SHAOLIN KUNG-FU from CANADA; MASTER JUERGEN THEURER of KI JUTSU  from GERMANY & MASTER MOHAMED IQBAL of KAI ZOKU HOU from SRI LANKA.... WELCOME GENTLEMEN TO YOUR NEW "FAMILY" OF THE WORLD'S MARTIAL ARTS ELITE!

AND NOW TO THOSE MEMBERS WE HAVE LOST THIS YEAR.... OUR HEART FELT CONDOLENCES go out to PROFESSOR ERNIE CATES of NORTH CAROLINA on the loss of his beloved Wife, MARY who was also a member of this Council's MASTERS DIVISION; & to the  families of SOKE GLENN MORRIS from LOUISIANNA & GRANDMASTER WILLIAM RANKIN of ENGLAND who died recently.... All were honored with a moment of silence at our  WHFSC Banquet & all will be greatly missed by this Council....

GET WELL WISHES also go out to new member, GRANDMASTER GREG LEE who postponed  gull bladder surgery to attend our WHFSC function  &  is now at home recovering & to GRANDMASTER JOE ONOPA of Michigan who is taking it easy after a mild heart attack.... GET WELL QUICKLY GENTLEMEN!

PHOTOS FROM THE PAST OF WHFSC MEMBERS....

In the magazines this time around.... the August issue of BLACK BELT Magazine features a review of MASTER DON WILSON's latest movie, "THE LAST SENTINEL" with GRANDMASTER BILL WALLACE's "FULL CONTACT" Column....  INSIDE KUNG-FU's September issue features a mention of MASTER JACKIE CHAN in  Ric Meyer's "MARTIAL ARTS IN MEDIA" Column.... BUDO INTERNATIONAL Magazine's July/ August issue features technique demonstrations by GRANDMASTERS JOHN PELLEGRINI & VINCENT LYN.... COMBAT Magazine's June issue features an interview with GRANDMASTER GARY WASNIEWSKI.... The  July issue of TAEWONDO TIMES features mentions of GREAT GRANDMASTER JI HAN JAE; GRANDMASTERS IAN CYRUS, SERGE BAUBIL, GREG LEE, JOHN PELLEGRINI, MARK SHUEY,  WILLEM DE THOUARS & MASTER JACKIE CHAN.... ACTION MARTIAL ARTS NEWS features a cover story on the Father of Modern Pankration, GRANDMASTER JIM ARVANITIS with mentions of GRANDMASTERS JOE ONOPA, CARL PLUCHINO, BILL WALLACE, STEPHEN HAYES, GARY ALEXANDER, GARY WASNIEWSKI, KALAII GRIFFIN, MARK SHUEY, VINCENT MARCHETTI, GEORGE ALEXANDER, JOE WILLIAMS, MARTY MANUEL, YOURS TRULY  & MASTERS MARK BAYNE & DON WILSON .... and last, but not least, THE KARATE VOICE  features an editorial by its Publisher, KRATIOS GRANDMASTER VASILIOS KATSAITIS; a cover story on YOURS TRULY with an article on SHIMABUKU - LONG ISSHINRYU Inheritor, GRANDMASTER PHIL LITTLE ; a question & answer column with guest experts, GRANDMASTERS RON VAN CLIEF & GARY ALEXANDER; with mentions of GRANDMASTERS GAT PUNO ABON GARIMOT BAET, MASTER JENS FRICKE & DECEASED GRANDMASTERS PETER URBAN, DON NAGLE, FLORENDO VISITACION, JOHNNY PACHIVAS & FRANK RUIZ .

This concludes our April - June Newsletter.... Please remember to send your news in for our next issue, either by e-mailing it to me at San_Jitsu@yahoo.com  or by mailing it to our Headquarters address shown on our Letterhead.  In the meantime, remember to stay "aggressive" & "fair"  in all you do until next time....

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.