As promised here are some pictures from my visit to California. The weather is warm and sunny. It has been excellent meeting up again with Yousif. As you can imagine after 13 years of not seeing each other we have had quite a bit of catching up to do. It’s been full on karate most of the time, talking about this and that, sharing ideas, watching DVDs and of course training together. Yousif kindly allowed me to teach his adult class last Wednesday. His students enthusiasm and willingness to learn really made me feel most welcome. We had a great session working on gyaku-zuki with many positive comments after class. Heck! I could stay here permanently but no worries I will be back in April.
I have just got back from the US Open Championships held at Caesers Palace Las Vegas
This event went on for 3 days and involved 1200 participants including many current and ex world champions. Along the way I was introduced to team coaches for the US and Italy as well as many high ranking instructors.
In particular I had a chance to talk extensively to John Fonseca who is the current Pan American Kumite Champion and US Team Captain. I was invited to the head quarters of Black Belt Magazine to watch a photo shoot with John who was to be featured in an upcoming article on his favourite competition kumite techniques.
Black Belt magazine has the largest circulation of any martial arts magazine in the US so I was honoured when they asked me to submit articles for publication.
