Greetings all,
The Desert Warriors had their annual workshop weekend on October 14th and 15th. In addition, we held a Shodan exam in San Do Ichi Ryu Jujutsu with Carlos Trujillo as the candidate.
 
On Thursday night, Oct. 13th, the 1st part of the exam was administered. This was the Judo portion. The Board consisted of: Soke Emilio Claudio, Soke Santiago Armstrong, Shihan Paul Farley, Sensei Steve Hust and Sensei Ken Wong. Carlos demonstrated good technique and excellent ground work as well.
On Friday evening, the 2nd part of the exam was administered. This was the Shotokan Karate and San Do Ichi Ryu Jujutsu portion. Shihan Shakir Gushgari came in and assisted on the board for this section. Again Carlos exhibited good Karate technique and his Jujutsu kata was excellent. He definitely earned his Shodan with a show of discipline, technique, endurance and Hoteikan spirit!
The highlight of the exam was the 5 on 1 sparring at the end!
We welcome Carlos Trujillo to the Yudansha ranks of the Hoteikan System!
 
On Saturday morning we did our high octane training session starting with a run outside and then the agility course. Desert Warrior Tristen Gonder was the champion of the course displaying the quickest time!
This was followed by a sparring and grappling session. It was great training enjoyed by all.
After a small break we conducted the afternoon workshop. It started with demonstrations by both Sensei Victoria Marcus and Sensei Elizabeth Schmidt. Their Shotokan Kata and Jujutsu self defense was outstanding!
Soke Armstrong got the workshop started with a training session on the effectiveness of the thrusting and snapping front kick. Then the group was treated to a demonstration and training session by Shodai Soke Emilio Claudio. Soke showed competitive chokes and throw combinations that were truly amazing!
The group couldn't get enough of the perfection of technique displayed by Soke!
 
Finally, that evening our celebration BBQ was hosted by Soke Armstrong and everyone had a wonderful time enjoying each others company!
 
I would like to extend our thanks to the following dojos for sending representatives to the event: USMA Judo Team, West Point, N.Y., Hoteikan Dojo, Brooklyn, N.Y., Kumakan Ryu Dojo, N.Y., New Bushido Dojo, S.D., Horizons Martial Arts Dojo, Phoenix, AZ, Hoteikan International, Bulgaria, and the host dojo, Hoteikan Desert Warriors.
 
Thank you all for making this a great event and we'll see you all at the West Point seminar in April 2012!
 
Yours in Hoteikan,
 
Soke Saint Armstrong