Sunday, June 28, 2009

Promotions




I was invited to Steve White's Manchester Karate Studio recently to test Mr. Jim Peacock and Mr. Tim McKenzie for their 6th and 5th degrees, respectively. I have to say that the 2.5 hour exam was one of, if not the best, exam I have seen for those ranks.


Tim McKenzie, shown being kicked up here, is the senior instructor at MKS. Mr. Peacock, below, owns a studio in Mont Vernon, NH and has been with Mr. White for 23 years.


Their exam was a balance of all facets of the system, liberally laced with questions on history, terminology, ritual and etiquette, standards, teaching principles, and medical implications. Both wrote papers breaking down a technique into its components and what the strikes actually did to tissue and bone. The physical portion included demonstrations of the applications of every technique in the higher form in sequence. They also did attack categories with line interruptions and pick-ups, doing all of them spontaneously and using the formulation principle.


Both men did a fine job and I congratulate them. Their instructor, Mr. White, did a great job with them and gets an "atta-boy", too.

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