Kurt Barnhart Promoted

In 1976 Kurt Barnhart walked into my studio on 103rd Street in Palos Hills, IL. I had met Kurt briefly years before when I was working at another studio. He started with me and continued, eventually taking his first black test with Mr. Parker on the board. Kurt took the bull by the horns when I moved to Florida in 1991 and kept a club running. Today that club has the children of the students who studied with me working toward higher levels of proficiency.

   Over the weekend I promoted Kurt to 7th. I did this in the presence of many of the same people who were there when Ed Parker would come to teach and test our people. To name a few; Don Rushing, Tom McLennan, Ron Allen, Bob Weaver, Jim Tucker, Rick Vecchi and Barb Barnhart. Zoran Sevic and David Zorich were there, too. Zoran started with me in 1981 and is now a 5th under Tom Saviano (McSweeney lineage) and David and I did judo together at his father's dojo when we were kids.

As I told the group, Kurt has been in the arts a long time (and AT the arts as long), has continued to train and contribute to the arts and considers it an honor to teach. His committment shows and his efforts to foster goodwill in the martial arts community was demonstrated by the linkage of our group with the Danzan-Ryu jiu-jitsu group that works at the Center for the Martial Arts in Worth, IL, run by Sensei Robert Garza. You can feel the positive energy between the groups.  

I was treated to a therapeutic massage by one of the black belts there after my seminar. It was fantastic. They do the restorative applications in their training and I was fortunate to get worked on. A great weekend with the Chicago people once again.

My congratulations to Mr. Barnhart.

  

PA seminar photos

Got to do some shooting with Brian, Emidio, and Brian's father, Bob. Good guys all. 

Kitchen Nightmares

Not long ago I was out at Graham Lelliott's and stayed at his house. We were watching the tube when he asked me if I'd ever seen this guy (or goy; Graham has that great British accent) named Gordon Ramsay.
Ramsay is a chef and his show is called Kitchen Nightmares. I was hooked. Not because it's a cooking show, which it isn't, but because it's a business show in disguise.

   Chef Ramsay visits a restaurant and looks at the food, systems, staffing, management, physical plant and communication. Of course, the place is a nightmare -hence the name. But these are not some dumps, they look like nice places but they're in trouble. So, what's my point?
  If a person like him with karate know-how went into a martial arts studio you'd have the same show.
Here's the Ramsay formula. He introduces himself (obviously he's been invited so he has a camera crew and as you see the make-overs you know there's been a lot of planning) and he samples the food. Typically it's disgusting and he then meest with the staff and asks some questions. Then he goes back into the kitchen to see what's what. Next day he goes thru the food prep and storage and watches how the back-end of the place works. Or doesn't work, really.
  He then creates a plan to turn the place around. It involves changing the menu, the staff, the decor and when changes happen, the reactions are interesting. He usually installs some good operating principles and the business turns around. Sometimes they fail and it's often because the owner is not truly committed to doing what it takes to be successful.
  I asked Steve White if he watched this show and he responded with an enthusiastic "yes". Steve owns one of the top studios in the US.
  Here's my analogy.  A consultant comes to your school and watches what goes on there. They see how a class is run by the instructors (they would be your waiters, the people actually delivering the product). They look at your studio layout, cleanliness, equipment, etc (that would be your kitchen). Does your chef communicate with the other kitchen workers? That is, does your lead instructor have the communication skills to lead assistants and get the message across to students?
   How does management (the studio owner) work with the instructors? Do they have staff meetings? Ramsey shows that often an owner has never had one with their people. Is the menu (curriculum) manageable? And who is responsible for what?
  His show illustrates some of the bad attitudes owners can have toward customers. Some even call their customers liars when they send food back! His point is that sometimes we have to look inward to discover our business problems.
   I could go on but if you watch the show and think about what he's doing in the context of a karate school , or any business, you'll recognize sound business principles couched in an entertaining hour.
   In the past I have gone to some schools and done similar things and have gotten postive feedback on recommended changes. The results are the proof. There are martial arts consultants out there who do what Ramsay does but just doesn't get bleeped as much.

  Check it out.

Brian Price promoted

I was in Leesport, PA over the weekend at Brian Price's studio. The seminars there went very well with three sessions conducted. I had about 20 children in the first and then two groups of adults to cover Defending the Third Person and What-If subjects with.
  While there I promoted Mr. Price to sixth black. He had recently finished his written thesis requirement and it was approved. His time-in-grade was appropriate and he has been contributing to the art for many years by instructing and continuing his education in order to be a better teacher.
  Please join me in congratulating him.

Hollywood Stars

The list of Hollywood celebrities Ed Parker knew and taught is long. Some he didn't teach but knew through others and had conversations with. Often the subject of the conversation would be part of a lesson he would teach at a seminar. An example was that Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music) could sing fast yet still be understood. He related that to pronunciation of motion. The method used by violin teacher Suzuki was a model for the disguised repetition in the Parker system.

 Mr. Parker would mention German-born actress Elke Sommers from time to time when he would speak of his connections in the celebrity world. She was married to Joe Hyams. Some of you know of him from his book called Zen in the Martial Arts. A story, a lesson from him really, about Ed Parker is in that book. But what Mr. Parker remarked on was that Elke liked to walk around the house naked, even when guests were present. It was amusing to see his eyebrows raise when he told the story and it was like he was letting you in on a secret. Looking at her picture, you can see why.