The New England camp was a huge hit! Mr. Bill Gaudette coordinated it and says over 80 people from ten states and four countries were represented by attendees.
Friday evening started off with classes by Marc Sigle from Germany, Jim Peacock from New Hampshire, Graham Lelliott from California and Gary Ellis from England. The Saturday classes were kicked off by Mr. Lelliott, followed by Mr. White. After lunch Mr. Ellis taught and I finished the day. The teaching order was by the seniority of the instructors, determined by when they were last promoted by me. The order remains but the ranks are now one higher, as I moved them all up to eighth. All of them had spent 5-6 years at the last level and had been continuously teaching and promoting the art. Between them, they have almost 90 years of experience as black belts, and more if you count the years prior to their achieving their first degree.
On hand during the ceremony was Richie Bernard, 10th dan in Goju-Ryu. He was responsible for getting the custom-made belts for Lelliott and Ellis.
The feedback on the camp is that everyone had a great time, learned a lot and were blown away to be there for the triple promotion. It was quite a sight to see the crowd reaction when I surprised them and how a sea of people moved forward to congratulate them. It is a bit of kenpo history.
It was Graham Lelliott's first trip to that part of New England and his first meeting with Steve White. It had been some time since he'd seen his old friend Gary Ellis, too, which made the event that much more special.
Mr. White has indicated that the camp may be held again next year and alternate with Graham's Wonder Valley camp. We'll keep you posted.
Friday evening started off with classes by Marc Sigle from Germany, Jim Peacock from New Hampshire, Graham Lelliott from California and Gary Ellis from England. The Saturday classes were kicked off by Mr. Lelliott, followed by Mr. White. After lunch Mr. Ellis taught and I finished the day. The teaching order was by the seniority of the instructors, determined by when they were last promoted by me. The order remains but the ranks are now one higher, as I moved them all up to eighth. All of them had spent 5-6 years at the last level and had been continuously teaching and promoting the art. Between them, they have almost 90 years of experience as black belts, and more if you count the years prior to their achieving their first degree.
On hand during the ceremony was Richie Bernard, 10th dan in Goju-Ryu. He was responsible for getting the custom-made belts for Lelliott and Ellis.
The feedback on the camp is that everyone had a great time, learned a lot and were blown away to be there for the triple promotion. It was quite a sight to see the crowd reaction when I surprised them and how a sea of people moved forward to congratulate them. It is a bit of kenpo history.
It was Graham Lelliott's first trip to that part of New England and his first meeting with Steve White. It had been some time since he'd seen his old friend Gary Ellis, too, which made the event that much more special.
Mr. White has indicated that the camp may be held again next year and alternate with Graham's Wonder Valley camp. We'll keep you posted.
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