European visit

Thanks to everyone at Bushido ES in Esslingen, Germany and Plymouth Karate in Plymouth, England for turning up at my classes in these schools recently.

At Marc Sigle's school in Esslingen, I sat on an exam board. Marc now has a new black belt, Andy Kissler, who did a fine job.He's intense and a hard hitter.
Marc also had a 40th birthday that weekend, you can send a birthday wish or a razz to BushidoES@aol.com. 

As part of his birthday celebration several of us taught classes over the weekend. Below you'll see Toni Deitl (excellent Shotokan instructor, myself, Marc and Andy Guettner (he did a great job teaching Filipino concepts).

   I went over to England to see my old friend Gary Ellis in Plymouth. He's been renovating his house and here's a photo of what he's accomplished.

Gary and his lady, Sara, hosted a kid's class on Friday that was well-attended. We had some classes on tai chi and extensions to techniques for the adults.  It was good to see Mark Richards and Felix Bishop there, too. Both are good guys.
 Gary and Sara went out of their way to show Jan and I a good time, taking us to country pubs and driving up to Bath to meet us. Gary drove us out to Tintagel, up on the north Cornwall coast, where the legend of King Arthur lives. The scenery is spectacular. That's Gary soaking up the energy, below.

I've been going to England for almost 25 years now and each trip is always a pleasure. If you're going to be there, drop in and see Mr. Ellis. He's probably the most knowledgeable Kenpo man in Europe (although Britain is technically not Europe) and moves like Mr. Parker.