Joe Zorich

I took Judo at the Shindo Kan school on Stony Island in Chicago in the late 1960's. Blaise Joseph Zorich owned it and that's where I got my real start in the arts. Carole Wolken was a black belt there and gave me my first lesson at that school. I credit her with sparking me to continue in martial arts.
  Joe, pictured here, was a great guy. He was our "dad". I remember him as a disciplinarian but he knew when to let us go a bit. It was fun and I have lots of great memories of his school.
  It's where I met his son, David. Dave and I are still in touch and he even comes to my seminars in Chicago. Dae continued as well and has earned degrees of black in both Korean karate and judo.
  It was Joe that introduced me to the importance of weight-lifting in a conditioning program, too. He had been a power-lifter.
  When I went back to visit as a young adult I was surprised to see that I was taller than he. That perspective as a kid that instructors are 10 feet tall and know everything sure sticks.
  Dave had sent this picture from an article they did on Joe in one of the major Chicago papers many years ago. Joe passed away some time back but he won't be forgotten.