USIKA Fall Seminar!

Join us for the USIKA Fall Seminar! The seminar will take place at the Anderson Area YMCA on October 24, 2009. Registration will begin inside the YMCA at 10:30a - 11:00a. Bow in will be promptly at 11:00a and the seminar will end at 4:00p. Join us after the seminar for a barbeque. Cost is $25 at the door for USIKA members, $35 for non-members and $5 for spectators attending the cookout. It's sure to be a great day! Good karate and good food! Don't miss it!

Seminar Topics:

Grandmaster Chris Spruiell, Ju-Dan Isshin Jutsu, Hachi Dan Isshinryu Karate - Kinetic Chess in Combative Flow, the art of the side mount.

Master Brad Hatcher, Roku-Dan Isshinryu Karate, BJJ Black Belt - Knife fighting strategies and gun and knife disarming techniques based on military and private security tactics.

Master Doyle Seiber, Roku-Dan Isshinryu Karate - Isshinryu Karate bunkai at its best.

Master Lance England, Roku-Dan Isshinryu Karate, Iaido - Jo staff training.

Attending Masters:

Grandmaster Phil Little, Grandmaster Chris Spruiell, Master Peter Keko, Master Brad Hatcher, Master Lance England, Master Paul Tucker

Need directions? View event details on the USIKA Events Calendar!

Trouble leaving comments on the blog?

Have no fear! To leave a comment on the blog, simply click on the title of any post or the word "comment" at the bottom of any post.

Then type your comment. Select the "comment as" feature using the drop down arrow and select "Name/URL" to fill in your name, or if you have an AIM, Google, or other ID you can use that.

Then select "post comment" and you're all set! Try it now! Go ahead, click the title of this blog...

USIKA Summer Seminar

For those of you who joined us at this summers USIKA seminar, I hope you enjoyed the event as much as I did. We started off with a bang, with the promotion of Mr. Brad Hatcher to Roku-Dan. You don't get to see a promotion like that everyday. Mr. Hatcher valiantly held on to Go-Dan for over a decade, and we have no question that he will represent his masters rank with the same enthusiasm.

After promotions, we started the seminar. Hanshi Spruiell started off with ground techniques centered around the half guard. These techniques are excellent in case you are taken to the ground on the street and need to recover. You can guess what happens when you pull a full guard with no cup out there...

Next was Hanshi Little demonstrating knife defense techniques. He focused on simple but effective methods to disable a would-be armed protaganist. He also discussed mindset and defense strategies, the best of which would be to remove youself from the situation. The problem with a knife fight is, someone always gets cut.

Hanshi Little was followed by Master Peter Keko. Master Keko demonstrated point style/MMA hybrid techniques focused on power generation. He meticulously described each technique before letting everyone go to the bags themselves. The only unfortunate was Master Keko's uke. Even with the bag, he was launched backwards more than 20 feet after receiving one of Master Keko's step through side kicks to the mid-section. More unfortunately, the photo opportunity was missed, but after 5 more attempts, we finally got uke mid-flight.

Ending out the seminar was our newest master, Brad Hatcher. Master Hatcher, with the assistance of his wife Amanda, showed the finer points of an armbar and leg triangle escape. What revenge was later sought, we may never know. We only hope Master Hatcher makes it back for our Fall USIKA Seminar in Anderson, SC.

The seminar was concluded by a pig roast put together by Master Keko's students. We'll have to ask Hanshi Spruiell and Master Hatcher if pork is considered a legitimate submission technique, but there were many to tap out.

A big thanks to Master Keko for hosting a wonderful event and setting a precedent for events to come.

Paul Tucker's Roku-Dan Promotion

Everyone help me in extending a big congratulations to Mr. Paul Tucker for his recent promotion to Roku-Dan. Mr. Tucker was promoted at the April USIKA Seminar. Most never see this prestigious rank. Well deserved Mr. Tucker!

USIKA Spring Seminar 2009

The USIKA Spring Seminar has come and gone, but what a great learning experience it was.  Enjoy a short video clip of the event and lament if you weren't there!  A big thanks to the attending masters who shared their knowledge and actually got down on the floor and participated for the benefit of all in attendance.  Leave us your comments about what you enjoyed or took away from this event, and what you would like to see in the future!

First Time Visitors

Welcome to the USIKA Blog. If you are a first time visitor to our site, please leave us a comment to let us know you stopped by. Feel free to browse and enjoy our articles. Thanks for stopping by!