Greetings y'all, from S.W. Florida. Like a lot of young guys, I started taking Judo at the 'Y', you know, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. When I saw how fast I was progressing, I started going to the Philadelphia Judo Club on Saturdays, and teaching the junior classes at the 'Y' on Tues & Thurs. The Sensei at the Philadelphia Judo Club was a gentleman named Professor Takihika Ishikawa. The Professor awarded me my Ikkyu in the summer of '68. When this man went back to Japan to live out his 'Golden Years', he was awarded KUDAN at the KODOKAN. There is actually a prefecture in Japan named after his family. When I came back from an extended trip, I decided I'd like to learn Karate. I wanted the olskool stuff and found a man in Brooklyn/Staten Island named Thomas laPuppet. Mr laPuppet was Nidan or Sandan in Isshin-ryu and Shodan in Goju-ryu/Okinawa-te. I studied with him until being awarded my Sandan. And then....life got in the way. While I'm thinking about it, both of these Gentlemen were BlackBeltMagazine Men-of-the-Year. At 69 years old, there's more to tell. But I despise typing. More to come. Okinawa-te ~~ Shodan Kodokan ~~ Ikkyu
