As of the end of August 2012 Sensei Randolph Goodwin Jr. has retired from teaching karate. After having taught the Southington YMCA kids class for over 22 years he has chosen to retire. He says that he will miss teaching karate but looks forward to spending more time with his family in PA and traveling.
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Sensei G. We wish him well.
Saturday September 1st 2012 was a sad day for martial artists everywhere. Joe Lewis, student of Grandmaster Eizo Shimabukuro, champion kickboxer, and Shorin Ryu expert died after a long battle with cancer.
Like many karate-ka (people who do karate), Mr. Lewis first trained on Okinawa when he was stationed there as a United States Marine. After returning to America he continued to hone his skills, training with such martial arts legends as Seiyu Oyata, and Bruce lee before beginning his professional kickboxing career.
His record is out of 21 fights, 16 wins (14 by knockout), 4 losses, and 1 tie.
My name is John Opalenik. My students know me as Sensei O. I am a Sandan in Shobayashi-Ryu and have been training for over 20 years.
I am a teacher and a writer in addition to my responsibilities as a Sensei.
Be sure to check previous articles even if you've already read them. I edit the articles to add and include information newly discovered by the author.
*Note* Karate is an art that for many reasons has a lot of information and misinformation out there. While I don't post anything on here unless I get it from a credible source, don't feel argumentative if you have heard information different from what's on here. I in no way consider myself to be anything close to the end-all, be-all of karate knowledge.