News
for December, 2000
12/30/00 -- As the year closes what has seen both the
darkest and brightest times of my life, I take this moment to
reflect on a few of the positive aspects of the last twelve
months.
The year began with the renewal of our self-defense classes for the
City of Martinez where we acquired a new location and an opportunity for
the students to experience some of the traditional lessons taught in the
dojo. Most of them enjoyed combining the safety awareness focus of
these sessions with karate training. It is my intention to give
these students more of this experience and thereby a further insight into
the many benefits of martial arts training.
The ensuing months brought many opportunities to exchange
knowledge with other students and instructors in various arts. I had
the pleasure of meeting students and teachers of other martial disciplines
in friendly and interactive settings. My students also shared in
these experiences and benefited more than from any tournament we could
attend. The foundation established by these friends and fellow
teachers is a bond we will continue to forge into the future.
I would like to thank Jim Silvan, Ben Abarca, Tim Evans, Chris Peterson, Janice
Okamoto, Joey Cruz, Nyree Tupasi, John Lofton, Ken Shockley, August
O'Neal, Ken Pitts, Vinton Koklich, Carl Caudill, Alfredo Bandalan, Sonny
Napial, Rocky Ryan, and the many other teachers and students
involved in these events for giving of their time and
knowledge.
As a result of the generosity and friendship of the Banda Family, I was
able to spend time with Junko, Julia, and Christina in Hawaii during
September and December. Among the special gifts acquired from this
treasure was the chance to train daily on the private and very beautiful
beach that was our back yard. The sunrises that filled me with
newfound strength and purpose are unforgettable. During my years in
the martial arts I have trained harder but never with the spirit I experienced
in that special time and place. My heartfelt gratitude to everyone
who helped make this
possible.
Later in the year we had the first black belt test conducted for our
students. I had initially hoped that as many as five people would be
qualified for this rank by November when the test has originally
scheduled. As it turned out, only my eldest daughter, Julia, took
the test on October 29. She performed as expected and earned her
advancement to shodan (first degree black belt). Although her
sister, Christina, was unable to test due to her challenge with liver
cancer, she was awarded an honorary shodan certificate presented to
Julia and me by the instructors in attendance, all of who know Christina
and of how deserving she is of this honor. Christina was never able
to wear her black belt but it will hang in a place of honor in her room
and serve as a lasting memory of her achievements and contributions in the
martial arts.
Lastly, I would like to share a letter (click here
for that message) sent to each member of the RyuBuKan Dojo that
attempts to express my thanks and a few of our plans for the new
year. I wish you all the same joys and gifts that I and my
family have and leave you with a final thought. If there is a
lesson in the challenges that we faced in this year, and that eventually
test us all, it is that we face them with those that truly care and love
us. We must consistently strive to make ourselves and each other
stronger everyday and resolve to use that strength to help one another
when that time comes. We may never need to use our martial
training in any other fashion but this. Don't fail yourself and
those who need you by doing any less.
Happy New Year!
Pedro J. Bernardy
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