As many of you know, many of the photos featured in the Karate Institute of America photo of the week have been graciously supplied by Genny “Cougar” Edge, pictured here in 1990 performing a kata and relaxing on a nature hike twenty years later in 2010. Cougar received her Kiado-Ryu 1st Dan rating on December 15, 1990. She is the 13th Black Belt of the Kiado-Ryu and one of only eight females to achieve Black Belt distinction of the sixty-three individuals who have garnered such success, a remarkable and noteworthy achievement.

For those who knew Jerry “Bones” Gentry, we commemorate him in this collage from the 1980s and 1990s. What a dynamic force Bones was in the early days of the KIA. We miss him and his energy tremendously, and are eternally grateful for all he did in helping establish the legacy of the Karate Institute of America.

From the Karate Institute of America 1980 and 1990 archives, Grandmaster Richard Andrew King competes with a cane. The cane, one of the most practical weapons in the contemporary world, is one of the standard weapons taught in the KIA’s Kiado-Ryu karate system. Free videos of the cane in action, as well as other weapons, can be found by following the “Videos” link at King’s Karate.

Pictured with Greg “Maddog” Bendel, the 14th Black Belt of the Kiado-Ryu, are his two beautiful sons: Hunter (age 7, left) and Marcus (age 4, right). This photo was taken at the KIA’s thirtieth anniversary celebration at Dana Point Harbor on August 30, 2009, nineteen years after Maddog achieved his 1st Dan. He is now one of thirteen 2nd Dan KIA Black Belts.

Supporting new blue belts, Tristan “Raptor” Ligtvoet (left) and Josh “Viper” Shamassian (right), are Mr. and Mrs. Ligtvoet with their son, Tristan, Grandpa Shamassian with Mr. and Mrs. Shamassian with their son, Josh. Hannah, Josh’s sister, is in the front row along with Raptor’s little brother, Aidan. Aidan looks like he’s ready to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

Clark “Flash” Hyman, the 16th Black Belt of the Kiado-Ryu, who received his 1st Dan in August of 1991, is pictured behind his lovely and ageless wife, Gwen, and their two sons, Sheldon and Brandon. Flash has been a wonderful friend to and stalwart component of the legacy of the Karate Institute of America since he began his martial arts studies in the mid-1980s. Some people just never get old!