This class photo was taken during a testing at the Karate Institute of America in 1986, twenty-eight years ago during the Golden Years of the KIA. Back then there were no computers, cell phones, tablets, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. It was a very different time, but as time goes, not that long ago in relation to the massive changes our world has gone through since then.
For those of you KIA students, can you find those who were or became Black Belts in the photo?
- Bob MacFarlane
- Rose Guck-Hoberg
- Jerry Alston
- Don Quinn
- Greg Bendel
- Terry Bass
- Dr. Milt Jacobson
- Genny Edge
- Colin Lee
- Danny Asay
- Larry Vetter
- Richard King
Those times were special times, replete with values of hard work, dedication, patience, determination, courage, discipline, skill, desire, and family—values not so common in today’s fast-paced, frenetic world. It was a great time, but as we all know, time marches on, waiting for no man. Yet, it was in those wonderful times that the substantive legacy of the Karate Institute of America was formed, a legacy continuing to this day, in spite of changing times, and still, the KIA marches on since its inception in 1979.