The Karate Institute of America has always been blessed with an exceptional clientele throughout its history, now spanning five decades.
From our archives we see a young Eric “E.T.” Tan sharing his exquisite piano skills during his Black Belt coronation ceremony in 1992.
Eric was a driven young man. He began his KIA studies around age 7 and achieved a fully ranked adult first dan Black Belt rating as a young man. Continuing his studies, he achieved a second dan Black Belt rating before heading off to Stanford University.
One of E.T.’s art forms, other than martial arts, was piano. Practicing three hours a day, his skills developed to such a extent that he gave solo performances before packed audiences, even playing with local symphonies.
Karate and music were not his only accomplishments. Eric was an excellent student, so much so that he was the Valedictorian at Santa Margarita High School in Orange County, CA. Whatever Eric touched obviously turned to Exquisite. We are highly fortunate to have him as another stellar individual in our rich Karate Institute of America legacy.