What’s in a Call Sign? As is Karate Institute of America protocol, everyone has a call sign. Once in a while, one may query how an individual got his/her call sign in the first place. Sometimes, this can be a mystery. Not so with Jon “Stretch” Vail. In the following pictorial catalogue, can you guess why Jon got his call sign? If you can’t get this, you fail the test!
This is too much fun! Jon “Stretch” Vail studied at the Karate Institute of America way back in his teen years. As destiny commanded, when he graduated from high school he went to college in Arizona, received a degree in geology, married his lovely girlfriend Janice, got a job, settled down and started a family. Jon has been wonderfully connected to the KIA and, lucky for us, keeps us updated with his life.
Just thought I’d share some pics of my daughter Chandra and her kids over Christmas vacation. How sweet it is to have them visit from Boston!
To all of our KIA Family, the King Family wishes you all a healthy, balanced and centered 2018! Those of you who are long-standing Karate Institute of America members might remember Christa and Chandra when they were very little girls. Now they’re all grown up, pictured here with their awesome husbands and beautiful children. What a thrill for the “Old Man” to have the family together! God Bless you all from all of us to you and yours.
Honing their hand-checking skills are Blue Belt Zemia “Barracuda” Garrett (right) and Purple Belt Judy “Striker” Gompf (left). These two professional ladies are, to be sure, daunting, dangerous damsels. They have power, skill and intent. Athletically, Barracuda has a softball background; Striker a surfer and tennis background. They know how to use their bodies to deliver maximum damage to a target, and if their lives and/or well-beings are threatened they would have no compunction about using maximum force on their assailants to protect themselves.
How beautiful is this … on many levels! Hannah, a KIA martial arts Purple Belt, is also a proficient artist in American Sign Language (ASL). She has been studying Signing in high school for two and a half years. In her own YouTube video, she beautifully performs “Praise You In This Storm” by Castings Crowns. Her performance is highly artistic, emotionally moving and dramatically inspirational. Thank you, Hannah, for this wonderful performance of “Signing!
Judy “Striker” Gompf, aka Laguna Beach Surfer Chick, catches a Purple Wave propelling her up the ranks of the Karate Institute of America after passing her Purple belt test on 24 November 2017. Judy is a professional real estate agent, mother of two, possesses multiple collegiate degrees with a résumé heralding nearly two decades of work as a paralegal. A gifted surfer, Striker has applied her athletic skills of strength, balance, timing and concentration to her martial arts discipline.
Helen Keller a martial artist and warrior? Not in today’s lexicon. However, Helen Keller is one of the greatest, strongest, most courageous, and accomplished fighters and warriors in world history. At nineteen months of age, Keller was stricken with a disease leaving her both blind and deaf. Yet, she became a highly educated luminary of the human spirit, a truly shining example of what it is to struggle and triumph. A little online research will reveal her extraordinary life challenges, the intensity of which would dwarf many of today’s vaunted athletes and personalities.
Studying martial arts certainly has its sufferings, especially if one dedicates his life to it. In this light, one would be well-served to remember the famous words of Lebanese-American author, painter and poet Khalil Gibran.
Kiado-Ryu Principle #9 From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master. In the wisdom of time with its messages ageless, the pinnacle of all is that Character Must Precede Prowess. The first essential step to a spiritual life is character. One may deceive one’s friends, relatives and even oneself, but the Power within is not deceived. Saint Sawan Singh, 20th Century For he who is honest is noble, whatever his fortunes or birth.