Our KIA feature of the week highlights another National Forms Champion who is also Founder and CEO of a very successful business enterprise. Steve “Coyote” Vertun, Kiado-Ryu Black Belt #39, received his 1st Dan rating in December of 1995. With a determined, relentless, never-give-up mindset, Coyote won the Brown Belt Forms Championship in 1993, a competitive circuit of thirteen major United States cities. Steve is one of four Karate Institute of America students to win a coveted national martial arts championship hosted by the North American Sports Karate Association (NASKA).

Here’s a wonderful flashback to the early 1980s and a Saturday morning KIA kids class with instructors Greg “Maddog” Bendel and Rose “Renegade” Hoberg. Rose became the 12th KIA Black Belt; Greg the 14th. How cute these kids were! And they could never be tired out! The ages of these children were 5 to 7. Simply adorable. A couple things of note: This photo was taken at the main studio on the corner of Lambert and Aspen streets in Lake Forest.

KIA Black Belts are diverse individuals. Mike “Shooter” Benedict is one such person. One of his hobbies is being a biker, and he’s placing that “Benedict focus” into a fun and healthy passion. Shooter is the sixty-second Black Belt of the Karate Institute of America. He is also a second dan. His youngest son, Greg aka, “Earthquake,” is the fifty-ninth Black Belt of the KIA—another terrific father/son Black Belt duo.

What in the world is “A Black Belt Pinky Champion?” It is a rather interesting question, is it not? Well, the Karate Institute of America has its own one-of-a-kind Black Belt Pinky Champion? He is Doug “Pinky” Krause, KIA Black Belt #48, who received his first dan rating on 1 February 1997, nineteen years ago! Pinky’s National Championship was earned in 1993 on the North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA) circuit, which consisted of 13 cities in the United States hosting open, all comers tournaments.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Five Star General & U.S. President The following quotation is from one of America’s greatest men, Dwight D. Eisenhower. It is highly germane to today’s environment. It is also important for millennial children to understand because America’s future will one day be in their hands. If all that Americans want is security they can go to prison. They’ll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads.

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. If we are to live with a noble and elevated spirit, regardless of our personal comfort, it is axiomatic that we realize that Character Must Precede Prowess. In other words, character must come first before our martial arts rank, status, championships, name, fame, skill, billfold, bank account, titles on the door, trophies on the shelf, name plates on the desk, headlines in the local society column or records in the record book.