America’s history is rich in martial warfare. The American Revolution freed us from England and allowed America to become a nation whose freedom has been revered and prized the world over. Freedom gained at the expense of great courage, vision and, unfortunately, bloodshed.

Pictured here in the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, is a statue of General George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, who led the Colonial Army against the British. Bostonians have done a remarkable job in preserving the rich legacy of America as well as Boston’s role in her revolution. If you’ve never been to Boston, it is a trip worth making. Touring its great historical sites leaves one in awe of the immense sacrifice and character of those who fought and died so that we, the collective mass of Americans, could be free.

Pictured is Grandmaster Richard Andrew King, founder of the Kiado-Ryu system and the Karate Institute of America, known to his students as “Mr. King” or, simply, “sir.” Most weeks, Mr. King is in charge of selecting a photo, but this week he is taking a much-deserved holiday and has left the duty to someone else. Thus he becomes the unwitting subject of this week’s photo highlight.

Needless to say, without Mr. King the Karate Institute of America—or this web site!—would not exist. He developed the Kiado-Ryu system, instructed us in not only its techniques, but its philosophy. Many of us are who we are today because of his influence and training.

Pictured here is the main gate of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China. The Shaolin Temple is the seed of the Karate Institute of America. From this revered iconic structure, the art of kenpō—meaning “fist law or fist rule”—was born. From kenpō, the KIA curriculum was developed and expanded to create its artistic and technical breadth, depth, and diversity.

Matt Emig is not a KIA student, but he is one hot nunchacku expert. Check out his double nunchaku kata at the 2007 Twin Towers Classic. It’s fun to watch.

For those of you who are nunchacku experts, check out the small number of chain links and the width of the chuck handles. These are the reasons for the speed of the weapons in his routine.

The knockout occurred in the second round. The video link is below. Pay particular attention to the hand blitz Machida unleashes at 9:59, until the knockout at 10:25. It began with a straight left reverse punch followed by a hand blitz, typical of sparring matches at the KIA, in which Machida never let up until he knocked out Evans with a punching flurry.

Recognize these cuties and their gorgeous smiles? If you’ve been checking out our KIA photo of the week, you will. They are Jenny and Ryan Vail, Jon and Janice’s children. The family lives in Colorado and blessed us with a visit in the Fall of 2008. The twins were the subject of our November 17 photo of the week. Jon and Janice have both studied at the Karate Institute of America, and would have continued, but destiny moved them to the Centennial State. Hopefully, we’ll get to see them again in the near future.