We come to the end of another year.  This year has seen the AKS continue into the future with new leadership and a renewed unity.  We’ve held our first Regional Training Seminar and made plans for improving our organization.  I sometimes ask myself what is it that motivates so many of us to do what we do.  Why do we belong to the AKS?  Why have we labored in our training efforts and sweat through hours of testing for rank in this organization?  For those of us who’ve been around a while, the answer is summed up in a name – Ernie Lieb.  Throughout the thirty-four years I knew and studied under Ernie, I knew a passionate martial artist, as well as a dedicated friend.  His abilities as a fighter were legendary and instilled the desire in others to learn.  He earned the respect of other martial artists because of his passion and skill that helped to establish a respected organization.  Yet, with all of his greatness, he was a down-to-earth man who relished being in a karate Gi and teaching the least of us.  He was never overbearing and always ready with a joke.  These are the memories I cherish about my friend and teacher.

As we move into a new year, we must each and every one of us ask ourselves what is it we hope to accomplish personally, as well as being members of the AKS?  What do we want to achieve as martial artists?  Where do we want our organization to go?  How can we accomplish these desires?  For me, it will be through the collective efforts of all of you; your support of the AKS in helping to make her a stronger organization; your continued efforts as martial artists to train yourselves and your students; and your collective efforts to exemplify all of the best the AKS stands for.  Our founder’s desires were for an organization that was based on quality black belts, instruction and competitors.  It was also based on his belief that all of this was possible without sacrificing honor and integrity.  These are all things each of us should be proud of.

The AKS is not a large organization, but she is a proud one.  Her members engage in training and teaching karate for the mere enjoyment of it.  There is no desire for lining our pockets through high testing costs or other fees created to generate money.  The funds brought into the AKS through annual dues, certificates, student handbooks and testing fees are used to support her membership, as was evidenced with the attendance of our two assistant chief instructors and myself at the West Virginia seminar.  Both Dave and Fred took time out of their schedules to drive more than ten hours one way to attend the seminar.  I flew from my home in south Texas to attend.  The costs of our respective travel were covered by the organization.  I know all three of us enjoyed the fellowship we experienced with our AKS members in West Virginia.  This was a "first" in over three decades of existence for the AKS.

I want to wish each and every one of you a blessed and Merry Christmas.  For the Sullenger family, this is the time of year we remember our Christian teachings and give thanks.  It is also the time of year we come together as a family to visit and catch up with each other.  I hope yours is the same.

The AKS - HQ wishes to extend the hand of friendship to our AKS brothers and sisters in Germany.  While we cannot change past events we look to the future in the hopes of a renewed friendship.  To that end we invite our European friends to join us at any of our regional training seminars, or the annual summer camp, where we may once again join in friendship and train as martial artists.

Mike Sullenger 9th Dan
Chief Instructor

On October 3rd, I had the privilege of traveling to Moscow, Russia.  I had been invited by two friends of mine to accompany them on a 10 day trip to train in the Russian Martial Art known as Systema; or as it's commonly called in English "The System."

Systema is an art with deep roots in Russian history and culture and has very close ties with the Russian Orthodox Christian Church.  When the Communists took over in 1917, national traditions were suppressed and this art was lost for the common man.  It survived in secrecy in private academies and among a few people who quietly continued their training; passing it on to new generations of their family.  It also lived on in those few top units of the Special Operations Units (SOU) of the Russian army.

After the fall of Communism, the classified nature of Systema was relaxed and it has been re-introduced to the world.  This has come about primarily thru the efforts of Vladimir Vasilev who established a school in Toronto, Canada and his instructor, Mikhail Ryabko, who teaches in Moscow.  Mikhail Ryabko is the head of Systema and was the primary instructor for this seminar.

The overall theme of the seminar was "Close Quarter Combat;" however, much of the seminar was devoted to learning how to breath properly and being able to move in a relaxed and natural way.

Systema's martial art work is based on four basic principles.   They are:

1. Breathing
2. Relaxation
3. Natural Body Position
4. Movement

A Tribute to the Martial Artist "Spouse" or "Parent"

I would like to take this opportunity to praise an often-overlooked segment of our martial arts community.  These are our spouses and families who have never worn a gi, performed a kata, bowed into a square, or spent an agonizing stint in a horse stance.   But without these advocates, many of us would not have the time and privilege to train and learn American Karate.

The auspicious group I celebrate is not exclusively AKS, but they are the ones I know the best.   Our family and parents are the ones who make sure we get to class.   Who make sure our gi’s are clean and pressed before a tournament and cheer us from the bleachers.   Who tell us what a great job we did even when we didn’t win our division.   Who attend to our aches, pains and bruises after a tournament or after an enthusiastic night of free sparring.   Who know all our “war” stories and can tell them as well as we can, and yet never seem to tire of hearing them for the fiftieth time   (Bless your hearts).

They handle the domestic necessities while we are away from home for training, visiting other schools, attending seminars, Summer Camp or at tournaments.   Some nights, after a long tough night of working out, you hear “I’ll hug you as soon as you get out of the shower.”   Sometimes, it is only for a couple hours; and occasionally, it is for a complete weekend.   Regardless of the amount of time spent in pursuit of perfection, we need a shower when we are done.

And why do we get this unwavering commitment to our karate endeavors?   Put simply, because they love us.   Students, who train in karate, stand a little taller, walk more assured, speak with confidence, take more risks and enjoy more success.  The support they give us, allows them to stand at our side and bask in our accomplishment as a partner.  And even more importantly, they allow us to train others so we can offer new comers the same opportunities that have taught us so much.

To those who wash the gi, attend the injuries, dust the trophies, maintain the scrapbook, and boost the ego; I want to say a heartfelt thank you.   We could not pursue our karate career if it were not for your support and encouragement.   And for all you have done, and will continue to do, we owe you a nice dinner and maybe a movie that is not starring Jackie Chan or Steven Segal.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Dave Thomas
Assistant Chief Instructor
American Karate System.

The annual AKS – Germany fall seminar was held this year in Uetze Germany.  This is a small town located very close to Hanover.  Tom Twining 7th Dan in Chi do Kwan and I were invited to teach.

With the passing of Mr. Lieb and Chuck Krum still on my mind, I had mixed feelings about going to Germany this year.  All I knew was that I looked forward to seeing the many friends that I had made over the past years.

We landed in Hanover on Thursday morning, September 20th; Andreas Modl (Teddy), Jackie Laucht and Diana Theuerkauf were at the airport to pick us up.

Since Uetze is so close to Hanover, Teddy had gotten a room for Tom and I at a small hotel close to the seminar.  It was like a Bed and Breakfast Inn here in the states.  It was quite comfortable, it also was a hotel for people who had horses and were attending horse competitions in the area.  So along with rooms it also had stalls for the horses.  I assumed Andreas and Jackie knew of this place because of their involvement with horses.

On Friday afternoon, Tom and I witnessed black belt testing for several Wado Ryu and German AKS students.  Of course, all of karate practiced in Germany has a very Japanese flavor.  I will say that the quality of students and the amount of requirements placed on these students for the various Dan ranks was impressive.  Andreas Modl and Heinrich Reimer also performed a demonstration of skill for their 7th Dan’s.  Andreas looked as sharp as ever, but Heinrich at age 62 looked awesome.  I have always been a firm believer in demonstrating your skill; no matter what your age.  So it was good to see this kind of demonstration from Heinrich.

Friday evening was the first 2-hour session of the seminar.  They always start with all the instructors teaching a small section to give the students a taste of what will come.  Heinrich started them off with some warm ups.  Tom and I flipped a coin to see who would go first.  Tom won, so he demonstrated movement drill from stick fighting art of Arnis, only with out the sticks.  Then I worked the group through the two-person form for Tiger One.  The German students seemed to enjoy our different takes on karate.

Saturday and Sunday went by in a flash.  Having taught several sections on AKS and Weapons, those two days seemed to fly by.  Saturday evening was a large barbeque for all the students and it was good to be able to talk to many in a relaxed atmosphere.

Sunday evening, we drove back to Andreas's and Jackie’s home in Holzminden.  We did a little site seeing on Monday and also taught Teddy’s class for him.   Unfortunately, I came down with a bad cold.  So Tuesday I did nothing but sleep.  Tom did a little shopping and also went to class with Teddy.  I think that if you plan to go to Germany, you should take at least 10 days.  One week sure goes by fast!

The enthusiasm for the Martial arts in Germany is very good.  All who talked to me were optimistic towards the AKS in the USA.   Several indicated that they would love to come here to summer camp or other seminars in the future.  They also hoped that more USA students would come to Germany in the future.  Even if the trip seemed too short, it was well worth the effort.   Tom and I have a new set of memories of friendship with our German AKS karateka.

Fred Reinecke, 8th Dan AKS

I confess, I am a "Survivor" fanatic.  For those of you who are not familiar with the show, it's a "reality show" where a group of "contestants" are taken to some remote location and compete to become the winner of $1,000,000 by "surviving" tribal council, where fellow survivors are voted out of the group.  The goal is to get to the last three survivors where the panel of judges (those voted out during the course of the 39-day game) ultimately decides which one of the remaining three contestants deserves the million dollars.  "Out Play, Out Wit, Out Last."

This season, Survivor was filmed in China.  One of the "Reward" challenges resulted in a trip to the Shaolin Temple and the Karate School there.  The winners of the challenge were treated to a rare demonstration by the students of the school.

After you click on the link below to view this video, use your mouse to drag the button to the right until you get to approximately 12:32 into the video (total Survivor program video is 42 minutes).  The Shaolin Temple segment is about 5 or 6 minutes long.   Enjoy!

Click here for Video