Three wins in one night!

At the New Breed Fighter's MMA event on Friday July 23rd 2010 all three Kissaki fighters won their matches:

Jared Morelli, Brian Cowden and Paul Felder.

See the New Breed Fighters website for the fight card and more details.

A brilliant night and congratulations to the fighters and their trainers, Matt Knorr and Dan Shriber!

(Check back for more pictures soon. )

Kids' Tournament March 28th 2010

Here are the results:

Pictures from the Tournament are now in the photo gallery.

Anyone in Need of a New Start?

This kind comment was recently posted by Mary Yatsevitch:
“With heartfelt gratitude I wish to share the incredible progress I have made, due to the patient encouragement and kindness I have experienced through my participation in the Kissaki-Kai Cardio workout group on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. My daughter was the original participant, but one day I sat in while she exercised, and was right away invited to join in even if it meant that I would sit on a chair with an 8 lb. exercise ball as a start. After one hip joint replacement and two knee joint replacements and a current diagnosis of Parkinsons, I was fearful of getting down on the floor, had little reliable balance and not much stamina. A year later at 65, I can now get up and down from the floor, have achieved 100% balance and made war on the effects of Parkinsons, to the point where my Neurologist notices the difference. The atmosphere is low key and exercise is done to music with an upbeat attitude. I just want to share this experience with others, who might be shy about starting or might think it is all over for them. This has made a difference for me for the rest of my life.
LET ME SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE IN NEED OF A NEW START !!!”

Our Cardio hours are: Tue and Thu 9.30-10.30am with the first half hour cardio workout to music and the second half hour exercises and karate training. Non-members welcome!

Marlton Fall Fest 09 pictures in the photo gallery

In the Cage for Kissaki

More photos of the fight now also at the New Breed Fighters website

Saturday Aug 15th 2009, Paul Felder (right) won his first MMA fight. Paul, age 25, is now not only at home on the stage, but also in the cage. Working as a professional actor since his graduation from the University of the Arts in 2008 he also has a long history in traditional martial arts including Korean Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Brazilian Ju Jutsu and Muay Thai. He started his training for this fight at the Kissaki-Kai Martial Arts School in Marlton just over half a year ago. Originally, he had been attracted to Kissaki-Kai because of the school’s unique approach to realistic training, always emphasizing street-effective self-defense.
Since Jeff Calcagno's fight in mid October 08, a hard core of MMA enthusiasts meet regularly every Wednesday night for sweaty work-outs which include kicking and punching as well as ground fighting overseen by Matt Knorr, Dan Schreiber and Pinelands Ju Jutsu's instructor Bill Troy.
	Then came Paul’s big night: The event was organized by New Breed Fighters at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. Paul’s was the 9th fight on the card, by which time the audience had warmed up and the excitement rose to a new level as a riveting match ensued.  Both fighters gave their best and demonstrated their excellent skills. After trading some punches and some close grappling on the ground, Paul received a low kick and a spine crunching throw onto the floor, but showed his indomitable spirit by retaliating with crippling thigh kicks soon after.
The last round ended with Paul on top of his opponent, sinking knee strikes deep into the other fighter’s ribs. After three, three minute rounds, the most exciting fight of the night ended and Paul Felder was deservedly declared the winner of the bout. Asked why he had entered the cage, Paul declared: “I have always wanted to test my traditional back ground against the new style of MMA and prove that ‘traditional roots’ are the best base for any fighter.“
Not only as a fighter, but also as an actor, Paul Felder is a man you should watch!   If you would like to join the Kissaki-Kai Fight Team, or just train MMA with us, come along on a Wednesday night! For more pictures of the event go to our 'Photo Gallery' .                                                                                                                                                                                      Photos displayed here are courtesy of Phil Meighan. ,
.

The 2009 Kissaki-Kai Karate camp, held in Lawrenceville NJ (USA), provided a balanced programme of Bunkai-Kumite, a focus on wrist locks, self-defence drills involving dummy weapons (guns and knives) and two cardio workouts.

Typical self-defence scenarios, in conjunction with the quintessential ‘rules of combat’, were employed as a platform to demonstrate plausible interpretations of the Bunkai of various Kata. The frequent reference to the aforementioned ‘rules of combat’ from Senseis Vince Morris (8th Dan), Steve Montgomery (7th Dan) and Matt Knorr (5th Dan) underpins its pivotal role in ensuring that the Bunkai is rendered practical and gruesomely potent, rather than being an arid, academic abstraction. For example, (Kissaki) Ippon Kumite involved an array of counters ranging from palm-hand, knife-hand, elbow and knee strikes to the various pressure/vital points, as well as hip and neck throws (with the occasional headbutt) – combinations of these were applied in quick succession and this was only the basic level, which nonetheless possessed natural flow and real-life applicability. This should be contrasted with the reverse punch (gyaku-tsuki) counter in traditional Ippon Kumite, very often executed at the Chudan level after an impractical block, and starting from wholly unrealistic Tori and Uke Kamae positions.

Sensei Bill Troy (6th Dan Jujitsu) led a very well-presented session around the theme of wrist locks (Kote Gaeshi) from a ‘small-circle’ Jujitsu perspective. While I see myself as a novice in Kissaki (in spite of my Yondan in Shotokan), and by the same token a complete beginner in Jujitsu, I felt that these two disciplines harmoniously complemented each other. The ‘Kissaki-drills’ essentially laid the groundwork for setting up the scenarios in which the wrist locks could be effectively applied. Taking the opponent down to the ground was not enough – he/she then had to be convincingly immobilized on the ground too.

The two forms practised during the camp did not belong to the standard Shotokan cannon, namely Aragaki Seisan and Kansetsu-Waza Katas. The latter represented a short sequence of apparently innocuous basic moves which could just as equally form part of a simple Kihon drill. Yet its Bunkai rendition proved to be an ingeniously realistic sequence of joint locks.

The cardio workouts served at least two main objectives. First, any lingering side effects of insobriety, as a consequence of the social events of Friday and Saturday night, were conclusively quelled. Second, the workouts also ensured muscle and joint suppleness for the brunt of the martial arts activities which ensued.

Overall, the camp proved to be a very (physically and mentally) demanding experience while at the same time paying off handsome dividends in terms of enjoyment and the enrichment of one’s martial art.

June 2009,

Maziar Kakhi, 4th dan Shotokan

For more pictures click on the photo gallery on the left.

A Night to Remember
May 6, 2005 - Shugyo Training at Kissaki-Kai

We knew there would be six visitors from Belgium staying at the Kissaki-Kai Karate-Do Honbu Dojo the week of May 1. We also knew many of us should be at the special night: many black and brown belt members of Kissaki-Kai had been mailed words to the effect that the shugyo training the night of May 6, 2005 should be considered mandatory, especially if we were planning to take tests for rank advancement during the following month’s summer camp at Ryder University. What we didn’t know was what shugyo training actually meant, nor did we know the stunning surprise that would conclude the unforgettable event for
twenty-five excited karate-ka.

Shugyo is a Japanese term that means, essentially, a very disciplined study of an art. It means that whatever discipline or study is being undertaken, the student or practitioner will undergo a complete immersion, without outside distractions, for a certain period of time. It is a period devoted to concentrated study to test or to find one’s true self, a test, in a sense, of spirit and endurance. While centuries ago the term applied to many arts in Japan, it has been applied to martial practice from the sixteenth century through the present.

For Kissaki-Kai upper ranks, training at the Honbu dojo in Marlton, New Jersey, USA, it meant three intense hours of training under the guidance of Sensei Vince Morris and Sensei Steve Montgomery.

After warming up and being given cautionary remarks by Sensei Vince about pacing ourselves and listening to our bodies through the training, we entered an intense night of dramatically rigorous karate. The night included basics, combinations, various drills with partners (emphasizing many leg techniques), bunkai and, of course, kata. For much of the night, nothing else existed as we concentrated with great spirit on the challenging yet inspiring work that left us exhausted, yes, but wonderfully involved in the moment.

Puzzling to most of us, in the second half of the training was the appearance of a table and chairs for the honbu dojo sensei. We were asked to demonstrate with a partner, bunkai from our favorite kata. It seemed like the setting for testing, but none of us thought much about that possibility as we focused on the demonstrations of bunkai.
After the demonstrations, both serious and unintentionally amusing, we lined up in three lines facing shomen and our teachers. Now 10:00 P.M., Sensei Steve and Vince spoke gratefully of our consistent efforts during the previous three hours and Sensei Vince informed us that there would be dan promotions. Mysteriously, certificates appeared on the table and we were all still and silent as names and new dan ranks were announced. While we were surprised, it certainly made sense to have dan promotion for the karate-ka and sensei from Belgium as our common sensei would not see them again for a while. However, many of us were stunned and deeply moved as dan promotions followed, one after the other. In fact, three shocked karate-ka were advanced from brown belt to shodan, each of them profoundly moved to receive the black belt, including this grateful reporter.
Those receiving dan advancements that night:

Following another surprise–a bit of refreshment–many words and embraces of congratulations were traded and a bond that extended from the Marlton dojo to the other side of the Atlantic was cemented and enjoyed. It was a night none who were there will ever forget. Watch out for the announcement of the next shugyo night. It should not be missed.

Dave Murphy, May 2006

The above article was also published in American Samurai Magazine in 2005

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