2025 News <> חדשות

Onegai-shimasu Hanshi, Kyoshi, Sensei, and all Deshi, 

The first formal workout on Saturday, February 1 was on the beach behind the Cocoa Beach Hilton, led by Kyoshi Mackay, and overseen by Hanshi. Naturally, much of the class focused on stepping first, as the group practiced this concept through multiple repetitions of Fukyugata-Sandan, navigating the incline of the beach. 

The crux of the class was centered around yakusoku-kumite with Hanshi and the various Kyoshi expounding on particular aspects, such as releasing muscular tension. Hanshi explained the importance of studying, practicing, and teaching prearranged fighting with attention to detail. Much of the discussion was in the context of Chapter 6 of Master Nagamine's The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do, including: 

- The development of yakusoku-kumite by Sokon Matsumura, who refused to teach Choki Motobu, lest he utilize it outside the dojo. 

- Master Motobu preaching against "dead kumite." 

- The pictures of the chishi, kami jar, and other weapons, which communicate the importance of strength training to karate training. 

- "The realization that you hold life and death in your hands...."

Other corrections during the day included drawing in the chin, getting the full extension/rotation on our uraken (backfist punch) and many more! 

Please see attached photo of the event, courtesies of Julie Lawrence.  

Domo arigato gozaimasu, 

Sensei Trevor Tezel, Yon Dan

Shihan, Ueshiro Merritt Island Karate Dojo

Greetings, USRKUSA Deshi,

At the Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, workout of Karate Weekend in Florida at Ueshiro Viera Karate Dojo, it was my honor to promote Sensei Emiliano Mazlen, Shihan of Chinatown Ueshiro Shorin-Ryu Karate Club in Boston, Massachusetts, to Rokyu-Dan Black Belt, and Sempai Sandra Morian of Ueshiro Viera Karate Dojo to Sho-Dan Black Belt.

At the end of every Black Belt test, Master Ansei Ueshiro would tell the Shihan: "Teach them to step first!"

This is true.

We must and will emphasize setting both feet before we throw our techniques, and as Sensei Emiliano Mazlen says in his July 23, 2023, Technique for the Week, it is still a principle we need to continue to work and perfect.

With joy and vigor!

Both feet are rooted down before the technique lands ... seamlessly! "Even a fraction of a second BEFORE the technique hits the intended target." Simply stated, "step first (seamlessly rooting down without PAUSE), then punch!"

Let’s work this and all the other corrections — gold — from this weekend. Next up is the Karate Q&A and Weekend Recap with me and the Kyoshi at 8 a.m. Monday, Feb. 3, at the Ueshiro Merritt Island Karate Dojo.

Take all the corrections you’ve learned from Karate Weekend and pass them on to your students at your Dojo. Practice mindfulness — which is another term for Zanshin or “moving forward.”

Above all else, “step first!” Keep training!

Sincerely,

Hanshi Robert Scaglione

USRKUSA

February promotion update at Herzelia Ueshiro Shorin Ryu Karate Dojo:

On Tuesday February 18th we conducted our Kyu rank promotion and special training event.

Preceded by a rigorous workout led by Sho Dan Sempai Ran Sheinman, the following Deshi were tested and consequently awarded new ranks:

o Ms. Vered Glotzer is now white belt with one (1) green tip rank (one Ro Kyu).

o Ms. Yifat Almog is now Yon Kyu rank.

o Ms. Shosh Bialer is now San Kyu rank.

o Mr. Phillip Vitkovsky is now San Kyu rank.

o Mr. Miki Gotlieb us now Ik Kyu rank.

Domo Arigato Hanshi, Kyoshi and Sensei!

Domo Arigato,

Sensei Nir Zamir

Go Dan

Herzelia, Israel.

Onegai-shimasu Ueshiro SRKUSA Worldwide,

I’m pleased to share our February 23rd test results from Ueshiro Karate Dojo ba'Kfar - in Kfar-Saba Israel:

1. Anat Lagon         - Promoted to Go-Kyu (2nd Green Tip)

2. Nira Bydeh          - Promoted to Yon-Kyu (Green Belt)

3. Adi Ziv                  - Promoted to Yon-Kyu (Green Belt)

4. Carlos Dyk         - Promoted to Yon-Kyu (Green Belt)

5. Mike Landa        - Promoted to Yon-Kyu (Green Belt)

6. Shay Kraim         - Promoted to Yon-Kyu (Green Belt)

7. Motti Cohen      - Promoted to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

8. Aliza Barzily       - Promoted to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

Congratulations to them for all their hard work and tenacity to achieve this important milestone.  

The board of judges was composed of Sempai Meir Amarin (Shodan) and I.  Over a period of 4 hours, we conducted a fully traditional strenuous Ueshiro SRKUSA workout and test, including all elements as taught to me by Hanshi Robert Scaglione and our Kyoshi[s].  We concluded the test with a comprehensive set of questions and answers taken from our valuable books, as well as board breaking; the smell of fresh pine wood was noticeable from the spirited breaks.  

Please see attached photo of our newly promoted deshi with Joy & Vigor!

Adding to the separate testing conducted last week at our sister dojo – Ueshiro Karate Herzliya Dojo – under Denshi-Shihan Nir Zamir, this February we have promoted in Israel a total of 13 deshi.  This is a very strong number, which strengthens us on the path forward; in our traditional beliefs in Israel, 13 is said to be God’s number.  As we continue on the Karate-Do path, under the leadership of Hanshi Robert Scaglione, it feels like God and Master Ansei Ueshiro are keeping their eyes (Gan) on us with a smile😊😊

Domo Arigato Gozaimasu Hanshi, Kyoshi, Sensei, Deshi and our significant others who support our training on this path.

Congratulations to all those who tested this February throughout our worldwide dojo[s].

Sincerely, Tamir Sensei.

Sensei David Tamir, Denshi-Shihan

Ueshiro Karate Dojo ba'Kfar [Village Dojo]

Kfar-Saba, Israel

Ueshiro Shorin-Ryu Karate USA [in Israel]

Under the Direction of Hanshi Robert Scaglione

and Regional Guidance of Kyoshi David Seeger

Onegai-shimasu Ueshiro SRKUSA Worldwide,

 On Friday May 30th, eight Ueshiro SRKUSA-Israel Karateka climbed Mount Masada for our special annual training at this spirited historic site.

 Congratulations to all those who showed up from both Ueshiro Karate Dojo ba’Kfar and Ueshiro Karate Dojo Herzliya:

 Sensei David Tamir, Shichi-Dan

Sempai Ran Sheinman, Ni-Dan

Sempai Meir Amarin, Sho-Dan

Philipp Vitkovsky, San-Kyu

Aliza Barzily, San-Kyu

Motti Cohen, San-Kyu

Carlos Dyk, Yon-Kyu

Shay Kraim, Yon-Kyu

We trained our kata across 7 special locations, shown on the attached map, in the order shown.

 We started training at location #1, with a full traditional workout on the lower level of King Herod’s north palace, overlooking the Dead Sea.  On the way to this location, we warmed up with a steep climb up the mountain.

 At locations #2 and #3, we performed kata at the top level of Herod’s palace.

 At location #4, we performed kata on an ancient arched roof made of uneven rocks; greatly challenging our stances and developing our step-first during kata.

At location #5, we performed kata on the highest point of the mountain-top fortress – a central ancient guard tower with a wooden deck, which makes for a great dojo!

 At location #6, we performed kata under a giant Israeli flag blowing in the wind.

At location #7, we performed kata where Hanshi led our 2014 training during his last visit to Israel.

Wrapping-up our training, we had a cool-down climbing down the mountain to a picnic lunch including delicious sandwiches, prepared by Sempai Aliza Barzily (she even baked the bread herself early morning before our trek) and Sempai Carlos Dyk, watermelon brough by Sempai Motti Cohen, and cold non-alcoholic malt beer (called “black beer” in Israel) brought by me.

We celebrated with Joy & Vigor our freedom and fortitude through our Karate training at Mount Masada.

Domo Arigato Hanshi and Kyoshi for inspiring us on this path of Karate-Do keeping us strong.

Sincerely,

Tamir Sensei.

 Sensei David Tamir, Denshi-Shihan

Ueshiro Karate Dojo ba'Kfar [Village Dojo]

Kfar-Saba, Israel

Ueshiro Shorin-Ryu Karate USA [in Israel]

Under the Direction of Hanshi Robert Scaglione

and Regional Guidance of Kyoshi David Seeger

Onegai-shimasu Ueshiro SRKUSA Worldwide,

Ueshiro Karate Dojo ba'Kfar, in Kfar-Saba Israel, conducted our August testing on Sunday 8/24/25.

Congratulations to the following seven deshi, as shown in the attached photo, who worked hard preparing for this test and were promoted as follows:

Anat Lagon to Yon-Kyu (Green Belt)

Nira Bydeh to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

Carlos Dyk to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

Adi Ziv to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

Shay Kraim to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

Mike Landa to San-Kyu (Brown Tips)

Eduardo Tartacovsky to Ik-Kyu (Black Tips)

The traditional workout, test, and promotion spanned 4 hours, past the operating hours of our dojo facility at the Kfar-Saba Country Club; requiring us to conclude the promotion outdoors, where we also shared words of wisdom from Hanshi and a kampai with Japanese whiskey graciously provided by Sempai Ran Sheinman.

Thank you to Sensei Nir Zamir and Sempai Ran Sheinman from the Ueshiro Herzliya Karate Dojo, who joined me on the Board of judges and to their deshi who showed up to support those testing.  Thank you to Hanshi and Kyoshi Seeger for their continued leadership on the path of Karate-Do, discovering the "Magic" of Kata.

Domo Arigato Gozaimasu

Sensei David Tamir, Denshi-Shihan

Ueshiro Karate Dojo ba'Kfar [Village Dojo]

Kfar-Saba, Israel

Ueshiro Shorin-Ryu Karate USA [in Israel]

Under the Direction of Hanshi Robert Scaglione

and Regional Guidance of Kyoshi David Seeger

Special Jewish New Year Rosh-Hashanah Workout

Ueshiro Karate Dojo Ba'Kfar conducted our September 21st workout in celebration of our Jewish New Year -- Rosh Hashanah -- incorporating the pomegranate fruit, which is symbolic of this special holiday.

We worked out in a circle, with the pomegranate fruit situated in the center of our circle.  We were focused on this special holiday symbol, whose number of seeds symbolize the number of commanded good deeds in our Bible.  We conducted our warm-ups, Kihon, Kata, and Yakusoku-Kumite all in the direction of the pomegranate in the center of our training circle.

After the training, we raised cups for a drink of "Lehaim" and Compai, expressing gratitude to one another for our comradery, training, joy & vigor, health, and our prayer for the return of all the hostages from Gaza.  The drinks included apple cider, as apples are also symbolic of the Jewish New Year.

Sensei Tamir also smashed a pomegranate with his Tuifa, to break the seeds loose for dessert.

Moreover, Sempai Adi Ziv prepared commemorative photo placards for each of us mounted on pine wooden blocks.

Domo Domo Arigato Gozaimasu

Tamir Sensei