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PAST YEARS
2010 NEWS UPDATES
ADDED 6/26/10: WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT UPDATE: We are pleased to note that Mr. Tom Arcuri forwarded the WWP raffle donation held at Super Summers. The SSS donation totaled $1,370 which makes our four year donation to the WWP $55,214. Thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle.
Message from newly minted Godan, Rick Eierdam from
TX: "Sensei We certainly appreciate Mr. Eierdam's comments and were impressed with his performance on his test. No an easy thing to do at any age, never mind 58. Every candidate at SSS demonstrated heart, dedication, and determination. Congratulations again!
ADDED 6/21/10: Congratulations to Tom Arcuri on his third year of directing Super Summer Seminars (7/16-7/18). This was the second year the event was held at Herkimer County Community College and staff and participants totaled over 220 dedicated martial artists from all over the country. Mr. Arcuri has done an excellent job of continuing the traditions established over the 28 year history of SSS. His "special guest" instructor, Relson Gracie, was a great addition to the list of martial arts luminaries that have contributed to the success of the camp. As always, testing took place on Fri morning at Mr. Arcuri's Herkimer, NY dojo. This year we had 5 candidates and a huge number of senior black belts on hand to assist and judge. CONGRATULATIONS TO: ALEX FRENCH (SHODAN) from Mr. & Mrs. Guccione's Canton, NY ZDK school; ARLENE BROWN (SANDAN) from Mr. & Mrs. Streeter's Johnstown, NY ZDK dojo; and SHAWN VICKNAIR (YODAN), RICK EIERDAM & BILL HICKL (GODAN) from Mr. Bob Gifford's Safety America school in Sugar Land, TX. Special thanks to everyone who participated as a board member or assistant on the tests, as well as the many people who showed up to support the candidates. It was great to have Mr. Joel Kirch on hand after a two year absence. With 20 instructors and a myriad of classes to choose from, SSS is a unique opportunity to spend a weekend immersed in training. But, as they say, "all work and no play" is not an apt description of Super Summers. Consequently, the tradition of the Cobb Olympics continued with several teams competing late into the night on Sat. under the supervision of Ms. Susan Jackson from Traditional Martial Arts in Orlando, FL. With a room filled with spectators supporting their favorite team, the competitors fiercely tried to outdo their opponents. But, as in all competitive events, someone had to win the gold medal. Congratulations go to Bob Pinney & Rick Rinaldo on achieving a hard won victory. Mr. Kirch did a wonderful job of opening and closing the ceremonies with speeches that awed the audience. Our only question is, why did Master Gracie have to take that Barbie doll with him at the end of the evening? It was great to have an opportunity to spend time with our extended ZDK family and we are looking forward to the 29th camp already.
ADDED 6/20/10: Happy Father's Day to all of you who fit into that category! Mr. Campos has returned from a fantastic 6,000 mile road trip to Colorado & Utah where he and Mrs. Campos had the opportunity to visit 7 Nat'l Parks. They learned that "America the Beautiful" was inspired by a visit to the top of Pike's Peak. They could see why! We spoke to Mr. Brown while away and, much to everyone's relief, he is on the mend after having by-pass surgery. We look forward to seeing RB fully recovered very soon and thank him for his efforts on behalf of the ZDK for many years in the N-NY region. If you have not registered for Super Summer Seminars, time is running out. This year we expect another capacity crowd of enthusiastic participants from all over the country. Check out www.super-summer-seminars.com to see who is instructing and to register online.
ADDED 5/20/10: Mr. Campos, Mrs. Streeter, & Mr. Tom Greco were at the 11th Annual Sister to Sister conference held at Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, NY on Tues, May 17 to present a series of classes on self-defense for the participants. S2S is held annually for approx. 200 middle school girls from schools in a three county area. We have been presenters every year since the program began and always receive high ratings from the participants. Many thanks to Bonnie and Tom for attending and assisting.
ADDED 5/17/10: On Friday evening 5/14, Mr. Campos had the privilege of attending the Bailey's Karate Black Belt Spectacular held at the Rome Free Academy in Rome, NY. As always, the show was entertaining and showcased the talents and accomplishments of the new black belts from Vicki Gillen's Rome, NY & Tom Arcuri's Herkimer, NY Bailey's schools. Congratulations to the 37 new black belts from those two clubs. We have seen many of them in competition and they have all worked hard to achieve their goals in the martial arts. Ms. Gillen presented Mr. Campos with a plaque honoring his leadership of the ZDK, but the highlight of the evening was the recognition of Ms. Gillen for her 36 years of teaching and training as one of the very first women in the region to instruct martial arts on a full-time basis. In recognition of her accomplishments and support and loyalty to the ZDK, Mr. Campos was honored to award her the rank of 7th Dan. We would like to congratulate Ms. Gillen on her tremendous success and contributions to the arts!
ADDED 5/5/10: Sensei Campos paid a visit to Ms. Susan Jackson's Traditional Martial Arts Club in Orlando, FL on Mon. evening 5/3. He was in FL on personal business and Ms. Jackson invited him to come in for a surprise class for her members. It was great to work with everyone again and to get a chance to relax after class with several of her members. Many thanks to Ms. Jackson for her hospitality. NEW ZDK MEMBER: We would like to welcome Sensei Greg Sullivan into the ZDK family. He instructs USA Goju at Iona College & lives in White Plains, NY. He is an associate of Sensei Daniele and Sensei Suggs. We look forward to working with Sensei Sullivan and thank him for choosing the ZDK.
ADDED 4/27/10: Congratulations to Mr. Joel Kirch on his recent Director's Award from the US Marshal's Service which was presented at a ceremony attended by Eric Holder, Attorney General of the United States. Mr. Kirch, an original student of Mr. Gifford, has been a ZDK member for approx. 35 years. Mr. Kirch also is the leader of the USMS Pipe & Drum Corp. Check out these pictures:
ADDED 4/26/10: The N-NY ZDK organization's annual testing/seminar/banquet weekend was a huge success. The weekend started out with Sam Anagnostopoulis testing successfully for Nidan rank. Sam is a student of Mr. Guccione's Canton, NY ZDK club and also instructs a small club of his own in Cicero, NY. On Sat. morning Sensei Campos taught a one hour seminar for kids of all ranks and ages. A 2.5 hour adult seminar took place in the afternoon. Both seminars were well attended and very well received. Sat. evening we were all at the Malone, NY Country Club for the awards banquet. Congratulations to all the award recipients. The weekend events were organized by Cheri Langdon and we want to thank her for an excellent series of events. Mr. Campos truly appreciates the support shown by the N-NY clubs over the years. It was great to see all of the instructors & black belts including, Mr. Bass, Mr. & Mrs. Brown, Mr. Castaldo, Mr. Germano, Mr. & Mrs. Guccione, Mr. Kenna, Ms. Malik, Mr. Nadeau Mr. Pepe, Mr. Perez, Mr. Perry, Mr. Premo, Mr. Quimby, & Mr. Secore. The N-NY ZDK has been in operation for 35 years and has developed into a strong family of instructors and students. Sensei Campos is always honored to be invited to teach such a dedicated and loyal group.
ADDED 4/17/10: Sensei Campos and his wife, Anne, took their annual trip south beginning Mar. 31. They made a stop in Washington, DC to spend a day with their daughter and see the Cherry Blossoms. They also managed to get together with Mr. Kirch for dinner. After spending a week on the beach, they headed to Orlando to visit Ms. Susan Jackson. Sensei had an opportunity to present two seminars on Sat. 4/10 at her Traditional Martial Arts club. The first session was for her students and the afternoon training was a woman's self-defense presentation. As always, the TMA students and Ms. Jackson were fantastic hosts. Many of the students stayed through the afternoon to assist with the class which was a huge help. A note of appreciation to Tom McNaney, a TMA member, who worked extremely hard to organize the women's class. A highlight of the visit was the hour-long pontoon boat ride to a party that evening. It took us through a chain of lakes that were surrounded by houses of several famous sports stars and important business people in Orlando. On the way back around 10 pm, we were able to clearly see the fireworks over Disney World. Many thanks to Richard (Ms Jackson's supervisor at Health Central) and his wife for allowing us to tag along on the party barge and enjoy a great evening!
ADDED 3/29/10: This was a very busy and productive weekend. ZDK Bi-Annual Black Belt Testing took place Sat. at the ZDK HQ studio in Johnstown, NY and the dojo was packed with family and friends of the candidates. There was also a phenomenal number of black belts and assistants in attendance to help in the testing. CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW ZDK SHODANS: KATHLEEN JOHNSON from Mr. Glenn Ward's Kensho-Do Karate club in Albany, NY; BECKY EWALT & MAUREEN TAGLIAFIERRO from Mr. Jeff Melander's Red Dragon Karate in Ballston Spa, NY; RICK RINALDO from Mr. Bob Pinney's PAK club in Sherburne, NY. and SANDAN CANDIDATE: IAN SANTANGELO from the Bob & Bonnie Streeter's Johnstown, NY ZDK dojo. each of these candidates and their instructors attended the pre-test trainings that were offered at HQ in Johnstown. Many thanks to the senior program instructors & the many black belts that assisted at those events and/or attended testing as a board member or assistant including: Cathie Bagnall, Arlene Card, Dave Castaldo, Brian Cox, Chad Farrington, Tom Greco, Dave & Lisa Guccione, Taro Hudson, Shawn & Tony Irvin, Gennady Julien, Roland Lavigne, Jeremy Osborne, John Pezzino, Richard Schuyler, Harry Tomlinson, Ethan & Heath Waterman, Steve Youngs, and several others. All in all this was an amazing day for the ZDK! "WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT" NEWS: Mr. Glenn Ward recently coordinated an event in Albany, NY to raise funds for the WWP and he presented Mr. Campos with checks totaling $2,200 at testing this Sat. Our 2010 total is now $2,650 and since 2007 the ZDK has donated $53,799 to the WWP. On Sunday we were at the ROME, NY TOURNAMENT directed by Vicki Gillen. After 27 years of running this event, it was not surprising that things ran efficiently. A large number of competitors did not slow down the day thanks to the help of lots of black belts and ring assistants. Senior ranks Tom Arcuri, Larry & Laura Brooks, Jeff Melander, Bonnie Streeter, & Dave Bruce and others helped to make this a fun day of competition. The Kata Grand Championship ended quickly when Jeff Melander, who was the first to compete, received five one's from the judges - this made who was going to win a moot point and Jeff walked away with a beautiful 6 foot trophy!!! Congratulations to Vicki Gillen on another successful and friendly event.
ADDED 3/22/10: Mr. Pinney's 14th Annual Tournament held yesterday at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY was a huge success. Attendance was at an all time high and everyone had a great time. Mr. Pinney did a great job of running the event in an efficient manner and we were headed home by 3:30 pm. Senior ZDK Instructors on hand included Mr. Arcuri, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Bruce, Mr. Cox, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Waterman, as well as a large number of blacks belts and students from both ZDK and invited clubs. Every year this event is better organized and provides a friendly and ego-free atmosphere for the participants. We would like to congratulate Mr. Pinney on a wonderful day of competition!
ADDED 3/12/10: Sherburne, NY Visit: Mr. Campos & Mr. Tomlinson travelled to Sherburne, NY to attend testing at Mr. Bob Pinney's PAK club on Wed. 3/10. We would like to congratulate all the PAK students who tested, especially, Dallas Nichols on achieving his Junior Black Belt rank. It was nice to see Heath & Ethan Waterman attend the test to act as board members. Many thanks to Mr. Bob Pinney for the invitation and hospitality.
ADDED 2/8/10: Sherburne, NY Visit: Mr. Campos & Mr. Tomlinson travelled to Sherburne, NY to attend a black belt pre-test training session at Mr. Bob Pinney's PAK club on Sat. 2/6. This was an opportunity for three of Mr. Pinney's students to receive assistance as they get prepared for their black belt test. We would like to thank Mr. Pinney and his wife, Grace, for their wonderful hospitality. After dinner, we had the opportunity to receive a pool playing lesson from Mr. Pinney at his house - our advice is to practice a lot before playing pool with him - he has a black belt in 8-Ball. The next day we had a short drive to the W. Winfield event. W. Winfield Tournament: Congratulations to Larry & Laura Brooks on hosting a hugely successful 17th Annual Friendship Invitational Tournament in W. Winfield, NY yesterday. There were over 200 competitors on hand for this event, among them a large number of instructors. As always, the coordinators, Vicki Gillen, Tom Arcuri, & new addition Larry Brooks, Jr. kept things running smoothly and efficiently. We saw many old friends, as well as, a surprise visitor in the form of Tony Irvin (who had told Mr. Campos he was planning to attend but swore him to secrecy). It is evident that there is a new generation rising among some of the younger black belts in attendance, including Blaze Cox, who blazed his way to the Grand Champion of the black belt sparring event. The four annual tournaments directed by ZDK members (V. Gillen, T. Arcuri, B. Pinney, & L. & L. Brooks) offer our members and invited clubs/instructors an opportunity to compete in a friendly atmosphere that focuses on the participants. There are none of the often seen displays of ego and poor sportsmanship that are sometimes evident at martial arts events. The day was a great success and everyone got out in time to see the Super Bowl!!! 2010 SSS Update: Mr. Arcuri has secured Relson Gracie as the Special Guest Instructor for this year's camp. See our Calendar Page for addl. info and PUT SSS ON YOUR CALENDAR NOW!!!
ADDED 2/2/10: The black belt pre-test held in Johnstown on 1/30 went very well with 6 of the 7 potential candidates in attendance. Special thanks to the ukes and board members who came to assist and offer critiques. During the last hour of the three hour training, Mr. Campos had everyone participate in a class on lateral movement and on basic gun & knife defense techniques.
PRE-TEST PHOTO:
FRONT BACK
ADDED 1/14/10: Welcome to 2010. This year marks the 51st year of Mr. Campos beginning training at the Judo Twins dojo in Manhattan and his 41st year of instructing. He is very grateful to all of his instructors and mentors and to all of the members and students of the ZDK for their support. On Wed. 1/13, Mr. Campos, Mr. Schuyler, & Mr. Santangelo attended the Choices Conference at Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, NY to present 4 sessions on Self-Defense for High School students from all over the tri-county area. This event has been held for over 20 years and Mr. Campos has been a presenter at every conference. His program continues to be very popular among the students. Our 2009 effort on behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project netted $14,042. We are very proud of the fact that over three years we have donated $51,019 to the WWP. Many thanks to the participating clubs for their hard work and generosity. Our goal is to do even better in 2010! As always, you can check out our Calendar Page for
updated events. If you have a question or would like information, feel
free to contact Mr. Campos directly at
director@zdkusa.com
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