Labor Day or not, the budo-ka at Cville Yoseikan came out in full force for the visit of Hanshi and Kyoshi Dometrich. Accompanied by Paul and Kathy Webster, the Founders of USCK honored us at the Cville Yoseikan with their presence on the heels of the Audra State Park Seminar in nearby West Virginia.

A source from W. Va. Informed me that Hanshi, in spite of hobbling out of the car the Friday night prior to the Sat seminar, was in "rare form". Having bestowed upon the good folks in the hills one of his "never say die" clinics, we here in Virginia came prepared to sweat! Beginning with a dojo dedication (even though this is now the 7th year for us, we have a newly renovated facility) and formal "bowing in", the training began.

Kihon, peppered with all sorts of do's and don't encompassed the first hour or better. As always, the stress on the importance of basics being one of Hanshi's biggest priorities became very clear to the students here at Cville. It was amazing to watch Hanshi demonstrate mai geri (front kick) with such power and stability knowing all the while of his severe ailments. This true determination and perseverance is the inspiration that keeps all of us striving to become better budo-ka. We proceeded to work self-defense techniques using both club and gun assaults. The karate-ka really enjoyed this portion of the class and especially some of the stories that Hanshi imparted to them from his many years in the police department.

Next we went on to work kata. Hanshi took a look at some of the students who are heading over to test in October for their Ik-kyu rank. He also had two of our young brown belts demonstrate a kata of their choice. Megan Payne (Budo Baby) and Danny Monge (our AAU kumite champ) showed the class Taikyoku Ni (one of my favorite katas). The class finally bowed out after more then three hours of non stop action. Everyone was so excited to have Hanshi and Okusan in their midst For some, it was the first occasion to meet them.

In spite of his legendary stature, as well as Okusan's many accomplishments, the students felt their humility and were even more awed by these two icons in the world of Martial Arts. We are all truly blessed to be a part of The United States Chito Kai and will continue to strive to uphold the tenets of Chito-ryu Karate-do.