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News and Misc. Information

11/05 The Texas 4 Seasons Tournament and the American Karate Institute hosted the Second Annual Martial Arts Festival. We would like to commend the the following schools for their respective awards for point accumilation during the competitive season.

The Iron Dragon School of Martial Arts took 1st place followed by The Ultimate Fist Academy. Securing second place and the Chun-Ji School of Martial Arts taking third place. Sensei Kevin Smith was promoted to 4th Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and Torres Sensei was also promoted to 3rd degree in Tae Kwon Do on that date. Congratulations to all the competitors who recieved awards as well as the following Sensei: Tony Gutierrez of the Ultimate Fist and Master Carlos Omar Garcia of rthe Chon-ji School. Master Kevin Smith also recieved Sensei of the Year.

2/05 Senseis' Smith and Torres as well as Nick Smith and Josh Kline were in attendance at a Kyusho Jitsu/Modern Arnis seminar hosted By Masters Jack Hogan and Bruce Chiu. Much was learned and shared by all present. Pictures can be viewed on the Photo Gallery Page.

1/28/05 The Kyu Shin Ryu Demo Team presented at the 4 Seasons Karate Tournament a rendition of "The Saga of Lord Tanaka". This Demo (non competition based) recieved a standing ovation from the audience and a sequel was requested by various Instructors and members of the audience. The demo showcased classical Kobudo and Aikijujitsu. Pictures can be viewed on the Photo Gallery Page.

1/05 Torres Sensei was honored to present a Kyusho Jitsu Self Defense Seminar at the Chon-Ji School of Martial Arts in Alice Texas. A fun time was had by all. Special thanks go to Master Carlos Omar Garcia for the hospitality offfered and the wonderful BBQ lunch prepared by his parents. Photos of the events may be viewed in the Photo Gallery page.

11/1/04 Congratulations to all the participants at the Texas 4 Seasons Tourament held in Victoria this past Saturday. It was a tremendous event with participants from as far down as Larado, Texas. This time around the winner of the 10 foot Grand champion trophy was Nick Smith (son of Sensei Kevin Smith) from the Iron Dragon School of Martial Arts in Karnes City. He dazzaled the Judges and audience with a Bo rendition to the music of Wipe Out. This was very Special to Nick as he missed winning the trophy last Tournament by 1/2 of a point. He was also awarded his Black Belt by Master Jaschke after the win (even though he will still test formaly for it next Saturday) It was awesome to see the look in his parents eyes after the win.

Special congratulations to the Kyu Shin Ryu Demo team. The team was awarded perfect scores of 10 by all judges (representing various arts) and for the first time ever a Judge asked if he could give the team a score of 10 1/2 for the rendition of Subway heroes. I am deeply honored by the hard work and technical excellence shown by my students whom are as follows: Rob, Brian, Eric, Micheal, Josh, Doug, Tim. These guys even let me play in the demo. The audience honored us with a standing ovation. Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart cause you make me proud, says "old man" Rick.

10/30/04 We will be hosting the Texas 4 Seasons Karate Tournament at our usual location at the Knights of Columbus Hall on the Cornor of Airline and Ben Wilson in Victoria ,Texas. There will be many competitors from around Texas representing various styles and schools. Events include Kata, Musical forms, Creative forms, Weapons, Breaking, One step/self defense, sparring, etc. Call or write AKI for further info or preregistration. Hope to see you there. Grand Champion Trophy is 10 ft. tall !!!!

10/10/04 Special congratulations to the following students for this years Special Awards:

Micheal Straight - Junior Student of the Year 2004

Brian Janek - Male Adult Student of the Year 2004

Brandi Blevins - Female Student of the Year 2004

Jason Allen - Technical Excellence Award 2004

Adam Miley - Iron Man of the Year 2004

Daniel Torres - Court Jester of The Ryu 2004

Eric Tollett - Yudansha Student of the Year 2004

Josh Kline - Most Promising Student 2004

Our Special award symbolizing the true spirit and embodiment of what Martial Arts is really all about was awarded to Sensei Kevin Smith of the Iron Dragon School of Martial Arts for his dedication to the pursuit of, and dissemination of knowledge to students of all styles. We awarded him the SPIRIT OF THE ART Award. This is the Highest form of Honor bestowed to those we believe to be of exemplary skill and character outside of our Ryu.

8/04 Special thanks to Kevin Smith, Sensei of the Iron Dragon School of Martial Arts for sponsoring another outstanding Kyusho jitsu (pressure point fighting) and Kobudo (weapons) seminar at his dojo. The turnout was splendid and all practitioners had the opportunity to engage in hands on training. Thanks also go out to Master Ralph Jaschke for his valued instruction at the seminar as well. He gave a Knockout demo in which he took out the biggest guy in the room-Smith Sensei!!

5/11/04 The Dynamic Cane Seminar held this past Saturday was great. We had a very good turnout in spite of the severe weather conditions present on that day. We had participants who traveled many hours and braved the elements to be with us in Victoria for the event. We had practitioners from various styles such as ; Tae Kwon Do, Chinese Kempo, Hapkido, Ju-Jitsu, Aikijujitsu, and Aikido. The event lasted close to 7 hours of much hands on application. I am in the process of sending participants a CD with many of the techniques that were learned as well as the Kyu Shin Ryu Dynamic Cane form taught to participants by Torres Sensei (only available to seminar participants). Keep those canes flying.

Group picture of Dynamic Cane Seminar Participants

Well, another 4 Seasons Tournament went off with a big success. There were practitioners from various disciplines representing their schools and originating from various geographical areas such as Austin, Karnes City, Uvalde, San Antonio, etc.. Special congratulations are extended to Chris Alcantar Jr., for walking away with the under belt Grand Championship Trophy, this go around. Special congratulations to the Kyu Shin Ryu Demo team that walked away with first place for their rendition of "They are going to wish they had never done that". The team was composed of the following students and Sensei: Jon V., Lynn L., Adam M. and Eric T., Brandi and Lorraine did a splendid job of showcasing female self defense and self protection techniques during the demo. They even let sensei Torres play with a stick(Kali Skill Demo) during the demo (go figure!). The panel of 5 judges each awarded the team perfect scores for the rendition. Congratulations to Eric and Jon for their first place win in one step competition as well. Thanks to the other students who put their hand to the plow to work at the event to make it run smooth.

4/24/04 and 5/8/04 are very important dates to remember. On the 24th we will be hosting the Texas 4 Seasons Karate Tournament at our usual location. There will be many competitors from around Texas representing various styles and schools. May 8th is also an event you will not want to miss. Archangel custom in conjunction with sensei Torres will be hosting a 6 HOUR cane seminar that will teach self defense/combat application for the cane. This seminar will meet the needs of beginners as well as seasoned martial artists alike. We will cover striking, blocking, joint locks and manipulations as well as throwing and submission techniques. For more information contact the American Karate Institute(refer to contact page) or Torres Sensei at Jitsumania@yahoo.com for further information. Hope to see you there but availability is limited. Participants can also purchase canes at a VERY DISCOUNTED RATE if you are a participant of the seminar. There are discounted preregistration rates.

3/17/04 Special thanks to Kevin Smith, Lead Sensei of the Iron Dragon School of Martial Arts for hosting an entry level Kyusho Jitsu Seminar on pressure point fighting. Sensei Kevin and I have had parralell interests in this particular area of study for a few years. His quest for knowledge in this area is very admirable, to say the least. Kevin possesses a profound historical knowledge of his art and the ties to Kyusho Jitsu. He demonstrated some really cool knockout points during the seminar. If you want to see a picture of this please refer to the photos page of this website.

3/13/04-Today we held the Womans Self Protection Seminar Sponsored by the Junior League of Victoria and hosted by the American Karate Institute. The turnout was good in spite of some very nasty weather.. Special thanks to Brandi Blevins for co-instructing this event. She was awesome! We showed the participants that no matter how big the perp is, they can still go down hard by use of simple techniques. Other special thanks to students who donated their time AND BODIES (ouch!) to serve as uke's for this event. They are as follows: Lynn L., Eric T., Lorraine, Tarrin K., Adam M., Jon V., Gregg H., Doug C.,

Group Picture

Ladies, Choke your Uke !!!

2/1/04- Well, another 4 Seasons Tournament was hosted by the American Karate Institute with a turnout of over 100 competitors. Special thanks to the Kyu Shin Ryu students of the AKI who opted to help insted of competing this time around in order to help the tourney run smooth. We will be there in force to compete in April as we have in the past. This tournaments Grand Championship was awarded to Debbie Musgrave of th Wah Lum School of Kung Fu, for her outstanding open hand set (kata). (picture to be posted at a later date). Debbie recieved a 10 foot Trophy along with a Custom Combat Cane donated by Doc Bartlett of Archangel Customs whom produces some of the finest custom weapons for training available anywhere.

Congratulations to Eric Tollet for his 1st place win in the Black Belt weapons division with a tremendous rendition of a classical Kenjutsu Kata with bokken.

Special thanks to Jason Stringo and the Victoria Karate Academy for sponsoring the Brazilian Jui-Jitsu grappling Seminar at Victoria Karate Academy. Coach Aurelio Gallegos did a wonderful job for a large number of practitioners in the Victoria area.We learned alot and had fun doing it !!!

Congratulations to the AKI Kyu Shin Ryu Demo Team for the First place wins in the self defense one step sparring and Creative self defense events at the last Four Seasons Karate Tournament. Way to Go Eric, Jason, Jon, Russell and the "old man" Rick.

Congratulations to all the Kyu Shin Ryu practitioners who took First, Second and Third place Medals in the First Annual South Texas Jui-Jitsu Championship Tournament in Victoria. Special thanks to Sensei's Philip, Jason S., Jason C. and Garcia Shihan.

Thanks to Sensei's Garcia and Cross for the time they take on Sunday mornings to train us and share their knowledge. While most people are sleeping, we are traing in the Pikiti Tirsia system of hand, stick and knife fighting. For the hardcore only. KSR practitioner, do you have it in you. If you do, come join us. Contact Torres Sensei for further information on time and locations for this training.