Surrounding Hannah and Mr. King, posing in the center of the photo, are, in the back row, from left to right: Black Belt Kim “Cultivator” Thomas, Grandpa Shamassian, Mr. Shamassian, Mrs. Shamassian, and Aunt Silva; in the front row, from left to right: Josh “Viper” Shamassian, Aidan and Tristan “Raptor” Ligtvoet. Photographer, Mrs. Ligtvoet (not pictured).
Hannah “Hannibal” Shamassian poses with her mom, JoAnn, and brother, Josh, aka “Viper.” Hannah will be testing for her orange belt on June 4. She has prepared extremely well and we are all looking forward to her test.
Go Hannibal!
Jake “Achilles” Dale nails Mr. King with a right backfist during his first sparring session. Obviously, he’s going to be a handful in the not-too-distant future. Achilles is definitely his mother’s son (Annette “Warrior” Dale).
Kim “Cultivator” Thomas has fun spoofing The Karate Kid’s iconic crane stance featured in the popular 1984 movie. Cultivator, along with Chris “Growler” Grau, are on pace to earn their 4th Dan Black Belt rating in the Fall of this year—an accomplishment that has only been achieved by Dan “Basai” Asay among the 3,000 plus students in the Karate Institute of America’s thirty-four year history.
It’s just a bag, right? Actually, this old brown bag is much more. It has the distinction of being the oldest bag in the history of the Karate Institute of America. It began its life in August 1979, the official beginning of the KIA.
After decades of faithful service being kicked, punched, blasted, and beaten, this old bag has been retired to remain an artifact of our rich and varied legacy as the KIA continues to march on in its duty to assist others who choose to pursue their martial arts skills and dreams.
Tristan “Raptor” Ligtvoet takes down Kim “Cultivator” Thomas during a practice session. Raptor is working diligently toward his 2nd Dan Brown Belt; Cultivator toward his 4th Dan Black Belt ranking.