New Year's Message

January 1, 2018

Dear Friends:

Happy New Year buyῡ – welcome to the Year of the Dog!

Ranking as the eleventh animal in Chinese zodiac, Dog is the symbol of loyalty and honesty. People born in the Year of the Dog possess the best traits of human nature. They are honest, friendly, faithful, loyal, smart, straightforward, venerable and have a strong sense of responsibility.

Having a dog, myself, I agree with that description. Excellent traits in a human being, also, don't you think? I plan to do my best to exhibit them in 2018. Join me?

So what happened this past year? Plenty, as usual!

In terms of international travel, my first stop was the Italian Senryukai. Hosted by my friends Giuseppe (Pucchi) and Aurelio Costa, it was a combination of training, eating, sightseeing, eating, eating and eating!

The t-shirt they made for the training was a bit much – but, it certainly had the stylish Italian flair!

I attended the BuyuKai in July at Castle Kattlenberg in Germany again last summer. I have participated in BuyuKai a number of times. This is a GREAT event and I encourage all my martial arts friends to attend. It is organized by Steffen & Sabine Fröhlich. I think there were buyῡ from over 14 countries there this past year – with some top-notch coaching on everything from the basics to pretty advanced stuff. Really, you MUST go.

BuyuKai info here: http://www.buyukai.de/. See you there next July!

I also went to Argentina to train with buyῡ from many Central and South American countries. I was hosted by Marcello Ferrero and "Don Juan" Manuel Gutierrez.

The food and wine in Argentina is wonderful. Meals with friends are long and relaxed. And it was Spring in October!

Oh, and training was awesome.

More fun Argentina TaiKai photos are here.