December, 2003

Hello Everyone,

First of all, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a safe and very prosperous New Year. The year 2003 was just an awesome one for Modern Farang Mu Sul®. This was a year of incredible growth, organization and unity. We are now beginning to see the fruits of our labor. This expansion could not have been possible with out the legions of truly amazing and dedicated individuals that are a part of our group. They are responsible for the day to day, hard work that comes with teaching and learning this art. I'm sure that the rewards make it all worthwhile, because it sure does for me. I can't think of anything more worthy of my time and efforts. And I can't think of anything that gives back so much to me. Let us all continue on this path, set our personal and collective goals, and let nothing get in our way!

(Christmas Eve Dinner at "Casa De Alba")

Well, as we have now become acoustomed to, our annual Christmas party here at WHQ was a blast. Inst. Dehnert, Inst. Leith, Inst. King, and Asst. McCalla are to be congratulated on doing such a great job organizing and making it a huge success. This year we all met a the very posh "Watercress Restaurant", for some delicious Asian-Eclectic cosine. It was very tasty. Inst. Leith picked just the right wine, and set the mood for some great conversation and fun. We gave tons of toasts (Inst. Pinto & Jeff Winters, were your ears ringing?). I gave my annual awards, and my wonderful students presented me with a very touching signature album filled with their thoughts and feelings, as well as my big present: A New Digital Camera, complete with printer and the works!!! WOW, I guess I can scratch that one from my list to Santa. Very, very, cool, thank you all sooo much. Later we enjoyed VIP treatment at Le Colonial (Justine's Restaurant) as we took in some fresh "cubanskis", complements of Inst. Pinto. Thank you Sir! What a wonderful, warm and stimulating evening. That's the way to cap the year!

Thank you all the FMS instructors and students all over the globe for your cards, packages, and calls, etc. You made my day.

This month we were very happy to see Inst. Chris Mague visiting us from Japan. We got in some quality time together training, eating, getting caught up and even took in the movie: "The Last Samurai". I'm sure Inst. Mague found the story of an American living in Japan, learning the language, culture and martial arts to be quite unusual. Actually, he clued us in whenever the subtitles were wrong.

( 1- Inst. Chris Mague w/ KSN )
( 2- Mark Shekoyan, Inst. Mague, KSN, Mike De Alba Jr., Alessandro Padovani )

We were once again honored to attend Black Belt testing at Kaiso Dave Bendigkeight's Shintaikido school in Pacifica. We were delighted to perform a demonstration of this art as well as spending quality time with the many great masters there. One of which was my first official martial arts teacher: Grand Master Carlos Navarro.

This year marked the 15th Anniversary for Inst. Patrick Schleeter in Hollister. CONGRATULATIONS Sir!!! It was very nice to see all the Black Belts, students and family all together, and having a great time. Inst. Earl Boyd, Inst. Beth Dudzik, Inst. Ed Barone from Hollister were there, as were Inst. John Pantoja from Modesto, and Inst. John Stenson from WHQ-SF. Inst. Schleeter gave out tons of presents for all the kids (just call him Santa Schleeter), and gave me an awesome appreciation award and very cool picture frame with a shot of the Black Belts at our Warrior Quest. (this is now on my desk!!) My son Thomas did a very nice staff demo, I did some weapon stuff w/ Inst. Stenson, and to cap the evening off, Inst. Schleeter did the now famous double spokes thru the arms, while picking up buckets of water - Shin Gong / Ki Gong Sul demonstration. Very well done!! It was very impressive. I can't express how happy and proud I am of everyone.

I also received yet more great news from the FMS group in Portugal (boy Inst. Pinto is keeping very busy!). They recently competed in a large tournament in Lisbon, and the students did great. Good job! Inst. Pinto also did another awesome seminar in a city in the north of Portugal called Leiria. There were over 60 participants, and all enjoyed Inst. Pinto's teachings. He also recently completed his first video: Demo Highlights. Very nicely done. Forms, Weapons, Trapping, Grappling, KI Power, Breaking, and more. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

Speaking of new videos, we have finally begun work on several projects started earlier this year. It was such an ordeal, but we have filmed quite a bit of footage, and have finished and ready for our eligible Black Belts, 2nd Dan Vol.1 (All Forms) and Vol.2 (Self Defense Sets). I know that these tapes are going to be in demand, as we have quite a few Black Belts getting ready to test next year. The reviews so far have been great, and we look forward to keep working hard to release the other anticipated videos such as more advanced knife, staff, sword, fan, White and Orange Belt tapes and much more. We'll keep you all posted as they become ready.

On that note, I wish everyone a wonderful, safe New Year, filled with lots of love, joy, hope, peace, forgiveness and prosperity. I look forward to seeing you all and spending time training and sharing quality time together in 2004.

FARANG!!!

With brotherhood,

Kuk Sa – De Alba

Modern Farang Mu Sul® World HQ – SF

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