Runaway Blues

You asked, we wrote. A sequel to Whisper From The Alamo is due out this fall.

TWO MEN

THREE STATES

ANOTHER WILD RIDE

Texan Doc and Englishman Ant are back, and they have a big problem - they just can't seem to stay out trouble. 

When Ant finds himself set up and on the wrong end of Florida law enforcement, Doc decides to track down the man responsible: a Vegas-obsessed psychopath known as 'Evil Dave'. 

That can only mean one thing – a new mission for an old soldier!

But nothing is ever that simple.

From the Bayou of New Orleans to the dustbowl deserts of Texas - friendships, loyalties and love will all be tested to their absolute limits in an America where mimes know Karate, men have tails and being strange is a way of life.

The Transatlantic bestselling authors of "Whisper From The Alamo" bring you the long awaited sequel.  Prepare for old friends and new faces to take you way, way out there !

It’s all a case of

“RUNAWAY BLUES”

New England Kenpo Summit

I was told the Summit scheduled for the weekend of Sept 27-29 has been canceled.

My Dad in the Navy

Dad served in WWII and Korea with the US Navy. He told me a story about getting orders for the USS Dixie after the war. The Dixie was a destroyer tender. He showed up on the date prescribed on his orders and was told the ship had already sailed. SNAFU.
As fate would have it, the Dixie was headed for the nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific. Dad missed that voyage and told me he later learned that the sailors aboard those ships were later largely diagnosed with cancer. He dodged another bullet.
At this writing he's 92 and still kicking. Here's a link to info on the Dixie. https://www.hullnumber.com/AD-14

I'm glad he missed the boat.

Rangers in the night

Local station did a segment on what our overnight shift does.
 https://www.ksat.com/news/sleeping/while-you-were-sleeping-alamo-rangers-protect-history-answer-questions-in-the-middle-of-the-nigh?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=ksat12&fbclid=IwAR3I0PMimtaWoME9fRAFNUHwk4RJtYf74ZnCeVz23gmTZtQ6qNZ2prHbG2I

More Alamo stuff

Crockett's last stand.

The final assault on the Alamo. March 6, 1836.

This is inside our offices, unavailable to the public. Used to be inside the gift shop. It's being cleaned up and fixed.

Lessons w/ Ed Parker #2

It's available at The Twig bookstore here in San Antonio. https://www.thetwig.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/twig.b.shop/

What I'm Reading

Master's Hall of Fame and others

John Sepulveda accepted the awards for me in Costa Mesa, CA on July 27th. He shipped them to me, just got them this week.

I've been inducted into a few Hall of Fame organizations. Two were a surprise. One came in the mail, a large certificate from the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame and another was a nice statue from a group, the International Black Belt Hall of Fame.

 I was surprised because as a school owner I would regularly get soliciations from Hall of Fame organizers to come to a dinner and get my award. All for the low cost of $250 or so, whether I showed up or wanted it mailed. No, thanks.
I was inducted into the Illinois State Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2015. I could not make the dinner but the organizers, Pete Hoffman and Mike McNamara, took the time to show up at a seminar I was doing in Chicago and made the presentation there. Class acts, those guys.

The counter-point to this was my induction into the Kenpo Karate Hall of Fame some time ago. Apparently I was actually inducted. I'm not sure because I could not make that event either but the hosts did not send the award or the patch that goes with it. So it goes. 

I laughed when my shift Sergeant, who sees my Facebook page and saw I posted the Master's pics asked me "You get another award. Get one every week?"

Website

My website, www.kenpotv.com, has numerous articles and historical Kenpo items posted. The August article for Premium Subscribers is up. It's two parts. One on knife attacks and another on women's self-defense.
We had an issue recently, there was a motherboard failure at the host and then an incompatibility issue which caused viewing problems. That has been solved.
There is loads of info on the site. You can read back issues of newsletters or get a variety of memberships.
1) Premium articles. $29/year, read monthly articles and access all the archives (hundreds of them.)
2) Kenpo videos. An all-access "trial program" is $1 for the first week, then $45/mo after. Cancel anytime. Sections include beginner material (basics, forms, techs), intermediate, advanced and black belt. Labeled Kenpo 101. Kenpo 201, Kenpo 301 and Kenpo 401. There's also an Instructing for Instructors section. 101 can be subscribed to for $30, then add on as you advance.
I'd select the All Access/Premium Articles so you get the video and written material for one price.
Credit card or PayPal, site is secure.
There are free videos on there, too.
3) Newsletters, for free. Just sign up and get them in your inbox.
www.kenpotv.com

Seminar this weekend in Texas (Updated)

Round Rock, TX – August 17. Round Rock Karate, Daniel Delenela hosts. Subjects are the progression in the freestyle techniques. Info - https://www.rrkarate.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Round.Rock.Karate/videos/370167320315754/

Nut Butter

is what Southern boys say you're making when you kick a man in the crotch real hard.

No, thanks.

Alamo markers #9 (Updated 3x)

This is a poor photo of the representation of Col Travis' Line in the Sand. I say representation because nobody is sure where he did this, if at all. Today the brass bar and plaque are embedded in the flagstone directly in front of the shrine's front door.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/alamo-line-in-the-sand

The one below is on the base of the flagpole flying the American flag.

The pole was donated by Boy Scouts.

We have several memorial plaques for others. This one is on a bench back where we show our movie.

This is on the arcade wall, next to the gate south of the church entrance. The arcade was built in the 1930s, many people think it was there during the battle. Today it houses some of the cannons used in the battle. 

What I'm Reading

Alternate history by Philip K. Dick, in which Japan and Germany win WWII. I've been meaning to read this for years and missed the series they made of it, too. I enjoyed the heck out of it. 

Alamo markers #8 (Updated)

These top two are at the gift shop, originally built as a museum. This top one is on the northwest corner of the outside wall.

This is inside the north doors. 

This one below is at a tree in the admin parking lot, not accessible to the public. 

More tree markers. These three in the center of the arbor behind the church.

The two below are in Alamo Plaza, directly in front of the Shrine.

This one is about Adina DeZavala.

This one is one of many in downtown San Antonio marking the Sesquicentennial. 

It's in the plaza, too.
https://texashillcountry.com/walking-downtown-san-antonio-texas-star-trail/

Portraits by Andrew Pilch

Mr. Pilch did a portrait for me back in January. If interested, his contact info is on the flyer here.
I loved what he did and have seen his work on certificates as well. I recommend him.

Challenge coin

I got this from a visitor at work last week.

Alamo markers #7 (Updated 2x)

This plaque is of the famous Travis Letter, written by the Commander of the Alamo at the beginning of the 13 day seige. It is front and center of the Alamo shrine. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/treasures/republic/alamo/travis-full-text.html

These two are out front of the church.

This one below is on the west side of the Long Barrack.

Below is the keystone of the Honore Grenet building, which was what the Long Barrack was called while it was used as a warehouse and general store by Mr. Grenet. He bought it just after the US Army left in 1877. The property was purchased by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas around 1903. (See the stories of Adina DeZavala and Clara Driscoll.)

Honore Grenet's store

https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p9020coll008/id/6896
See history of Alamo Plaza

 https://www.sanantonio.gov/historic/historicsites/HistoricDistricts/AlamoPlaza

This is in front near the Long Barrack, under the Masonic plaques.

New Orleans area seminar coming

Karate in the Olympics

This photo is of one  of my Florida black belts, Brad Congress. He and his wife visited the Olympic training facility in Colorado, which they said was impressive.

In my time in the arts, getting Karate into the Olympics was spoken as being impossible, due to the variety of standards and rules between systems and styles. Tae Kwon Do was much tighter and so were able to be included as a demonstration sport in 1988. Arlene Limas of the US won the women's welterweight gold. I knew here when she was a young competitor in Chicago and she was a Chinese stylist. She switched over for the Olympics. 

So, it looks like there has been a shift and that karate is in.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics

Alamo markers #6

There are two courtyards North of the Shrine, the Convento and Cavalry. 

This below is in the Cavalry courtyard. It indicates that Travis was killed across what is Houston street today, approximately at the intersection of Alamo and Houston. 

This is in the Convento courtyard. It was given to us by people of Japan, who had their own Alamo.

This comemorates the Immortal 32, the men of the Gonzales Ranging Company who came to reinforce Travis. Can you spot the error?

 Two women, Adina DeZavala and Clara Driscoll spared the Long Barrack from being demolished and replaced by a park and hotel. Adina does not get the credit she deserves. Adina https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fzafg
 Clara https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdr04

There was a tree planted in the Cavalry courtyard, donated by the State of Tennessee to remember their volunteesr who fought there. There were 30, the most of any state or country. The tree is no longer there.

Master's HOF

My thanks to Shawn Knight of Tucson for taking this shot of the award.