May - June 1998

NEWS LETTER

AMERICA'S FIRST GRANDMASTERS COUNCIL
THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST PRESTIGIOUS

CONGRATULATIONS, we turned 5 YEARS OLD in May!!.....Some thought we'd never make it (....."You can't get all those grandmasters together without fighting" or "the WHFSC is not a ship worthy vessel" were some of the comments I heard from individuals). Unfortunately for them, we have had no problem staying together and we seem to be growing bigger each year that rolls around (without sacrificing quality of member- ship for quantity I might add!).....Here's to another 5 years X 1000!

TO CELEBRATE our 5 years together......why not make it out to our September 4th-5th celebration in Orlando, Florida? We can promise you a G-0-0-D TIME with EXCELLENT COMPANY from around the world (when I say the "world", I really mean it.....Not like some events which use the word "world" and you end up with people from "down the street")......Emceeing the event which features an International Martial Arts Hall of Fame on the night of September 5th will be the "Warrior of the Airwaves", our own HANSHI DR. JERRY AIELLO of the syndicated radio talk show, "WARRIOR TALK" which originates from Michigan......Our Annual Meeting will also feature a talk by PROFESSOR GEORGE NOBLES of Virginia on the revamping of our Martial Arts College Curriculum and SOKE DANIEL VERKERKE on the new Internet listing for the WHFSC.

AS A SEMINAR UPDATE...... We now have PROFESSOR- WALLY JAY of California, one of our newest members doing a seminar along with member, GRAND- MASTER ALEXANDER RETUINSKIH of Russia, who will be assisted by Master Nikolay Travkin.....they will both be joining seminar leaders, SOKES KEIDO YAMAUE (Sweden), QUYNH NGO, JOHN DENORA, HARRIS WARREN, PHILIP HOLDER, NEAL HUMMERSTONE, RAFFY PAMBUAN, HANNS VON ROLBECK (Germany), GLENN PREMRU, BRAM FRANK and MYSELF in a symposium of International styles you won't want to miss on SEPTEMBER 4TH, the day before our Annual Meeting and International Hall of Fame event!

******IF YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED YOUR ANNUAL MEETING CELEBRATION/ INTERNATIONAL HALL OF FAME PACKET YET, PLEASE BE SURE TO WRITE OR FAX HEADQUARTERS IMMEDIATELY SO THAT ONE CAN BE SENT OUT TO YOU!......SUPPORT YOUR COUNCIL WHILE AT THE SAME TIME TAKING PART WITH YOUR FELLOW MEMBERS IN A CELEBRATION OF TOGETHERNESS!......AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, BRING PLENTY OF BUSINESS CARDS TO PASS AROUND TO "NETWORK WITH"!*****

MASTERS RICK HACKWORTH and GREG LEE of the KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION are urgently in need of funds to help with the costs of a liver transplant. The recipient according to Master Lee is Grandmaster Kim Yong Song who had the misfortune of being in an auto accident here in Florida while taking part in one of the seminar camps sponsored by their Association. Please send whatever you can afford in the way of a donation to the KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION "in care of these two gentlemen at: 475 W. Silver Star Road, Ocoee Florida U.S.A. 34761......Any and all donations to help in this life saving effort will be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Received a nice call from Michael James, Publisher of RAINBOW PUBLICATIONS (producers of BLACK BELT, KARATE KUNG-FU ILLUSTRATED and MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING MAGAZINES) with a kind invitation for our membership to submit articles of a technical nature to him for publication consideration. You can write to him c/o Rainbow Productions, P.O. Box 918, Santa Clarita, California U.S.A. 91380......BEFORE you do, please be sure to request their "Writers Guidelines" so that you will have your article properly formatted, etc.

GRANDMASTER RON "THE BLACK DRAGON" VAN CLIEF of New York reports that he will be starring in a new feature TV HBO (Home Box Office) Special which begins shooting June 14th. Ron will be playing the starring role of Geronimo Pratt, a 1970's political activist in a film entitled "COLORS OF RAGE"......Ron's latest film comes off a recent stint in the HBO series "OZ" where his character was killed off by Aryan racists. The episode entitled "FAMILY BUSINESS" was directed by Academy Award winner, Kathy Bates......He is also scheduled to appear in Wesley Snipes new movie called "THE BLACK PANTHER" (based on a fictional comic book character)......Lastly, in true "Black Dragon" fashion one to rest on his laurels, the "Dragon" won first place in Forms at the Masters Division of Henry Cho's "ALL AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP" held in March in New York.....How's that for staying active!

PROFESSOR WALLY JAY of California and GRANDMASTER JOE HESS of Florida appear in the new Michael DePasquale Jr. movie, "CUT OFF" set for release this summer......"Small Circle Jujitsu" Legend, Wally Jay appears as himself doing a seminar in one of the scenes while Joe plays one of the key figures in the film.

New Honorary Member, SIFU MARK DACASCUS of Oregon has secured the lead role in a new weekly TV series set to air soon playing fictional character "Eric Draven" in "THE CROW: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN"...... The series is based on the movie "THE CROW" which became famous when star, Brandon Lee was killed during filming.

PROFESSOR JOHN DENORA of California reports that the recent judo workshop he did for the President of the "U.S. JUDO INSTITUTE'S students, Mike Cobb, paid off for Cobb with several gold medals in judo at a recent tournament in Chicago, Illinois.....John is also the Board Representative for jiu-jitsu in this particular organization.

GRANDMASTER VINCENT MARCHETTI'S nephew, Jay Marchetti seems to be taking after his Uncle in martial arts expertise after winning the prestigious Liberty Bell Judo Tournament in his weight division.....Proud Uncle Vincent was also honoured recently with a citation from the New Jersey Police force for his dedication to teaching the Kearny Police and with a U.S. Marine Corps Close Combat Instructor Trainer Certificate issued to him by the Advanced Infantry Training Company School of Infantry at Camp Lejeune, Virginia for teaching some advanced fighting techniques to their instructors.

SOKE KEIDO YAMAUE of Sweden and GRANDMASTER KLAUS ROMMINGER of Germany are not only martial arts leaders within their own particular martial arts organizations, but partners in business as well as friends...... This is the type of networking that helps everyone and the type of "brotherhood" which we are trying to foster......Apart we are trying but together we am even "stronger".....Compared to other athletic endeavours, martial artists are a small group, TOGETHER we can make a difference in this world!

AND NOW TO OUR LATEST MEMBERS.......Of particular delight to me is a gentleman who has been a friend and colleague to some of my former instructors and to myself, he undoubtably is one of the most popular and gifted Jujitsuans in the world......from California, we have the legendary creator of SMALL CIRCLE JUJITSU, PROFESSOR WALLY JAY......Also from California, we have the following great martial artists.....OLOHE SOLOMON KAIHEWALU who is Head of the HAWAIIAN KARATE ASSOCIATION and Grandmaster of the Hawaiian bone breaking art of LUA HALAU 0 KAIHEWALU......GRANDMASTER LEO FONG, martial arts legend and creator of WEI KUNE DO and MODERN ESCRIMA......and SOKE SID CAMPBELL, martial arts pioneer and Director of the "WORLD OKINAWAN SHORIN RYU KARATE DO AND KOBUDO ASSOCIATION......From Colorado we have BAPAK WILLEM DE THOUARS affectionately known as "UNCLE BILL" by his worldwide followers. He is founder and grandmaster of KUN LUN PAI MARTIAL ARTS......From Ohio, we have KANCHO ALGENE P. CARAULIA SR. who has the distinction of being the very first official World Karate Champion in America and Director of the KARATE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA......From Oregon, we have PROFESSOR AL DACASCOS, legendary champion and founder of WUN HOP KUEN DO......From Texas, GRANDMASTER IN HYUK SUH, world renowned grandmaster and Director of the WORLD KUK SOOL WON ASSOCIATION......From Massachusetts, we have KANCHO GEORGE MATTSON, President, Founder and Director of the SHOHEI RYU KARATE DO (UECHIRYU) NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS.....From England, we have HANSHI RICHARD MORRIS, Co- founder and World Director for the WORLD KOBUDO FEDERATION along with KYOSHI JOHN THERIEN of Canada...... From Iran, we have GRANDMASTER YOUSEF SHIRZAD, Founder and Director of the INTERNATIONAL SHINZEN KARATE ORGANIZATION......And lastly, we have SIFU MARK DACASCOS, actor and exceptional martial artist who has been granted HONORARY MEMBERSHIP into our Council.....

WELCOME GENTLEMEN to our "family" of the world's greatest martial artists!

ON THE SEMINAR CIRCUIT (reported by members)......PROFESSOR WALLY JAY of California was in Aspen, Colorado April 29th conducting a weekend seminar in SMALL CIRCLE JUJITSU......DR. KENT HARALSON of Montana's 3RD ANNUAL GOSPEL MARTIAL ARTS UNION CLINIC will take place July 25th-26th in Vermont with plans to add to their Regional circuits next year with clinics to be held in Montana and Indiana.....GRANDMASTERS JOE HESS, RAFFY PAMBUAN and HARRIS WARREN were featured seminar leaders in the recent MARTIAL ARTS WINTER ACADEMY WITH THE MASTERS '98 held May 29th-31st in New Port Richey, Florida.....PROFESSOR DAVID JAMES was the host for the 1ST ANNUAL SANUCES RYU EYE TO EYE JIU-JITSU TRAINING SUMMIT held at his VEE ARNIS JUJITSU HEADQUARTERS in New York on June 28th......and HANSHI BRUCE JUNICH conducts his Annual Seminar symposium in Sacramento California called the GATHERING on October 10th-11th.....

IN THE MEDIA this month......INSIDE KUNG-FU features an article on Honorary Member JACKIE CHAN and GRANDMASTER RORION GRACIE'S regular column on grappling ......BLACK BELT has a great article on DR. HAROLD MAYLE'S INTERNATIONAL GOODWILL GAMES, along with MASTER RICKSON GRACIE'S regular column and mentions of MASTERS MARK DACASCOS, RICHARD HACKWORTH, GREG LEE and GRANDMASTER JOHN PELLEGRINI'S new martial arts organization......and TAEKWONDO TIMES features mentions of MASTERS IAN CYRUS, RICHARD HACKWORTH and GREG LEE.....

Well, this concludes another bi-monthly edition of our newsletter....REMEMBER to send in any and all information you want printed about your activities to our Headquarters address listed on our Letterhead.....Until next time, please stay "aggressive" and "fair" in all that you do!

Sincerely yours in martial arts brotherhood,

GRANDMASTER FRANK E. SANCHEZ 10th dan judan Founder/ Executive Director International

NOTE The W.H.F.S.C. has been in existence since May of 1993 and is a private enterprise of Soke Frank E..Sanchez in service to its grandmaster membership. Any requested changes, additions or deletions to its membership roster must be in writing.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS: IF YOU HAVE A 2 YEAR CERTIFICATE OF MEMBERSHIP WITH THE W.H.F.S.C. IT DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY RE-NEW, YOU MUST REQUEST A RENEWAL CERTIFICATE WHICH WILL BE SENT OUT TO YOU FREE OF CHARGE

ALL NOMINATIONS FOR OUR SEPTEMBER 5TH HALL OF FAME MUST BE RECEIVED BY HEADQUARTERS NO LATER THAN JULY 31, 1998 - MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS ALIKE OUR ELIGIBLE FOR NOMINATION IN ANY CATEGORY INCLUDING YOUR IMMEDIATE STUDENTS WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE SPECIAL "RECOGNITION" AWARDS CATEGORY MADE ESPECIALLY FOR THEM