Echoes from the Excelsior

29/01/2024

Really stinks hearing about Grandmaster Singleton passing away. He was one of my favorites back in the day. Rest in peace.

08/01/2024

The more I dig around the internet, the more I find stuff that I never knew existed. If you competed in the 90s, you'll remember Robin Floyd. She was one of the few that won multiple world titles. I didn't get to see her competed often since I was in South Dakota and she was down in the Southeast, she set the standard along with Sandi Wilson. I got a kick out of this article. As always, feel free to tag and share.

13/11/2023

I noticed the other day that this page has been up for over a year now. I wanted to thank everyone that has interacted on this site and shared comments and memories. This was exactly the reason I started this page.

I've been swamped with work - as those in sales know, the last part of the year takes up the most of your time. That being said, I'm going to get back to posting again and sharing some of my own personal stuff in advance of Thanksgiving. I wanted to say thanks to everyone that contributed both back in the 80s and 90s as well as recently with this page.

Thanks again and I look forward to posting more soon. As always, if anyone has old videos or magazines let me know. We will digitize the videos free of charge.

04/10/2023

It’s been a little bit as I’ve been busy with work. Here’s an outstanding match from 1994 Las Vegas Nationals between Jay Newton and Paul Kim. Being there and watching this live was one of my best memories from that year.

27/09/2023

I generally don’t like to post videos of myself, but I figured I’d finish up what I started with this tournament from Okoboji. I wrote a little about Brian Davidson on the last post, but I didn’t really do it justice. I flew under the radar my first full year back competing in 1993-94. Obviously winning a World Title will put you on the radar. This was the first match between him and I.

Brian was a guy that I couldn’t really match athletically, so I had to really spar smart and use my strengths. He kept me sharp all year and was one of the biggest reasons I reached my peak in 95.

1994 Okobjoi

23/09/2023

Nick sent me this tournament last night. Okoboji, IA was my favorite regional tournament. It was always in the dead of summer and it was always 90 degrees.

Here’s a match between Brian Davidson and Mike Rodgers. Mike was an instructor from Sioux Falls that I used to work out with.

Brian’s resume speaks volumes. He was a 1st Degree when i competed as a 2nd degree in 94 and the moved into 2nd degree in the 95 tournament year. First time I saw him at a tournament he was doing jump front kicks and hitting the net on a basketball hoop. I just shook my head and said to myself “if he does that to me he’ll miss my head by 2 feet”. One of the best competitors and athletes I went against.

1994 Okoboji, IA

22/09/2023

I want to thank this next guy for sending us a stack of tapes. Granted, half of them were filled with western movies, but we got to pull off some cool stuff.

Jason Hedrick is one of the few members of the 90 point club. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his family back in 1994 when he started competing. He managed to make the 1994 8 & under Top 10 finals even though he got his black belt in February of that year. He followed that up with a perfect season in 1995.

Here’s an early 1st Degree From from Memphis.

1994 Memphis, TN

22/09/2023

Pulled this out today after talking to the other person that got this project started - Nick Messersmith. 1993 Boys 13-14 World Semifinal. Nick was one of the best juniors I’ve seen and a big reason I managed to stay so focused. We constantly traveled and watched videos of our competition.

All that being said, I considered Alfaro his equal when it came to sparring. They never met in the finals, but it was usually these 2 that determined a champ. Alfaro was one of the few that could physically trade blows with Nick and be successful doing it.

1993 Boys 13-14 Year Old World Semifinal

22/09/2023

Another one from 1991 Worlds. For some reason, I always liked this guy. He seemed so laid back and was one of the nicest people I met back in the 90s. He also judged me at the best tournament I ever had (1995 Rogers, AR). Really wish I had that tape.

Oh well, I digress. Ken was one of the top juniors in the county in the mid 80s and then was a great adult competitor as well.

1991 World Championships

22/09/2023

I think the easiest way for me to keep track of all the stuff I've commented on is to post in in order.

Here's one from 1988 Oskaloosa, IA. Back in the day, the kids (8 & Under and 9-11) used to have both boys and girls combined. That really didn't phase Shana Smetter. When you talk about the best competitors that I have ever seen regardless of age, she absolutely has to be in the discussion. She won 9-11 Children's in both 1988 and 1989. I'll never forget watching her in Nebraska back in the day. She would just wipe up the ring in sparring and was pretty damn good in forms as well.

1988 Oskaloosa, IA

21/09/2023

If I catch you liking my posts, then something like this will happen.

1991 World Championships Men's 3rd Degree. This division was loaded with several top 10 competitors. Here's Jordan Schrieber. I actually met him way back in the day when he and his brother came to a regional in Columbus, NE. If I remember correctly he wither got 2 firsts or 1st and 2nd at that regional.

1991 World Championships

21/09/2023

A lot of you have reached out to me and shared either videos, pictures, magazines etc. I wanted to give everyone a glimpse of where we are heading with this project.

I've attached the link to our website which is now "live" but highly unfinished. I wanted to give everyone a preview of how the things will be organized. My hope is to have hundreds of individual matches, forms and other events on this as well as all of the tournament results from back in the 80s when they were listed in the magazine.

Keep in mind that we only have 1 person "loaded" into this site as an example. Carl Flotka was an early follower of this page and I happen to have old standings, tournament results and videos for him. He was kind enough to allow me to use him a "subject 1."

I didn't expect to rekindle so many old friendships and also make new ones with this project. It seems like I get a new person reaching out to me each week and sharing stuff. I truly cannot tell you how much it means to me to see so many people engaged. I have quite a bit of content to edit, but I try to add new people each week.

Some of you have asked if there's anything that you can do. The answer is simple - if you have old magazines, VHS videos or pictures and feel comfortable sharing them, please reach out. I would love to have them all and I would be more than happy to return any material after I archive it.

Thanks again everyone and enjoy the preview link below:

I'm your About section. Click to edit and tell your visitors more about your philosophy. What are the goals of your school?

20/09/2023

Special thanks to Chris Hauth for the chat. Oddly enough, I was lucky enough to have some footage of one of his students - Jacque Aguire. She was in the “donut hole” of my career (85-89 and then 92-95) but she managed to win a couple of World Titles in that time (and she had a Kicks card - don’t get me started on those)

Here’s her 91 Title Match between her and Christina Kretchman.

1991 Girls 12-15 Finals

20/09/2023

Another cool one from 1991. Wyck Blankenship with the 5th Degree from. I’ve had a chance to chat with his brother Bob over the past couple months as a result of the stuff I’ve posted (thankfully nothing that brought out the Sheriff in him). There’s truly nothing better than chatting with people that I looked up to back then that I never got a chance to meet - and there’s several of you that fall into that category. And for that, I say “Thanks!!!!”

1991 World Championships

15/09/2023

This one isn’t mine, but it’s too good not to share. There are a ton of old school legends on here. Please comment with people that you know are competing.

15/09/2023

1994 Las Vegas Nationals. Talk about a guy that was really fun to watch. Min Woo Kim. I saw him a few times live (Vegas, Little Rock) and he was always impressed me with his overall technique as well as his quickness. Here's his 3rd Degree form.

1994 Las Vegas Nationals

14/09/2023

Another one from 1994 Vegas Nationals. I had the pleasure of training and traveling with this guy (as well as sharing a birthday). For my money, there are very few that did this form as well as Tim Rust did. He had such quick hands and such a great rhythm on this form.

I owe him a lot, as I never would have been anywhere near the competitor I was without his friendship and guidance.

13/09/2023

Every now and then I get a random message asking “hey, do you happen to have any videos of …”.

As a matter of fact, I did yesterday. Here’s one from 1991 Worlds. Men’s and Women’s 5th Degree featuring the best woman that I never had a chance to see compete (back in the 80s, they didn’t really have 5th degree divisions) and Wyck Blankenship. Wyck was another that I never had a chance to see live, but his legend precedes him as he beat my first instructor in the national finals back in the 70s.

1991 World Championships

10/09/2023

Here's one that I posted upside down the other day as an inside joke. I'm still waiting to hear the other side of the story from the NorCal guys.

Either way this match featured 2 of the best to ever do it. David Tsuji was a guy that I watched growing up in South Dakota. I mostly saw him in the junior division and he was simply on another level.

Kevin Mathis may be the best competitor in ATA history. Once he started winning world titles, he just kept on going.

This is the 1993 4th Degree Men's Top Ten Semifinal.

1993 4th Degree Mens Semifinal

08/09/2023

After a busy stretch, I've started working on 1994 Las Vegas Nationals. I've got most of the 3rd Degree Division and some of one of the 2nd Degree rings as well. Oddly enough, I never seem to have my own ring....

First up is Jay Newton. Another one of my favorite Nor Cal guys from that era, Newton won back to back 3rd Degree Men's Titles in 1993 and 1994. Here's his form from Vegas Nationals in 1994.

https://youtu.be/udKyQRpUMxY

08/09/2023

I wanted to let you guys know that there will be some slight changes moving forward. I will no longer be posting videos directly to Facebook. They will be strictly on the YouTube Channel. In part because of the "ownership" of any material of mine that I post on here. In the near future we will transitioning to a new website that will house not only videos, but also pictures and other print materials from the past.

I hope this doesn't cause too much of an issue, I'll still post links to Youtube on here, so they should be easily accesible.

28/08/2023

I guess I had one more from 1986. I'm guessing this one slipped through the cracks since it wasn't a formal testing or competition.

Here's a video of Jee Ho Lee performing the 5th Degree form. I'm not sure if this was brand new at the time or what the reasoning was for doing this demo. Maybe some of you that were there could chime and give some history.

What can't be overlooked is just how good of a technician he was. I had the chance to see him in person a couple times and there are very few people on the earth that could perform like he could.

27/08/2023

I've finished posting everything that I have from 1986 Grand Nationals. If you want view all of it, here's a link to the playlist on the Echoes from the Excelsior YouTube channel.

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

25/08/2023

Last one from 1986 with Ken Brooks and Scott Stauffer in the Men's 4th Degree Division. This one is close to my heart as Master Brooks passed away roughly a year ago. I had the pleasure of traveling and training with several of his students in the mid 90s.

24/08/2023

Another great match from 1986 Grand Nationals between Don Boomershine and Neil Singleton. Singleton was a kick boxer as well as a great ATA fighter. He was always one of those guys that I said my prayers at night as a junior and prayed I would never be in his ring. Boomershine was also an outstanding competitor that would later win a World Championship in 1990

24/08/2023

A special thanks to Master Arcemont for giving me the details on this one. Men's 1st Degree Light Final between John Hoffman and Terry Free. I don't know a whole lot about Terry as I never saw him compete, but Hoffman went on to not only win the 1986 1st Degree Men's Title, but several others (1989, 1990 in this era).

As always, feel free to share and tag.

22/08/2023

Another one from 1986 where I could use some help. This one is between Greg Arcemont and John Daloisio. I just don't know what rank it is. If you know, please reply and you'll win a prize. Bonus points if you can actually post a pic of the magazine with the results (I'm getting desperate, I know).

22/08/2023

Starting to wrap up 1986 Grand Nationals. I'm still trying to find someone that has the 1986 ATA Magazine that has the listing of the individual division winners so I can confirm that this is the 2nd Degree Men's Final (assuming it's either light or heavy).

The match is between Tim Mehrtens and Lane Morris. Mehrtens would win the 2nd Degree Men's National Championship after this match.

As always, feel free to share as well as tag anyone (most importantly the 2 guys in this match) that would be interested.