Echoes from the Excelsior

21/11/2024

This one feels like it was a testing for 6th Degree, but I don’t have the board breaking part of it. I’m sure someone can clarify. Jack Pierce and Mal Kun Lee performing the 5th degree form as well as a couple sparring matches with each other as well as Bill Hauptman and Todd Droege.

11/06/2024

1989 Grand Nationals - 2nd Degree Boys Junior. You're probably asking yourself what this has to do with 1994. It was pretty simple - the guys in this ring were the best of the best in juniors. I thought if I could compete against these guys, I’d have a decent shot of competing in the men’s division in 1990. The previous year I managed to squeeze out 3rd in forms and 3rd in sparring (losing to Dirck Hecking 5-4) in the semis. I figured if I could compete with these guys, I had a shot down the road.

I really had no shot at all in forms. I'd never even come within 3 points of Tim in forms, so I was really competing for 3rd (back then they had 2 thirds for forms). The reality is I really needed a couple of these guys to have off days. Dirck Hecking and Paul Karsolich were the 2 best overall guys that year. I believe they Tim, Paul and Dirck finished 1-2-3.

As for sparring, I'll never forget how great of a tournament Tim Rust had. He beat Dirck Hecking, which probably cost him the National Championship that year. He rolled all the way to the finals when he ran into Mike Stack from Delawere. I don't remember Mike ever being ranked in the Top 10, but that was simply due to forms. I can't remember seeing the kid ever lose a match.

My first round match was against Kevin Beebe. I got out to a quick 4-0 lead and somehow managed to lose. I still to this day remember it. I was devastated. Not just emotionally, but also from a training standpoint. How in the world did I lose a 4-0 lead? Well, you only learn from it if you fix it.

Needless to say, looking back at it, we had at least 3 future World Champs in this ring as well as 6 top ten guys. Definitely a group for the ages.

10/06/2024

1988 Grand Nationals. During the year, I was able to win sparring a few times, but I never could consistently place in forms to crack the top 10. Geoff Owen from Nebraska was kind of an unknown as he flew under the radar during the tournament year, but eventually ended up finishing 2nd to Derek Sutton of Georgia. I had the chance to compete against him, so I figured I might be able to hang with a few of these "National Guys."

I ended up getting 3rd in both forms and sparring (losing to Dirck Hecking) in a close match. Chris Davidson finished 2nd (full disclosure - had I beat Dirck, I'm pretty sure I would have lost to Chris in the final). Chad Jameson also placed third.

Dirck ended up finishing 7th in 1988 (after a 4th place finish in 1987) and somehow Chris wasn't in the Top 10 after finishing 5th in 1987. Both were 2 of the best fighters from the junior ranks back in the 80s.

09/06/2024

This is where the dream really started. In 1986, the ATA added the Junior Divisions for Top 10. I don't think I ever won a ring during that year, but I was also only 13 and the age group was 12-15. All of these people were legends in my mind. I could only dream of competing at that level.

I was (un)fortunate enough to compete against Darin "Wh**ey" Peterson during that year. He finished the year ranked #2 behind J.D. Smitherman from Longview, Tx.

Wh**ey was something else back then. EVERY tournament I went to placed 1st in forms and 1st in sparring. He casually beat me 5-0 every time we fought. I was actually stunned that he lost to anyone that year. Dirck Hecking got him at Vegas Nationals in forms and sparring that year.

It was rare for anyone from Region 114 to ever win a title. We didn't have that many tournaments, so travel was required to get the 5 regionals in. We did have 2 winners in this group - Stacey Braun from Aberdeen, SD and Mark Reynolds from Iowa.

07/06/2024

June 17th, 1994. I remember asking myself that night "How did I get here?"

So, what better way to celebrate the 30 year anniversary than to walk back down memory land and detail everything that went into that year. So over the next month, I will post videos and content from the 1994 tournament year.

I'll never forget that year. All the driving and competing. It seems like so long ago, but it also seems like yesterday.

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