06/14/2026
What a GREAT Black Belt Weekend!!!
Year of the Fire Horse: 🔥 🐎
Riding the Storm.... ⛈️
The Fire Horse is a symbol of power, movement, passion, independence, and transformation. Fire brings energy and change. The horse represents forward momentum and the ability to keep moving despite obstacles.
This year's theme challenges us to ask:
When change comes, do we resist it, or do we learn to ride it?
The Nature of Change....
Many people fear change because it creates uncertainty. Yet growth only happens through change.
In martial arts, every promotion represents change:
A new belt brings new expectations.
A new rank brings new responsibilities.
A challenge forces us to become someone stronger than we were before.
The Fire Horse reminds us that change is not something to avoid. .....It is something to HARNESS!
We had a full training schedule that kicked off Friday night and continued all day Saturday. Thankfully, the thunderstorms only interrupted us for about an hour, and luckily, it happened during lunch! ⚡️⛈️
The weekend culminated on Sunday with Jessica Hartford testing for her Fourth-Degree Black Belt and Abby Fryman testing for her Second-Degree Black Belt. 🥷
Both of these ladies displayed incredible poise, control, and determination under pressure. They absolutely rocked their tests! Congratulations to both of you. Your commitment, intensity, and dedication truly shone throughout the weekend and were clearly reflected in your performances. 💯🎉🎊
A huge thank you to all of the guest instructors who came and shared their knowledge and expertise with our group: 🙏
☆ Darren Sharpe from Houston, Texas, who shared Balintawak stick fighting.
☆ Wes Tomlinson from Crossroads Aikido Group in Mansfield, who taught functional Aikido.
☆ Jeremy Lehew from Devil Dog Martial Arts in Cleveland, who instructed on Death Throws.
☆ Mark Prince, retired peace officer and former COTC Police Academy professor, who covered police officer knife tactics.
☆ Jessica Hartford for teaching unarmed defense against a sword.
☆ Abby Fryman for instructing on Bo Staff techniques.
☆ Tim Wolf, who traveled from Cambridge, Ohio, to share Panther Slide-In.
☆ Adrienne Krizan from The Loud Sound Bath for providing a relaxing sound bath meditation on Saturday evening before the fire ceremony. 🎶🎵
I would also like to give a special thank you to my wife, Sandy Messner, who spent countless hours organizing the itinerary, creating the group caricature photos, and preparing meal after meal for everyone. Not just this year, but year after year, she has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. ❤️🙏
Thank you to everyone who attended, trained, instructed, and helped make this weekend such a success. 🙏
I am excited to see everyone's growth and advancement over the coming year and look forward to what we will accomplish before our next Black Belt Weekend! 💯
