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Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan Kodanja Shim
Sa
Submitted
by
Master Jim Savidge, 5th Dan
Over the course of five days, from January 18, 2012
through January 22, 2012, twenty six candidates
tested for Master level ranks in the Tang Soo Do Mi
Guk Kwan Association. The 17th Annual Kodanja Shim
Sa saw candidates test for 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Dan
ranks. The candidates ranged in age between
seventeen and seventy four.
The first four days of the testing saw the
candidates training for roughly fourteen hours per
day, as well as teaching classes and practicing
within their individual rank groups. Along with the
twenty six Kodanja candidates, each day saw visiting
Kodanja members who came and participated in all of
the training on any given day. On the third day of
the testing, nearly forty visiting Kodanja members
took the floor to train with the twenty six
candidates.
The test culminated on the fifth day and was
overseen by Kwan Jang Nim Charles Ferraro, Sa Bom
Nim’s Richard Kopf, Howard Dugan and Joseph Devita.
Along with these four Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan senior
members, several other prominent martial artists
attended as examiners, including Grandmaster Robert
Beaudoin (World Tang Soo Do Association),
Grandmaster Andy Ah Po (Tang Soo Do Martial Way
Association), Hanshi Michael Cunningham (8th Dan
Shotokan), Kyoshi Kevin Cunningham (6th Dan Shotokan).
The 4th Dan candidates averaged 14 years of active
training. The 5th Dan candidates averaged 19 years.
The 6th Dan candidates averaged 25 years of active
training and the 7th Dan candidates averaged 31
years.
4th Dan Candidates (Left to Right)
William Nunez, Erica Wivagg, Ellen Diaz, Kwan
Jang Nim Charles Ferraro, Bland Jensen,
Alma Hamilton, Anne Himmelright, Peter Munk.
5th Dan Candidates (Left to Right)
Douglas Chin, Jae Park, Robert
Newitter, Ivan Chadunkin, Andrea Kaman, Brandon
Ferraro, Kwan Jang Nim Charles Ferraro, Alonso
Martinez, Lewis Cohen, David Brandt, Bernard
Redfield, Michael Tabone, Omar Yacoub.
6th Dan Candidates (Left to Right)
Ed Pereira, David Berube, Kwan
Jang Nim Charles Ferraro, Bruce Rogers, Jim Savidge
7th Dan Candidates (Left to Right)
Ricardo Longinotti, Ken Hilliard, Kwan Jang Nim
Charles Ferraro, William Kopf.
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