Rick Scoppe

Three of the “old guard” under Hanshi Ridgely Abele, who died in 2009, joined the Midlands School of Martial Arts for a reunion of sorts while also watching five of our students test for ranks from purple to yellow belt on Saturday The three (shown below in a photo) were Rod Gardner (far left), who […]

Five students passed their belt tests Saturday at the Midlands School of Martial Arts, including a family of three – William Jones (blue) and wife, Sarah, (yellow) along with their son, Conrad, (blue). Also successfully navigating their tests were Karis Johnson (purple) and her nephew, Judah Clayton (blue). Congratulations to one and all! Everyone did

The Midlands School of Martial Arts completed its second Seitei Jodo seminar of the year Sunday – this time a two-day affair at the Columbia Martial Arts and Fitness school, and a tip of the hat to Sifu Mark Mills, who runs the school with his wife, for allowing us to use their school. We

Gals & guys, just a friendly reminder our second Seitei Jodo seminar is on tap for next weekend, July 11-12. Fourth-dan Adam Sandor hopes to work through all 12 of the system’s kihons as well as the first five kata along with some other training drills used within the system if there is time. Below

Here’s information for our second Seitei Jodo seminar being hosted by our school. Please call (910-382-1943) or email (scmidlandskarate@gmail.com).

Seitei Jodo nidan (and Shuri Ryu black belt) Andy Wells will continue his training at our dojo from 9:30-11 a.m. on the following dates: April 4, April 18, May 9 and May 23. If you are interested, call me or drop me an email for more information. We have been working the system’s 12 kihons

Congratulations to our three new yellow belts: William Jones, his son, Conrad, and Judah Clayton, who is pictured below in group photo as well as with their principle instructor, Tom Bryant. The trio, under the watchful eyes of myself along with godans Thomas Seastrunk and Charlotte Bryant and nidan Sam Johnson, went through a 90-minute

Just returned from a two-day seminar on Baguazhang and Xingyiquan in Concord, N.C., under Sifu Paul Cote and one of his senior students, Martin Elvidge, at Sidekick Karate of Concord. Tip of the hat to the dojo’s leader, sensei Christopher Alexander, for hosting the seminar. We worked on a number of techniques during the Saturday

Our school held what we hope will be the first of many Seitei Jodo seminars Saturday, with 13 students taking part under the watchful eye of Atlanta yondan Adam Sandor and Columbia nidan Andy Wells. We worked the system’s first four kihons along with its first two kata, and a variety of drills, during the

Congratulations to our new Shuri Ryu nidan, Sam Johnson, who completed a three-part exam Saturday – and we beat the snow that is leaving our area with more than just a dusting of the white stuff. Johnson began his formal testing – he’d been under scrutiny for some time in the lead up to his