Master B's Web log

This video may be disturbing and contains violence  Tom Castonguay and his mom Chris began karate back in the 80's.  Tom was about ten.  His Mom watched in the back intently until one day one of the Black Belts asked if she wanted to join.   They have both achieved the rank of 2nd dan. Tom, or TC as I call him was a quiet boy who always showed up and dedicated himself to martial arts.  After getting his Black Belt he and his mother, both became instructors in the school.  Once Tom became a young adult and graduated from high school, he decided to follow his passion for the military and joined the army where he excelled.  He aways mentioned how our karate school's demand for excellence and hard training prepared him for life as a military man.  He went on to serve for several years and was involved in the gulf war. After leaving the military he followed his next dream of becoming a sheriff in Austin, Texas where he married a lovely woman and i...

Grandmaster Ed Parker, founder of American Kempo was a legend in the martial arts world. This is my day with the Grandmaster. Several years ago I attended a KRANE tournament hosted by Tony Cogliandro up in the Boston area.  Tony had been training with Ed Parker for a few years and hosted him as a special guest.  Parker was to be a judge in my black belt rings that day.  As usual at that time I had a pretty good day and was able to chat with him after the event.  As you might think he was heavily in demand.  We took this photo and we went our separate ways. Over the course of the year Master Parker traveled all over the world teaching and meeting thousands of new people.  It was again time for Tony’s event and I was looking forward to attending. As soon as I entered the gym I turned to see Master Parker was again in attendance.  He walked over to me, shook my hand and said “Hi Mike, competing again this year?” I was floored.  With all the people he...