The testing panel consisted of: Grandmaster John St. James,Senior Master Carole Coker, Senior Master Stacy Busby, Master Deborah Jett, Master Greg Sibley, and Master Heather Potter.The highlight of the evening was the promotion of another Master instructor into their ranks, Master Michael Jett.Master Jett has trained in the martial arts since he was six years of age making him the first person who has trained withKwan Jang Nim St. James from pee wee rank to Master Instructor. Master Jett has trained in Tang Soo Do for going on fifteen years, and at 21 years of age, is the youngest person promoted to Master by the Federation.

At the conclusion of the Dan Shim Sa, two trophies were awarded for best overall test. The best overall Black Belt test for children went to Sinclair Chanthara of Tennessee Tang Soo Do Studio, and for the adults to Charles Battle of Birmingham Academy of Martial Arts in Trussville, Alabama.

The next morning campers participated in archery and the climbing wall/zip line as well as a number of excellent classes from the talented instructors. There were classes in weapons, sparring, self-defense, and forms.

In the afternoon, Grandmaster St. James taught an intensive two hour staff class to the entire camp with the assistance of all Masters and Master’s candidates. Students worked on Bong mechanics A to Z, Combat Staff, Whip Staff, and Bong Ill Soo Sik.

After dinner, there was a presentation on Moo Do Philosophy put on by the Grandmaster. The campers were all quite tired by this time, but the speech was well worth listening to. Kwan Jang Nim said that Moo Do philosophy was about becoming more than we are now and about humility. He also observed that our traditional hyung was the essence of stillness in motion and another example of Um/Yang. This was to come up again later. When the presentation was over, we went off to one last weh gong class of the evening. After that, it was a movie for the kids and there was a campfire down by the lake for the adults.

On Sunday morning, there was a friendly competition to see which cabin or lodge could sing the Tang Soo Do anthem best. The kids from the Girls Two cabin and the adults in the Marc Roberts Lodge won. After breakfast and singing, everyone headed to the Lakeview Amphitheater for a group picture.

Camp closed with one last weh gong class. Everyone did group hyung to the beat of Grandmaster’s drum. The entire group performed Bassai over and over again for at least 20 minutes. Kwan Jang Nim instructed everyone to do the form slowly and to tune into their and everyone else’s chi or ki. He asked everyone to focus on stillness in motion and to become aware of not only the mechanics of the hyung but the unique character of each and every move. There would be no breaks. Everyone did the hyung repeatedly until they entered a deeper understanding of the form.

In the end, a fun time was had by all. Black Belt Camp is always a good time to meet new friends from other places. In addition to brother and sisterhood, what really makes Camp special is relearning what Tang Soo Do is all about. It is about coming to a quiet place, learning, training hard, and getting back in touch with nature and our Moo Do spirit.

Submitted by by Ms. Shanon Jett - Sam Dan
Southeastern Regional Event Editor
Karate World - Suwanee, Georgia