I trust you enjoyed the previous newsletter and hope you will enjoy this one just as much.  National News:  Special visitor: We shall be honoured by a visit of Grand Master Jack Stern next year. GM Stern is the head of WOMA-USA and has a life time of martial arts training experience under his belt. He has been honoured with numerous Hall of Fame awards over the years including the very prestigious and rare ‘Living Legend‘ award. GM Stern has travelled to many parts of the world as guest ( even the guest of Royalty ) and Instructor at seminars. Not only will he bring a world of martial wisdom with him, but will also be able to share and entertain us with his many stories of great masters he has met and trained with. I am privileged to be able to call GM Stern a mentor and a friend.    Black Belt Grading: Because we will have GM Stern visiting us next year I have made the decision to postpone the Black Belt grading until then. There will also be others ready to grade for their Black Belts, so will make for an auspicious  occasion. I will be working closely with everyone to ensure they have all the skills needed to advance up the ranks.   Kyu Belt Grading: I am talking with our grading panel and a date will be set very soon for those who are ready for their next grading.    ISKA NZ: Research and planning are well underway for the first ISKA tournament to be held in New Zealand since the mid ‘90’s. I will be attending a Directors meeting in Australia in January to 1) be introduced to all the state Directors and 2) promote NZ as a venue and 3) get the Rotorua event scheduled as a main event on the ISKA calendar. We have a local contact in Rotorua who will help us with venue selection and catering on the day. I will be visiting very soon to look at Hotel options and discuss what deals we can get. Local martial arts Master Dave Butler will be there. Dave is a master of Ju-jitsu and Ken-jutsu and the closest a non Japanese can get to being a true Samurai. Dave will have a stall at the event, selling martial arts goods from his Action Martial Arts shop. Watch this space for more details.   Club Champs: This is set for November 28th. Have you registered yet? Forms are on the notice board so get your names and events down fast. This will be a fun event for the end of the year, and a good look into what tournaments are all about.   Samurai Camp 2009: I am expecting some karateka from Bangladesh mid December for a training camp in advanced combat methods. This camp will be held at the Horopito facility at the foot of Mt Ruapehu. Some time will be set aside for them to have a tramp on the mountain to explore this dormant volcano.   2nd Samurai Camp 2010: As well as the training weekend camp scheduled for the first part of 2010 I will also be planning and hosting a training camp for August. I trust timing will suit to have GM Stern join us at this camp. Camp will include training and a free day to go and enjoy the pleasures of the mountain. Last years camp was well enjoyed with plenty of snow action. Pre registration is already open for you to join us.             If anyone is interested in hosting or attending a ‘Samurai Camp’ please do not hesitate in contacting me.   Brazilian Ju-jitsu: Our friend Graham Gliddon of Hastings MMA will be hosting workshops in Hastings and Auckland during 2010. He will keep us informed on dates and venues. These will be full of great techniques to learn, and fun. BJJ is the art of destroying your opponent whilst grappling on the ground. This is exciting stuff to watch let alone learn. I have had the pleasure of training with Renshi Gliddon before, and believe me once he has you on the ground, he turns you inside out.   Movie work: I am presently working with the writer, director and two actors putting together a series of fight scenes for a movie. The movie ‘Small Hope’ is a sci-fi action set in the future. The synopsis is very exciting and the fight scenes they are interested in include weapons. We are working on one scene which sees the hero with a Katana fighting the bad guy who is wielding a Naginata. Filming is planned to begin in January.               I am also working on a script for an action movie. It’s about half completed but the fight choreography work for ‘Small Hope’ has slowed progress down. I am aiming to have it completed by the end of the year.  International news:  WOMA: For those of you who hold Black Belt grades, WOMA will be for you. They are an Association which seeks out the Elite martial artist and rewards their long years of service to the arts of the warrior. Check out www.worldoma.com  I know Grand Master Jack ( Pappasan ) Stern would love to hear from you.               I will be looking into hosting a visit of Grand Master Stern in NZ. He is a true master with over 60 years of service to and training in the martial arts. Having him visit will be a great honour.   News, views and interviews: If you have any news you would like to have included in our newsletter please forward onto me and I shall put it in our next edition.      Soke Ray Porter