09/10/2026
SENSEI SAYS:
🥋 OUR FULL CONTACT KARATE LINEAGE 🥋
These pictures are very personal to me because they represent where I come from, who I have learned from, and the lineage that I have had the honor and responsibility of carrying forward.
In the first picture, Hanshi 10th Dan Isao Ichikawa is with his student, Renshi Luis Zavalza Reyes—my Sensei. In the second picture, my Sensei Luis and I are together as he presents me with my 3rd-Degree Black Belt.
Looking back at that moment from where I stand today as a 5th-Degree Black Belt, I realize even more deeply that the belt itself was never the most important part. What matters is the knowledge, experience, discipline, and responsibility that come with every step along the way.
When I look at these photographs, I see a connection between generations of martial artists—a connection built on dedication, respect, training, and the commitment to preserve Full Contact Karate.
I am proud to be part of that lineage.
What my Sensei received from his Sensei was more than a collection of techniques. It was a foundation, a fighting system, and a way of understanding the martial arts, earned through years of training. That knowledge was passed to me, and now, as a 5th-Degree Black Belt, I feel an even greater responsibility to protect it, continue developing myself within it, and pass it forward to those who come after me.
I want to keep our Full Contact Karate as close as possible to its original techniques and foundations—the real knowledge of stand-up fighting: punches, kicks, knees, elbows, footwork, distance, timing, conditioning, combinations, defense, strategy, and the small details and secrets that can only be truly understood through years of hands-on training and competition.
Those things should never be forgotten.
Generations will change. Training methods may evolve. Students will come and go. But the foundation, principles, and fighting spirit must remain strong.
I am only one link in a chain that began long before me. I respect those who came before me; I value what my Sensei taught me, and I feel a responsibility to make sure that what was entrusted to me continues to move forward.
I am grateful to Hanshi Luis Zavalza Reyes for his guidance, his teaching, his trust, and for being an important part of my journey.
Today, as a 5th-Degree Black Belt, I understand that my responsibility is not simply to wear the rank.
My responsibility is to carry the knowledge.
Protect the foundation.
Honor the lineage.
And pass it on.
🥋 From Sensei to student.
From generation to generation.
From the past, through the present, and into the future.
This is more than the martial art I practice.
This is the lineage I was entrusted to carry. 🥋
For a full biography, click on the link:
https://mmaunderground.info/stand-up-fighting-lineage
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