August 2018 Black Belt Test

On Saturday, August 18, 2018, students from San Francisco and San Mateo Tat Wong Kung Fu Academies and affiliate school, One Tribe Martial Arts gathered for our 2018 Summer Black Belt Test.

Congratulations to the following students for achieving their first Black Belts:

Elias Abraham Akbari
Keith Battle
Sulastri Prameswari Carr
Renee A. Charpiot
Irvin I. Cruz
Samuel Fischer
Anthony Lagusker
Kenneth Lieu
Shivani J. Patel
Maxim Romanov
Alexander Shen
Joshua Tang
Kira Wong
Anna Zakaria

And….Congratulations goes to our 1st Degree Black Belt recipients: Adam Abolfazli, Elvie Besio,
Alexander Lo, Efren Garcia Vargas, Noah Nima Shamsai, Gregory Thompson
and 2nd Degree Black Belt recipients: David Besio, Amanda Burgess, Kenneth Chen, Steven Kao.

Big Congratulations to Concord’s One Tribe Martial Arts Academy Instructors:  Jason Wong (5th degree black belt),
Nobu Osoegawa (4th degree black belt), Kevin Wong, Robbie Chyr, and Reza Surjana (all 3rd degree black belts)
These fine instructors demonstrate that in Kung Fu, learning never stops.

Throughout the day-long test, our headquarters school in San Francisco resounded with spirit and cheers for displays
of perseverance, focus, energy, skill, and confidence from these Black Belt candidates (and now Graduates).  
Master Chow, Sifu Godoy, Sifu Lee, and top Instructors led candidates through weapon sets, hand forms,
rapid Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu combinations, self-defense applications, ending with challenging endurance
exercises and board-breaking.

As often happens in our Kung Fu community, we had several family members test together. We give extra
congratulations to these Kung Fu families who get to enjoy the rigors and rewards of training and testing together.

Coming back is hard – but the journey and achievements are worth it!
Keith Battle had to leave years ago but after returning, set his goal to get his Black Belt,
and now after the 17 year journey – he’s got it!  Shivani Patel began training when she was 9, had to stop for a while,
but in high school she decided to start again, and got her black belt just before going to UC Berkeley.

Going away – you’ll be missed:
Sulastri Carr made reaching black belt her priority before her upcoming move to Colorado.
She came four or five times a week and trained hard and she achieved her goal.

The accomplishment of receiving a Black Belt is a memory that lasts a lifetime.

Congratulations for your hard work and achievements!