Black belt promotions on 2/10

[rawnshah]

We had the Kodenkan 41st annual black belt promotion ceremony last Sunday with three battodo candidates newly accepted as shodans: Dusty Alexander, Andrew Dicenso, and Steven Waldstein. They have practiced for several years with us now--I think about 4 years each--and are well deserving of the rank. I'd like to congratulate all the new shodans, who are now also officially sempais in the Kodenkan.

They also received their Ryuseiken shodan certificates and badges on the same day (since these are two different organizations) from Shihan McGraugh.

We'll have official photos in a short while.

I'm trying to remember all the black belts we have promoted over the years (not including myself and Shihan) just in our neck of the woods:

- Shaun Garewal, shodan
- Russell , nidan & sensei
- Monica Voge, shodan
- Bianca Kuo, shodan
- Stephanie Marcellin, shodan
- Dusty Alexander, shodan
- Andrew Dicenso, shodan
- Steve Waldstein, shodan

Most are still actively practicing, although some have moved away. I'm simply glad to see the numbers growing.