Hey Gang,

The location was the main field of MillCreek park in Willingboro NJ
which became the site of the first ever ITG KwanDao Challenge. Hosted
by Dr. John Lee of the International Traders Group, maker and
importer of fine martial arts bladed weaponry. As a "Thankyou" for
all of his loyal customers and friends. This was a free event to
spectate, compete, demonstrate and share good times. The contest was
to see who could best display their skill with the customed designed
and engraved kwandao which weighed a heafty 39.5 lbs. First prize was
the weapon itself! 2nd prize was the beautiful prototype modeled
Kwandao designed by John Lee which has yet to hit the market.

Things started out rocky with morning showers. It was feared the
event would be postponed for Sunday but gambled and hoped for the
best that the weather would subside and by 1pm we recieved the
greenlight to proceed. We had many firsts on Saturday with our newest
Dancer Nylah stepping in as our buddha leading our lion. We also
debuted our team sweatshirts with patches, our team flag and martial
arts family banner into our routine which all went over quite well!!
Despite the cold weather, an impressive number spectators not to
mention game competitors came out for the event. Teammember Kent
represented our group with an impressive Broadsword routine that he
has been working hard to perfect and his efforts paid off with a well
received performance. As a surprise last minute entry, our very own
team member Shannon Boggan brought home a prized Kwandao for his
efforts. This event went over so well that John Lee has decided to
host more events in 2008 with the idea of highlighting a different
weapon each time, tentatively first with Broadsword in May and
Spear/Staff in August! Exact dates are to be announced!

Cheers!

Mel

--- In tristatewushukungfu@yahoogroups.com, Mel Roberts
<tonji152@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Avishay,
>
> I hope you've been well! It's been way too long since
> we've lasted contacted each other. You may have
> learned of my recent shoulder surgery and I'm now
> going through the long and frustrating recovery
> period. This has effecively knocked me out of the
> Kwandao comeptition as well as other things but I will
> be one of the judges. That was a wonderful suggestion
> you have made and I will make it a point to take as
> many pics and video as possible. My friend John Lee
> who is hosting the event has been trying to get this
> thing going for awhile now. I'm glad to see he's
> finally set the date. His wife probably delivered an
> ultimatum to get that damned thing out of the house!
> The prized Kwandao is wonderful to look at but its
> really too heavy to work with. A conversation piece at
> best. I tested it out in the parking lot of his shop
> when I first saw it and nearly caused a car accident
> when a driver was gawking at me instead of paying
> attention to the road. He must have called the police
> on his cell because not a second after I got it back
> into the store when patrol car came into the lot.
> *LOL*
>
> Take care,
>
> Mel
> --- avishay <avishayisaiah@...> wrote:
>
> > Dear Mel:
> > hope all is well with you, that your
> > mind/spirit/body is
> > focused/expanding and strong and that your martial
> > arts training is
> > increasing and sustaining you.
> > thank you so much for posting this. I have long
> > admired the kwandao
> > and drooled over weapons web sites for the weapon.
> > Unfortunately time
> > constraints have not let me pursue this (i still am
> > working on
> > creating a kata for a klingon batlah i had made for
> > myself i dont have
> > the space to practice that - except very early
> > mornings in the park).
> > Unfortunately i will not be able to attend the nov
> > 10th competition so
> > PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take lots of photos of the
> > event if you do go.
> > if you take any video you can try posting it on
> > www.veotag.com a great
> > site for video indexing (or ofcourse youtube).
> > thanks once again.
> > avishay
> >
> >
> > --- In tristatewushukungfu@yahoogroups.com, "Mel"
> > <tonji152@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hidy Ho, Gang!
> > >
> > > Just in, A first time ever KwanDao Competition
> > will be held in
> > > Willingboro NJ in the 08046 zip code on the field
> > in Mill Creek Park
> > > at 10:30AM. The event will commence with a
> > Liondance and martial
> > > arts demos. For those of you who are wondering
> > what a KwanDao is.
> > > Its that very large bladed Chinese weapon often
> > seen on statues of a
> > > red faced warrior (General Kwan) stroking his
> > beard. General Kwan is
> > > the patron saint of martial arts and of commerce.
> > Many traditional
> > > kungfu schools and Chinese restaurants have an
> > alter devoted to
> > > General Kwan for good luck. The competition is
> > hosted by John Lee
> > > and International Traders Group 8, the maker of
> > fine custom sharp
> > > swords and weapons and importer of other fine
> > Chinese items. The
> > > competition is free to enter and or spectate. Food
> > and drink will be
> > > available. This event is meant to be just a fun
> > affair and a "Thank
> > > you" to all of his great customers that helped
> > make his bussiness a
> > > huge success. This will be a forms (Kata)
> > competition using the Kwan
> > > Dao provided by the host which weighs a whopping
> > 39lbs. Your routine
> > > must contain atleast 10 spinning movements. The
> > winner gets to keep
> > > the said item which is a one of a kind custom made
> > piece.
> > >
> > > FOr more info: www.itg8.com or email itg8558@
> > >
> > > Cheers!
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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