The following roster contains the names of all persons that have earned the rank of black belt in Goshin-Do Karate-Do DeFelice-Ryu. An * denotes that the Yundansha remains active. Please refer to the “In Memorium” Page for a listing of deceased Yudansha.
1. John M. Szmitkowski * (Senior Black Belt) For Sensei Szmitkowski’s pedigree & rank please visit his weblog at http://senseijohn.me/about/
Renshi Title:
2. Renshi Jimmy DiMicelli, Go-Dan *
Sensei Title:
3. Sensei Paul Recchia, Go-Dan
6. Nicholas D’Antuono, Yon-Dan
7. Gil Breit, Yon-Dan
8. Kimberly Szmitkowski, San-Dan
9. Walter Byrne, San-Dan
10. Howard Viele, San-Dan
11. Steve Pizzoll0, San-Dan
12. Bobbie Gumowski, Ni-Dan
14. David Church, Ni-Dan
15. James Kingston, Ni-Dan
16. Jeffrey Tyne, Ni-Dan
17. Steve Malmoud, Ni-Dan
18.Toni Fabi, Ni-Dan
19. Richard Shields, Sho-Dan
20. Jerry Ventura, Sho-Dan *
21. Tony Ferrante, Sho-Dan
22. Greg Etmekjian, Sho-Dan
23. Richard Katz, Sho-Dan
24. James Angelidis, Sho-Dan
I trained under Sensai Jerry Thompson at Arts of Self Defense when it was originally located in Hawthorn N.J.
We were part of the Goshin-do Karate-do Assoc.
That was 50+ years ago. I have recently returned to training at nearly 70 years old.
I am wondering if anyone has information on any of the former students or instructor.
I know that Shihan VanLenten has passed away but I have no knowledge of Sensai Jerry Thompson or instructors such as Denise Rayo.
If anyone has any information I would be interested to know.
Thank you in advance
Sincerely
Mtt Aceino
Thank-You for your comment Matt.
Unfortunately I do not have current information on Sensei Thompson. Some year ago he had provided me with archival documents & videos. Throughout this site and my own at http://www.SenseiJohn.me you may find more photos and articles by searching Sensei name in the search bar. Also on my you tube channel – FlyFishingDojo – there are a few kata videos that trace various kata through the years within the Goshin-Do Karate-Do Association – Sensei Thompson and/or his students are featured in some. If you need help finding please comment on my site (I check that more often).
My best,
– Sensei John