CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR BLACK BELTS- March 6th, 2011

(see list below)

On Sunday, March 6th, the Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy held its Spring 2011 Black Belt Test at its San Francisco, California headquarters.  The test lasted all day and ended in the evening with the Grand Finale Performance and official Belt & Tea Ceremony.

Students of all ages from the Bay Area Tat Wong Academies of San Francisco, San Mateo and Concord came together for this great achievement.  A total of 60 students tested.  Nine tested for 2nd Degree Black Belt, including the mother & daughter team of Katrina & Danica Seto while son Christopher was among the 22 students testing for 1st degree. Another family team was mom Stephanie Lowe testing for 1st degree while son Connor tested for Black Belt.  Daughter Michaela who already has her black belt was the official assistant to Master Tat-Mau Wong during the belt & tea ceremony.

Testing started at 12pm and lasted until 6pm and was under the direction of Master Wong along with Sifu Jeff Chow, Sifu David Law & Sifu Meng Wong.
During the six hours of testing, the candidates were taken through a full & rigorous day of techniques, self-defense, sparring, kicking, hand & weapon forms, board breaking and strength & endurance challenges.

At 6pm, family, friends & classmates joined the celebration starting with the Grand Finale Performance followed by the Traditional Black Belt & Tea Ceremony and concluding with refreshments & snacks.

For Master Wong, it was another very proud moment. “ I was so impressed with these students.  Six hours of hardcore non-stop testing is not an easy task. But I could see in every one of them their inner strength and dedication that came shining through.  Their years of training really showed in both their technical skill and what I call ‘kung fu spirit’.  I am also so appreciative of my amazing team of instructors for their hard work in training these students daily and preparing them for this kung fu milestone.”

When the evening was over, the Black Belts were exhausted but happy and their family and friends were extremely proud. The accomplishment of receiving a Black Belt is a memory that lasts a lifetime.  CONGRATULATIONS!

Photos courtesy of Bill Bauld, Valerie Jew & Diann So…Thanks!

BLACK BELT

Aaron Le
Adeel Safi Pervez
Boris Korablev
Dane Dickerson
Isabella Dominici
Jerry Noonan
Marina Ann Jajeh
Shannon Rae Murphy
Timothy Van S. Tadeo
Anastasia Ahani
Andrea Ho
Angelica Hernandez
Connor Ryan Vo
Dara Mar
Kayla Man
Connor Ryan Vo
Melody Cheung
Miguel Hernandez
Nathan Shek
Alejandro Avina
Alex Wong
Benjamin W. Lee
Jay W. Cote
Justin D. Lee
Les Allen
Lucas Lee
Ryan T. Lee
T.J. Atienza
Tara Young
Michael Tom – previously tested & received certificate
Erica Tom  - previously tested & received certificate

1ST DEGREE
Alec Brooks
David Leong
Eric J. Lee
Jason T. Wong
Lori Rehn
Mutsutaka Osoegawa
Nathan T. Ju
Taylor Leong
Vincent Tran
Benito Hernandez
Elena S. Tillman
Jack Li
Jana Chan
Kayla Choy
Roger Krupetsky
Sarah Li
Stephanie Chea-Yee Lowe
Christopher Frank Seto
Gabriella G. Sarrouh
Pratik Patel
Thomas So
Will Lee
Janna Emmons - previously tested & received licee envelope
Giovanni Panameno - previously tested & received licee envelope

2ND DEGREE
Justin Sin
Jason Fraser
Kwan Cynthia Chan
Leah Leiner
Mike Vu
Rachel Karina Wong
Robin M. Yee
Danica A. Seto
Katrina A. Seto

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