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I met Ted in 1978 of so.

Robert Blaisdel had adopted him as his Sensei as i am sure Fred has mentioned.

My best guess as to who signed his certificates would be the same person who signed mine in that time frame---Robert Trias.

Sensei Trias was no stranger to the martial arts, and therefore felt competent enough to issue "Yudansha" certificates of rank in the mid to late seventies.

Coincidentally, Sifu John Loupos Studied Uechi for a time and his Shodan "Yudansha" certificate is the same as mine.

I beleive the Sensei Ted was more or less accepted by the lat Kanei O Sensei as Sensei Ted did 'produce' a Kyuhon of his own, of which I received parts.

What makes the following believable is the manner in which Kanei o Sensei's comments were elicited, and the manner in which they recorded.

My quess is that Sensei Ted would periodically send 8mm movies to Futenma, and would receive replies back.

The only one I can recall right now is the alleged and Kresge Kyuhan reproduced comment that read as follows:

"One should not adorn the Gi with one's own name".

the last I personally heard was that he ahd retired to Florida, given up the martial arts and was awaiting "rapture" and, assumption into heaven.

He had the occasional set of vistiors from Okinawa, who destroyed several trees in Sensei Blaisdel's backyard. I did not see then at the then Weymouth Grange Dojo. I have no explanation.

Sensei Ted was alleged to eat mostly Coca Cola and Twinkies. When he smiled at me at one of his extremely rare visits to the Weymouth Dojo, his teeth's appearance gave some credence to this bit of lore.

I Believe Sensei Ted was a good instructor. many times in the years before I figured out I was better off in GEMS organization, many students came and went from Arizona and the Maritimes, Guy Levesque from new Brunswick being among them.

Regarding Guy, who allegedley recevieved his Nidan from the USKA, as did I, although i received another one through NAUKA or the SHUBUKAN.

what with all the "political jumps" made by the various Dojos, i can say I have certificates signed by Senseis Trias, Kanei O Sensei with Sensei Summers, Toshio Higa, Sensei Nakamatsu and others signing as the Secretary of the Okinawan Karate Association.

Guy Allegedly went on to making very close connections witht he Uechi Family and study of Okinawan Traditional Herbal medicine.

Perhaps this will fill in some gaps, or, perhaps it will just add to the confusion.

J

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"All Enlightenment Gratefully Accepted"

Hi John Sensei,

Let me fill in some blanks as we both have the same background. I said this on this thread years ago that I never met Kresge personally, but I do have a copy of his book. I brought it to the summer camp years ago at Bill Sensei's request. It's a good book, self-published with only 200+ copies made. It will never be re-printed. Anyway, in speaking with Gordi Breyette sensei about 10 years ago, we talked about Kresge. I'm paraphrasing, but I remember Gordi-san to say that Kresge was still held in hi esteem in certain circles there because of his book and the fact that he sent over all the sections to Kanei sensei for correction. Anyway, it doesn't make the writing any better, but the pictures are pretty good.

Regarding sensei Guy Levesque, I can't tell you who his first couple of certificates are signed by. They are probably the USKA and maybe even IMAF. However, his story is even more facinating (not so much if you know the man). I had the pleasure of training with him for several years where I would go up to New Brunswick and he would come down here. He is a world of knowledge and dedication. If I may, he received his BB from Blaisdell sensei in the late seventies early eighties by traveling back and forth from New Brunswick (12 hour ride). In the mid-eighties, he and Blaisdell went to Okinawa with the USKA and being the only Uechi representatives were subjected to some tough treatment due to a magazine article from the USKA concerning Uechi fighters (or something to that effect). Therefore, when they arrived there they were assigned Koza Dojo with Yonamine sensei. Needless to say, they did not train the body conditioning like that before and were beaten to an inch of their lives. I remember Blaisdell telling me he couldn't even walk the next day.

After the trip, Blaisdell decided to hold a grudge against the Okinawans for treating him that way and sought out IMAF. Levesque sensei took it as a challenge and trained extra hard. Two years later, he went back and they did it again. This time it wasn't as bad. Two years after that he went back again (1987 I think) and they couldn't hurt him anymore. He was told he could no longer train there. He went to Futenma and told Kanei sensei the story and he said that Levesque could train there for now on.

Sensei Levesque went home and took up Chinese medicine from a school in NY city. He went back and forth and finally graduated from there. He continues to train with a small number of people, runs a clinic for healing, possibly still competes in ballroom dancing with his lovely wife Pauline, is a grandfather a least a couple times over, and is a retired asst. prison warden. I believe sensei Levesque is one of those untapped Uechi treasures that because of geography, technology (or lack thereof), and other unknown reasons, many people have lost out on. I kind of look at him the same way people look at Sensei Dave Mott or David Finklestein if you know what I mean. Although never officially my sensei of record, he will always be a sensei of mine!

mike

Kresge's favorite food was/is Meatloaf. I know this because I heard him say it many times over the years. When I invited him to my Wedding, he requested it and we had it.

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The most important character trait is integrity