Nov 04 2009

Rich Diguardi

Category: Rich Diguardi — pcsadmin @ 1:00 pm
Mr. Diguardi

I started karate in 1993 at the age of six after begging my parents to take me for lessons.  My interest in the martial arts came mostly from TV shows and movies. After eleven years of balancing school sports and karate, I went for my black belt.  The test is something I will never forget as it was probably the most difficult trial that I will ever have to over come. 

The day following my black belt test I moved to Delaware for 3 months to work on jet skis before I headed for school. I spent 14 months in Orlando Florida to train for boat repair at Marine Mechanics Institute. After that I came back to PA and worked for family and friends until I found a job in Delaware. After three months of being there, I decided to move home and found a job at Maiden Creek Marine & RV. Once home I returned to East Coast Karate to begin training again and assumed the role of an instructor. Feel free to ask for my help or any questions. OSU!!!

Tags: Amp, Belt Test, Black Belt, Boat Repair, Delaware, East Coast Karate, Eleven Years, Family And Friends, Jet Skis, Job, Karate Training, Maiden Creek, Marine Mechanics Institute, Martial Arts, Orlando Florida, Parents, Rv, School Sports, Three Months, Tv Movies, Tv Shows

Nov 04 2009

Heather Watts

Category: Heather Watts — pcsadmin @ 1:00 pm
Ms. Heather

I started taking karate when I was 14. It was something my father did in Korea during the Vietnam War and I grew up watching all the movies. That’s where my interest came from.

I loved it. I set goals for myself and it boosted my self confidence. For someone who tried all kinds of sports in school, this was definitely the one I liked. But I came to find out it’s not a sport, it’s an application to my life.

I steadily went through the belts and when I was a blue belt I was asked to help out with the Karate Kids class. That put my training to a whole new level. It’s amazing how much you learn when you’re the one instructing. Instead of three classes a week, I was going to all of them. If I wasn’t teaching, I was taking class six days a week. More often then not, there was a tournament to go to on the weekend.

In May of 1996, I earned my black belt through a three day long test under Sensei Snyder and Di Sensei Odo. It was then that I realized everything I learned was at beginner level.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of time to train as a black belt because three months later I went to naval boot camp. That’s a whole other story. Nine years later I came back and started training again. It feels really good to be back or for all you karate guys “GREAT!”

OSU!!

TRAIN HARD, NEVER GIVE UP

Tags: Beginner Level, Belts, Black Belt, Boot Camp, Heather Watts, Karate Kids, Kinds Of Sports, Korea, Lot, Nine Years, Osu, Self Confidence, Sensei, Six Days, Three Months, Train, Vietnam War