AKS Quarterly Newsletter

The DoJo

Kristyn Reinecke 4th Dan AKS

Summer Camp 2026

Dave Thomas

On the last weekend in July, the AKS held its annual Summer Camp. Again this year, we were fortunate to have the use of the gymnasium at Shores Community Church, thank you to Mr. Soderstrom. Many of us look forward to the opportunity to work-out together and share time with our many AKS friends and family.

Summer Camp began on Friday with Black Belt testing for Ms. Kristyn Reinecke and Mr. Mark Soderstrom; both were testing for 5th Dan. Both candidtaes did a great job. Their dedication and hard work was evident in their demonstration of forms and skills.

Friday evening there was a well attended Black Belt meeting that covered an array of issues. We discussed the 2027 Summer Camp which will be July 16 & 17, 2027. We reviewed current membership and financials. We discussed updates for the student handbook and set a date for completion of review. Currently, we have no more handbooks available and have to get some on order. We discussed new student rank certificates. The current options were on display on Saturday. Several handouts were presented that outlined AKS Black Belt testing requirements, along with the criteria for judging forms. The meeting closed with discussion of creating another video for basic requirements and better groundfighting guidelines. More work to be done in this area.

Saturday had a few new additions, with a display of new student certificates, a table of free martial arts books (thank you Father Wyse), and the always anticipated Summer Camp T-shirts - thank you Mr. Schoonover.

Camp was opened with presentaion of Black Belt promotions to Ms. Reinecke and Mr. Soderstrom. Muskegon's Mr. Robert Roy was the 2026 AKS Black Belt of the Year. Toledo's Mr. Ryan Tusin was 2026 AKS Student of the Year. Mr. Tusin was not available to attend camp and will have his award presented by Mr. Thomas at his home club. Mrs. Deb Roy and Ms. Laura Rohr were presented with Community Service awards for their work with women's self-defense clinics. The Community Service awards were presented by Mr. Mark Soderstrom. Ms. Reinecke also presented several of her students with special achievement awards. Congratulations to all those receiving awards.

The morning session had Mr. David Hayes teaching a Shorin-Ryu bo form to most of the Black Belts. Mr. Dave Thomas reviewed the updated handbook requirements with student ranks and some of the younger Black Belts. Mr. Thomas cautioned that it was going to be a review at light speed in order to get through the eight student grades. He was assisted in demonstration of techniques by student and Black Belt "volunteers."

Lunch was provided at no cost by a member who requested to remain anonymous. Thank you kind soul on behalf of all our attendees and guests; Subway was great. After lunch, pictures were taken and are available for viewing on our website.

One of the goals for this year's Summer Camp was to offer younger and different AKS instructors the opportunity to teach. It is important they have the oportunity to share their knowledge and experience. Each session was exceptional.

Mr. David Hayes, 8th Dan Shorin Ryu, came to camp to teach Suikendo. Mr. Hayes is always a excellent supporter of AKS (his former style) and is always sought out to share his extensive knowledge. One of the comments was, "He's great, will he be back next year"! Thank you Mr. Hayes.

Mrs. Debra Roy and her son, Mr. Robert Roy brought out their hand pads and demonstrated a variety of hand strikes. They showed students not only how to strike vunerable target areas but how to maximize striking force. Thank you Deb and Robert.

Ms. Kristyn Reinecke shared her experience teaching younger students a variety of fun things to incorporate into the training curriculm. She explained this gives the kids a much needed break and keeps the class fun and exciting. It was quite a vision watching some of our adult Black Belts particapting in her litany of youth oriented exercises. They all had a great time, it was easy to tell by the amount of laughing and grins. Thank you Kristyn.

Mr. Matthew Schoonover shared his background in sword forms. He taught Iado to a very attentive group of members. It quickly became evident that he has trained long and hard to perfect his skills. This was a new element for Summer Camp and was very much appreciated. There were many compliments and expressions of appreciation. Thank you Mr. Schoonover.

Mr. Fred Reinecke taught some Arnis forms and techniques. Mr. Reinecke is well known for his many years of expertise in forms; both empty hand and weapons. Summer Camp tries to offer training opportunties that are not always available at the home clubs. Mr. Reinecke certainly brought that experience to this year's camp. Thank you Mr. Reinecke.

Mr. Dave Gonzales shared his extensive background in tournament sparring. Mr. Gonzales is a former member of the United States Karate Team. He has competed nationally; as well as internationally. In the past several years, he has won Grand Champion in several open tournaments. Not bad at age 68. Mr. Gonzales introduced, not only new sparring combinations, but his unique approach to competition strategy. Participants said it was a very enightening session. Thank you Mr. Gonzales.

To celebrate this year's Summer Camp, Mrs. Robin Thomas rose to the occasion with an remarkable evening dinner. One of the highlights was AKS spelled out with blueberries, pineapple and strawberries. The food was great, the company was stellar, and the evening was an unmatched success. Thank you Mrs. Thomas.

I would like to close by thanking all those who taught and shared in this year's Summer Camp; as well as those who took the time to travel for a great learning experience. Congratulations to Kristyn, Mark, Debra, Laura, Robert and Ryan; as well as the students who received achievement awards.

I am looking forward to 2027 and have already started on the presentations and programs.

See you next year.

Dave Thomas
Chief Instructor
American Karate System