“We spend our time training ourselves to be weapons, learning how to fight; in order that we will not have to.”
Kevin Suggs began his journey in the martial arts in the fall of 1973, receiving instruction with Sensei Ron Henderson, in Tae Kwon Do, to intermediate level. He also studied Wing Chun with Sifu “Lucky” Gonzalez, and with Sifu Ruban Morales in the Yin Moy Gung Fu system, before joining Sensei William Grady in 1979.
Sensei Suggs presently holds the rank of Black Belt – 5th Degree, awarded May, 1999 by Rensi Grady and Master Albret Gotay. He has served as a staff instructor at Super Summer Seminars (Zen-Do Kai) since 1992, and as president of the Northeast martial Arts council from 1993 to 1996. Mr. Suggs has also done demonstrations for the Greenburg School District’s pre-school during Black History Month, and in Summer 1999 and 2000 headed a young teens’ self-defense program at the Fresh Air Fund’s Camp Mariah.
Goju Ryu
Goju Ryu is a traditional Okinawan martial art that specializes in the blending of hard (Go) and soft (Ju) techniques. In addition to the traditional art form, Sensei Suggs takes a particularly practical approach to Goju.
His school, the Shin Ri Tan Kyu, focuses on helping students live by example, balancing the concepts acquired from the study of martial arts with the challenges encountered in everyday life.
Seminar: Own Your Art
The concept of “Owning Your Art” contains two key components:
(1) Self-assessment – taking into account your physical attributes, such as height, weight, age and gender, and
(2) Your skill set – your talents and abilities to perform realistically in a given situation.
These components coupled with concepts you have acquired from various sources, will give us the groundwork to explore “one on one” combat and defense against multiple opponents. We take familiar techniques and expand on them, adapting them to accommodate different people and body types. This allows the situation to define the level and nature of our response thus creating the structure of your art.
