2009 Year-End Student Awards Please join us in congratulating the winners of Wisdom Way Martial Arts' 10th Annual Year End student awards, who were honored during a ceremony in our studio on Saturday, December 12th: 2009 Oliver Lee Award(Awarded to the best new student of 2009): Gabby Hood (Karate Kidz™) Brandon Gonzalez (Little Ninjas™) 2009 Bill Wallace Award (Awarded to the student demonstrating the most significant improvement during 2009): Gabriel Pollack (Karate Kidz™) Jackson Weppler (Little Ninjas™)
2009 Jimmy Papatoneous Award(Awarded to the student demonstrating exceptional “fighting spirit”): Grant Ulto and Brendan Jones (Karate Kidz™) Owen May (Little Ninjas™) 2009 Michael DePasquale, Sr. Award (Awarded to the students demonstrating exceptional leadership qualities): Leonardo Febbraro, Jack Fronce, Albert Thomas, Rachel Elmer, and Mona El-Tawil (Karate Kidz™) Alison Milanese and Michael Micciche (Little Ninjas™) 2009 Joe Lewis Award(Awarded to the Pound-for-Pound Fighters of the Year): Ryan Chang (Lightweight) Christopher Davis (Middleweight) Brian Leichtman (Heavyweight) Katherine Riedel (Female) 2009 Curtis Inniss Award(Awarded to the 2009 Student of the Year): Jack Roche (Karate Kidz™) Kyra Riedel (Little Ninjas ™) 2009 Woman of the Year Award(Awarded to the woman demonstrating untiring support and dedication to her family and our school throughout 2009): Kyosah Cristina Ulto 2009 Man of the Year Award(Awarded for only the second time in our school's 10-year history): Kyosah Stephen Maytan
2009 Achievement Awards(Awarded to those students consistently demonstrating strong effort throughout 2009): Rishi Basu, Lucas Campo, Luca Capeci, Julia Corso, Rafael Da Cruz, Phillip Damiano, Frank DelPonte, Jack Dougherty, Carlos Estrada, Elijah Fraley, Langston Fraley, Erin Fryer, Justin Hinton, Benedict Jones, Megan Leichtman, Vladimir McMahon, Emmanuel Polakowski, Joseph Puchalla, Christopher Rhodes, Isabelle Rhodes, and Jake Riedl (Karate Kidz™)
Kavya Anand, Brett Bober, Reef Bober, Jacob Campo, Tyler Chang, Yonas El-Tawil, Yordi Estrada, Laura Fronce, Stephanie Gristina, Stephen Hartmere, Luke Hughes, CJ Lauretani, Nico Leone, Benjamin Levine, Nicholas Milo, Joshua Morgan, Lawrence Ohmes, William Otondi, Jenna Reynolds, Tyler Ryan, Charlie Schellhammer, Sienna Slony, Sam Wallach, and Joseph Wong (Little Ninjas™)
Congratulations to all of our well-deserving award winners.We are all very proud of you and encourage you to keep up the hard work and dedication in 2010!
Our 2009 awards awaiting their well-deserved recipients!
Our 2009 Little Ninjas award winners
Our 2009 Karate Kidz award winners
Wisdom Way Martial Arts Promotes Two to Black Belt Ranks On Saturday, October 24th, Wisdom Way Martial Arts promoted two Pelham residents to Black Belt ranks during an exam and promotion ceremony held in front of their families, friends, and classmates.Cristina Ulto was promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt, and studio owner Dennis Campo was promoted to 6th Degree Black Belt.
Cristina Ulto is a 9th grader at Pelham Memorial High School, who began training in December, 2003.She was the 2005 Most Improved Student, the 2006 Pound-for-Pound Fighter of the Year, and the 2008 Pound-for-Pound Fighter of the Year.She was one of the inaugural members of Wisdom Way’s Leadership Team in 2005.Cristina has trained with many of the top instructors in the martial arts, including Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Michael DePasquale Jr., Mike Allen, and John Maynard.She can often be found in our studio several hours before her class starts to lend a hand in our Little Ninjas and Karate Kidz classes, giving back what she has learned and demonstrating her true greatness.
Cristina is an avid runner and fitness enthusiast and is a member of Pelham Memorial High School’s Cross Country Running Team.She is the fourth female promoted to the rank of Black Belt at Wisdom Way – and continues to be a role model that everyone is very proud of! Dennis Campo is the President & Chief Instructor of Wisdom Way Martial Arts, who began his training at the Tremont Karate Club in the South Bronx in March, 1981.He began teaching as a Brown Belt in 1985 and achieved his first Black Belt in 1986.He was promoted to Chief Instructor of the Tremont school eleven years later, in September, 1997 and left that post in May of 2000 to establish Wisdom Way Martial Arts in Pelham, NY. Kyosah Campo currently holds Black Belts in 5 different martial arts systems – American Karate (6th Degree), Ji Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do (4th Degree), Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do (3rd Degree), Joe Lewis Fighting Systems (3rd Degree), and Superfoot Systems (1st Degree).He also holds ranks in many other disciplines, including Ju-Jitsu (Brown Belt), Hapkido (Purple Belt), American Goju Karate (Purple Belt), Judo (Green Belt), and Kobudo (Green Belt), among others.Kyosah Campo is a 24-time Martial Arts Hall of Famer, including a 6-time Instructor of the Year and 3-time Master of the Year. Kyosah Campo feels that his most important role in the Martial Arts today is serving the people of our community and is especially committed to keeping our children off the streets and empowering them with self-confidence.He was promoted to the rank of 6th Degree Black Belt (High Master) based on his contributions as a teacher but most importantly, based on the quality of the Black Belts, training partners, and students he has the privilege of training with each and every day.
1st Degree Black Belt, Cristina Ulto and 6th Degree Black Belt, Dennis Campo
Kyosah Cristina Ulto and her test-day sparring partners, Kyosah Benjamin Campo, Jonathon Comfort, and Kyosah Stephen Maytan
Congratulations to Kyosah Benjamin Campo, Kyosah Franklin Fraley, Kyosah Michael Tom, and Kyosah Nicholas Milanese, who were promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt on Saturday, April 25th. Please click on the links below to see videos of the students being awarded their ranks.
Click below to see Kyosah Nicholas Milanese being awarded his 1st Degree Black Belt
Click below to see Kyosah Michael Tom being awarded his 1st Degree Black Belt
Click below to see Kyosah Franklin Fraley being awarded his 1st Degree Black Belt
Click below to see Kyosah Benjamin Campo being awarded his 1st Degree Black Belt
Kyosah Campo Appears on CBS Early Show
On Saturday morning, October 18th, Kyosah Campo appeared on the live national television broadcast of the CBS Early Show with Erin Weed, one of the Country’s leading women’s self-defense experts, as she discussed the importance of women’s safety and demonstrated her self-defense skills against a “scary bad guy” (played by Kyosah Campo).A video of the broadcast is available at
right. Ms. Weed, a resident of Boulder, CO, became a women's self-defense advocate when one of her closest college friends, Shannon McNamara, was brutally murdered on campus in 2001.Ms. Weed's system is simple, effective, and the real deal.For more information about Erin Weed’s system, please visit http://www.girlsfightback.org/.
9th Annual Joe Lewis Research Conference
Kyosahs Dennis Campo and Stephen Maytan attended the 9th annual Joe Lewis Black Belt Research Conference in Tampa, FL, from October 1st through 4th.Nearly 150 of Mr. Lewis’ black belts and students gathered for four days of intensive training and camaraderie.Mr. Lewis’ main focus this year was “teaching the teacher”.In addition to Mr. Lewis’ sessions, participants also received training in boxing, Brazilian ju-jitsu, gun threat defenses, street fighting/grappling, inter-range combat, and conditioning.
During this event, Stephen Maytan became only the second Wisdom Way student to attain the coveted rank of Joe Lewis Black Belt.There are less than 200 active Joe Lewis Black Belts in the world, and the rank is still considered one of the most difficult to attain in all martial arts.Kyosah Maytan sparred three professional fighters en route to this tremendous accomplishment – his second black belt exam in two weeks – displaying the heart and courage that makes him a Wisdom Way Warrior!
session at Joe Lewis Black Belt Research Conference
4th Annual iCAT Conference
Kyosah Dennis Campo attended the 4th annual iCAT (Integrated Combative Arts Training) National Conference in Holyoke, MA, from Friday, August 1st to Sunday, August 3rd.iCAT is the leading organization for reality mixed martial arts in the world.Many of the top instructors in the industry, including Joe Lewis, Mike Allen, Michael DePasquale Jr., Charlie Lysak, and iCAT founders Walt Lysak Jr. and Richard Ryan held seminars during this event.Topics covered included kickboxing, ju-jitsu, ground grappling, knife defenses, Greco-Roman Olympic wrestling, combat conditioning, and advanced footwork.
Pelham Sreet Fair 2008
We are speechless! Where do we begin? 40 of Wisdom Way's dedicated students took part in our demo at the 2008 Pelham Street Fair on Saturday, June 7th. Our children all pulled together, as one family, and demonstrated their dedication, determination, discipline, desire, pride, their self-confidence, and - most importantly - if you looked at their faces, you could see they had a really great time performing!
How gratifying and motivating for them to hear the cheers from the people of our community, as they demonstrated their skills - from novice to advanced - with the enthusiasm that can come so easily for children. They performed like seasoned professionals - as if we perform demos in front of large crowds in the 96 degree heat every single week! We are so proud; so very proud that we are left in awe and speechless at their accomplishment.
Students - you were challenged and stepped up to that challenge. You pulled together as one team and showed the community that what you do is important - that you are important - and that your hours upon hours of hard work and sweat have made a difference in your life - and, in turn, can make a difference in anyone's who walks through our doors. In your performance, you demonstrated the spirit of the warrior. Indomitable spirit. Congratulations on another job well........... rather, make that - superbly done!
Little Ninjas™ demonstrate Listening Position #1
Little Ninjas™ execute front kicks in front of the crowd with such coolness, you would think it was just an ordinary class!
Karate Kidz™ performing 12-count push-ups during Wisdom Way's opening sequence
Franklin Fraley and Michael Tom demonstrate sparring drills – later they would entertain the crowd with exceptional free sparring
Memorial Day Parade On Monday, May 26th, members of Wisdom Way Martial Arts marched in Pelham’s annual Memorial Day parade.More than 30 of our students and their parents took part in the parade, including students who marched with their scout troops or other organizations.We are very proud of everyone for taking this time to honor those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the freedom of our great nation.Thank you, marchers!
Way’s marchers in Pelham’s 2008 Memorial Day Parade
Joe Lewis Visits Wisdom Way
Kyosah Campo’s instructor, Grand Master Joe Lewis, visited Wisdom Way on Wednesday, November 7th.We had a fantastic turnout of nearly half of our student population.Mr. Lewis, as always, taught some fantastic stuff, including knee and elbow strikes and head butts to our Karate Kidz™ and fighting rhythm drills and sparring modules to our adult kickboxing students.
It appeared that everyone enjoyed themselves, and we hope we kept our promise that the time would be well invested.Thanks again to everyone who supported this event!
New School Patch & T-Shirt
The new Wisdom Way Martial Arts "Warriors" patch is now available.Our new school patch, pictured to the right and designed by our own Kyosah Rafael Dilone Jr., has some very significant meaning:
§The text "Wisdom Way Martial Arts Warriors" is white on a black background.The official school colors used since our inception in May 2000 are black and white.
§The outer and inner circles, in red, along with the black background, represent the "unofficial" colors of the Joe Lewis Fighting Systems, red and black.Wisdom Way Martial Arts is an Official Joe Lewis Fighting Systems Training Center.
§The American Flag in the background, which is waving, represents freedom, serves as a reminder of those who have sacrificed for the freedom to practice our beloved arts, and is a symbol of our martial art style of American Karate.
§The three mountains and fist in front of the American Flag represent Kyosah Campo's and Kyosah Muniz's first school, the Tremont Karate Club, where they began training together under Kyosahs Inniss and Lee as white belts 25 years ago.The Dilone family also began training there more than 7 years ago.Tremont means "three mountain", hence the three mountains, and the fist was the centerpiece of the Tremont Karate Club patch (also pictured to the right).We chose orange for these symbols, as orange was the official color of the Tremont Karate Club.
Going forward, this will be the only patch worn on formal uniforms, over the heart.All new students are currently receiving this new patch as part of their enrollment package.All students are encouraged to obtain a new patch, which are now available for only $5, which includes sales tax.
The new official school t-shirt is also available, featuring a beautiful 9-inch version of the new school logo. The new t-shirt is 100% pre-shrunk cotton and is available for only $15, which includes sales tax. Wear it with pride!
Our new official school patch, designed by our own Kyosah Rafael Dilone, Jr.
Tremont Karate Club patch, circa 1981
Kyosah Campo along with (clockwise from bottom left) Thomas Sanchez, Jason Bristow, Sean Lyons, Alex Campo, and David Ford, as pictured in the May 19th Journal News
A Day in the Life…
Wisdom Way Martial Arts was featured in a special supplement “Day in the Life” of the May 19th issue of WestchesterCounty’s local newspaper, the Journal News.Kyosah Dennis Campo and several of our students were pictured prominently on the front page of the publication.A brief write-up of our Little Ninjas Program class was also included.Congratulations to everyone on their 15-minutes of fame!
Wisdom Way Martial Arts Inc. 135 Wolfs Lane Pelham, NY 10803 Phone: (914) 738-7700 Email: kyosah@wisdomway.net
