My name is Mark A. Lester….I’m a 4th degree black belt with the Hombo dojo Shorinjiryu Kenryukan Karate.
My title is Tashi Mark.
When I started classes on Sept. 2, 1982. It was because of three guys from the neighborhood pushing me to join, but one of them named Jerome just said” You’ll get a better workout there… than out on the street.”
So with that in mind I went down to the dojo which at the time was locate on Jamaica Ave. Twelve Towns Y.M.C.A.
Meeting Hanshi for the first time back when he was Sensei , well lets just say first impression is everything. When I was asked by him (Hanshi) why I wanted to be in karate…I just said ” I’m here for the workout!!”
That was my first time experiencing the Hanshi stare (which he still does these days), as he said “Excuse me??”.
Make a long story short, I got what I was there for. After that day I learned what not to say to Hanshi very quickly…lol.