Michele “Mouse” Krasnoo serves as master of ceremonies  at the Black Belt Industry Awards banquet.

Best Children’s Program
In 1973 John Sharkey Jr. founded the Sharkey’s Karate Studio headquarters 50 miles south of Chicago in Momence, Illinois. More than 30 years later, the respected school continues to offer a diverse martial arts menu of kosho kenjutsu sword training, Xtreme Martial Arts, shorei-ryu karate and special programs designed for children.

More than just kick-and-punch classes, the children’s programs at Sharkey’s Karate Studio address overall child development. Sharkey and his team of dedicated professionals help their young students achieve objectives in both their physical training and in life-success areas such as setting goals, developing interest in a variety of endeavors and cultivating self-esteem. The result: physically skilled, mentally sharp, well-rounded, self-confident young men and women who conduct themselves with the attitude, respect and discipline befitting a true martial artist.

Some of Sharkey’s long-term students may represent the next generation of martial arts masters. Under his mentorship, these advanced practitioners bring their own unique brand of talent, discipline, strength and technical knowledge to magazines, television, films, live audiences and back to the training studio for the young people following in their footsteps. Included among these standouts are XMA developer Mike Chaturantabut, eight-time forms and weapons champion Suzann Wancket, Sideswipe Pro martial arts performance-team creator Matthew Mullins and three-time world title-holder Craig Henningsen. These are but a few of the more than 40 advanced students whose lives are dedicated to training, competition and educating others in the martial arts, and they all got their start at Sharkey’s Karate Studio.

In recognition of the school’s continuing effort to prepare young martial arts students for success—both in and out of the training hall—Black Belt is proud to present Sharkey’s Karate Studio with the 2006 Industry Award for Best Children’s Program.
—Raymond Horwitz

Best Seminar/Training Camp
In 1997 personal-protection expert Tom Patire designed the curriculum for what would become the International Training Commission’s Ultimate Training Camp.

The concept was simple: provide comprehensive hands-on and mind-set training, putting the “brain and brawn” to the ultimate test in a weeklong training camp. Originally designed for law-enforcement, military and security personnel, Patire’s camp was later opened to martial artists and business professionals who wanted to test their skills in a real-world environment. Participants would find themselves in an all-encompassing, live-action learning atmosphere where all their skills would be pushed to their limits—and beyond.

The ITC Ultimate Training Camp represents Patire’s 30 years of experience in personal, family and executive protection, culminating in methods for surviving the no-win situation. The camp bridges the gap that seemed to be occurring in other martial arts, firearms training and tactical-strategy courses.

Featuring both proactive and reactive training, the ITC Ultimate Training Camp delves into single- and third-party close-quarters protection, immediate-threat management, medical-emergency first-response protocols, tactical handgun and shotgun training, as well as a variety of use-of-force tactics. The comprehensive, action-packed curriculum leaves no stone unturned.

Best Eclectic School
Overseen by Black Belt Hall of Fame member Richard Bustillo, the International Martial Arts and Boxing Academy takes a unique, nontraditional approach to martial arts training by focusing more on the individual student than his style. The IMB Academy’s concept stems from the belief that no one style is applicable to every person. The philosophy behind this approach is found in Bruce Lee’s jeet kune do, which emphasizes understanding one’s own abilities and limitations and absorbing what is most practical and functional. Classes are taught in kali, muay Thai and Brazilian jujutsu.

Established by Bustillo in 1974, the IMB Academy teaches the three basic ranges of martial arts in its 10,000-square-foot training facility. Students are taught to fight from long range using kali’s stick-fighting techniques, which feature single- and double-stick coordination drills that focus on various angles of offense, defense and counters. For medium-range fighting, students can study muay Thai, which emphasizes punches, kicks, elbows and knees, along with evasive body movement. For close-range fighting, students can study Brazilian jujutsu, the effective grappling art that enables one to defend against and submit one’s opponent on the ground. Students are encouraged to practice and develop these styles on their own, and each person creates a unique hybrid based on his or her abilities.

Best Humanitarian Act/Event
The Ultimate Black Belt Test was created by Tom Callos to provide advanced martial arts students with experiences they simply can’t get in the dojo. This 13-month course challenges and transforms participants mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Each martial artist who participates in the program has to meet some grueling physical requirements, including 52,000 push-ups, 52,000 crunches, 1,000 rounds of sparring, 1,000 repetitions of a chosen kata, 1,000 miles of walking or running, a weeklong eco-adventure course and proficiency in multiple arts. To build character and spirituality, students are expected to mend three broken relationships, practice daily meditation, perform 1,000 acts of kindness and participate in an environmental cleanup project.

Callos had been searching for the ultimate team-building project for his group. When the Housing Resource Center told him about Henry Lawson, an elderly Alabama resident whose home had been badly damaged in a fire, Callos jumped at the opportunity to put his team to the test. The Ultimate Black Belt Test students not only raised $10,000 in six weeks for the project, but also flew to Alabama to build the house themselves. Construction began at 7 a.m. on April 9, 2005, and was finished by 7 p.m. the next day.

As if building a house in two days wasn’t enough, the team also gave a martial arts demonstration at a local high school. For Callos and his Ultimate Black Belt Test participants, being a “humanitarian” isn’t a title; it’s part of martial arts mastery and a way of life.

Best Tournament
America’s love of martial arts competition has grown and evolved from the traditional white gi, kata and sparring of yesteryear to the elaborate light shows, costumes and music-accompanied kata of today’s events. And for nearly 30 years, the Diamond Nationals has provided a venue for the sport’s evolution and for its top performers to show their stuff. Tens of thousands of martial artists from all over the world have entered the Diamond Nationals to participate in its spectacular competitions.

It all started in 1975, when John Worley and his partners organized their first tournament, called “The Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Karate But Were Afraid to Ask Tournament.” In 1977 Worley was joined by point-fighter Larry Carnahan, and they organized and promoted a new event called the Mid-America Nationals. In 1978 Keith Vitali won the grand championship and was awarded a diamond ring—and at that moment, a great tradition was born. The Diamond Nationals World Karate Championships was christened soon after.

The Diamond Nationals grew exponentially, and in 1983 Carnahan and Worley took control of the event. They were joined by William Dunkley and formed JLB Productions, a company that produces and promotes tournaments and full-contact events. Since then, the Diamond Nationals have set the standard for large-scale competitions. As the number of competitors increased to more than 2,000 in the 1990s, the production team was forced to create innovative formats and event schedules to deal with the crowds. The Diamond Nationals now averages an incredible 2,200 competitors and between 7,500 and 9,000 spectators per year.

As martial arts competition continues to evolve, the Diamond Nationals will undoubtedly be on the cutting edge, creating new and exciting avenues for America’s premier martial athletes.

Best Traditional School
Far more than just a martial arts school, Bong Soo Han’s International Hapkido Federation was established to teach students a way of life based on hapkido’s philosophy and training methods as taught by the art’s founder, Yong Sul Choi. For 37 years, the International Hapkido Federation headquarters in Santa Monica, California, has hosted group classes divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, with a comprehensive junior program designed to boost youngsters’ confidence while teaching respect and discipline.

As one of Choi’s original disciples, Han has spent more than 60 years teaching thousands of loyal students and contributing to hapkido’s mainstream-media presence through choreography in films such as 1971’s Billy Jack and books such as Hapkido: Korean Art of Self-Defense.

Many of Han’s students—such as Eric Friske and Daniel Cruz—are now masters themselves and collaborate with the grandmaster so hapkido can live on in its traditional form. Friske has trained under Han for the past 30 years and has conducted numerous self-defense seminars for the FBI’s Los Angeles office, as well as managing the International Hapkido Federation’s curriculum. Cruz has contributed to the federation’s development for more than 30 years, having trained more than 5,000 students and conducted numerous demonstrations and law-enforcement training sessions.

Together, they strive to pass on the original art—as handed down by Choi and refined by Han—to the next generation of practitioners.

For its long-standing commitment to preserving and perpetuating the legacy of hapkido, Black Belt is pleased to present Bong Soo Han’s International Hapkido Federation with the 2006 Industry Award for Best Traditional School.
—Jon Thibault

Best Women’s Program
For more than 30 years, Bill Kipp—one of the world’s leading experts on adrenal-stress scenario-based self-defense—has sought to codify what works in real-life situations. The result of his studies and innovations: FAST Defense, a program that has seen its founder log more than 30,000 live adrenal-stress scenarios with students over the past 16 years.

By emphasizing how to channel the fear that causes most people to freeze in dangerous confrontations, Kipp says, “We teach people how to work within the fear and even use it as jet fuel if they need to really fight.”

The FAST Defense system uses special instructors—each personally trained and certified by Kipp—to teach awareness, verbal tactics, stand-up fighting, ground fighting, armed-assailant defense, weapons techniques and defense against multiple assailants. The curriculum employs innovative equipment such as oversize protective helmets that have earned the nickname “bullethead” for their shape.

The complexity of the program spares it from imitators, according to Kipp. While related systems often concentrate on mental health and therapeutic aspects, FAST Defense focuses on self-defense and empowerment. Female students in particular benefit from the structured mind-body approach, which assists them in detecting threats before they occur. Should a confrontation transpire, however, they’re well-equipped with a variety of decisive response options. For FAST Defense students, fear is no longer the enemy; it’s a resource for counterattack and survival.

Kipp’s system has grown chiefly through word of mouth into a small army of more than 200 instructors teaching FAST Defense in 61 studios in six countries in North America and Europe. Some of America’s largest companies have contracted Kipp to teach self-defense, teamwork and conflict resolution. Most recently, the U.S. Army is looking to incorporate his methods and classroom-safety protocols in its training courses. Kipp has also created adult and children’s self-defense courses for NAPMA and Rocky Mountain Combat Applications Training.

With more than 31 years of experience in the martial arts, “The Fear Doctor”—as he’s often called by his peers—shows no signs of slowing down as he continues to conduct seminars worldwide.

Best Televised Production
The Ultimate Fighter has brought the drama and excitement of the mixed martial arts to the living rooms of millions of Americans. Portraying these hardened combatants in a real-life setting has dramatically changed how audiences view the sport. The fighters are no longer seen as violent barbarians but as men with hopes and dreams struggling against not only their own inner demons but also against competition from the other fighters.

Sixteen competitors, eight per team in two weight classes, live together and train together with UFC legends such as Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes. While each season progresses, the contestants watch as they and their competitors are weeded out one by one until four remain to duke it out for their division’s title of “The Ultimate Fighter” and a six-figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

This calculated gamble of taking the audience behind the scenes and into the fighters’ minds was far from a sure thing, however. American viewers had been saturated with variations on the reality-television theme, but executive producers Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and Craig Piligian smartly chose big-name champion fighters to coach the two teams each season, allowing viewers to see professional training methods as the contestants were pushed to their limits and beyond.

Best Overall School
Fred Degerberg comes from a long line of overachievers: His father was a wrestler, his father’s father was a Rough Rider who rode with Teddy Roosevelt and his maternal grandfather was a pro boxer. From age 3, Degerberg was put in head locks and scissor holds, and his formative years were spent unwittingly blending different combat styles. He was absorbed in the martial arts in the 1950s and became, as he puts it, the “world’s worst martial arts junkie.” He even has a complete collection of Black Belt magazines, including the first issue.

As a young man, Degerberg wanted to build the best martial arts school in the world, and 26 years ago, with $3,500 in his pocket, he refurbished a building in Chicago—an old candy factory where his grandmother had worked decades earlier—into the 13,000-square-foot Degerberg Academy. The comprehensive facility features its own Wall of Fame, gymnasium, matted training hall, boxing center and locker room, making it a full-fledged one-stop destination for multidiscipline integration.

Over the years, approximately 200 martial arts have been taught at the Degerberg Academy. The school was started on the premise that all styles are useful, and that philosophy remains true today. Students learn a variety of disciplines, including karate, boxing, kickboxing, judo, jeet kune do, aikido, kali, muay Thai and more.

Considering all the champions, masters and celebrities his school has hosted or trained—including John Belushi, Bill Wallace, Dan Akroyd, Kathy Long, Gene LeBell and others—Degerberg says he’s most proud of his everyday students, who may start as young as 3.

For nearly three decades of educational excellence and expertise, Black Belt presents the Degerberg Academy with its 2006 Industry Award for Best Overall School.
—Jon Thibault


Go to our Photo Gallery for more images from the Black Belt Industry Awards and the MAIA Martial Arts Super Show