For more than 15 years Sensei
Frank has trained a minimum of 14 hours a week in Karate and Ju-Jitsu, running his
club as non-profit. So what happened to Sensei Frank
Zinck on May 11th, 2006, Sensei Frank was put through a gruelling 8 hour grading
test.
"Today, in this gym, Kancho
Robyn, Sensei Troy and myself spent the entire day testing Sensei Frank in every
conceivable facet of KRJJ, including, to the best of our abilities, the ones we
still don’t even understand. I had the fortune of studying directly under
Master Dionne for the majority of my martial arts career. I know how much he
expects of his senior students and the quality of their abilities. I have
trained with and known more of Master Dionne’s black belt students than anyone
else still practicing the art and I can say without a doubt that Sensei Zinck is
absolutely the most gifted of any student Master Dionne has ever taught and he
has a more intimate knowledge now of KRJJ than anyone else living on this
planet." Sensei Josh Gluck
Master Zinck's Demo for kids and parents prior to his grading
Sensei Frank Zinck hangs his head in exhaustion and disbelief as he
becomes Master Frank Zinck on May 11, 2006 as
Kancho Robyn Dionne presents him with his new belt.
Unfortunately, Sensei Frank Zinck was
suffering from an agonizingly painful bad back which prevented him from doing
hip throws and any load bearing techniques. But that doesn't mean things were
easy, nothing could be further from the truth. None-the-less, he fought through the pain, icing his back for a few
minutes every half hour and popping lots of Ibuprofen. "I was in a lot of pain
that day. I wouldn't let up or give up though. At one point Ed Adams did an
attack and I thought the spasm in my back was going to drop me right to the
floor. I didn't want Ed to think he knocked me down with his Ki, heheheheh"
"Special thanks and big appreciation to my Uke's for
this event" Sensei Frank
Ed Adams (faired out well)
Johanne Connolly (had the ligaments in both hands stretched)
Andrew Johnston (got knocked out, got his bell rung and got
a bloody nose, right wrist stretched out).
Dan MacNeil (came for the afternoon to relieve the pressure
of the others)
"There has been great responsibility and trust placed upon me today,
something I do not take lightly. I vow to continue to drive (the
system) forward, I vow to continue to learn and teach what I learn and I vow
to honour the memory of my Master and those before him." Master Frank
Zinck
Sensei
Josh Gluck describes the days events as students look on.
Grading to a Master level wasn't easy, Sensei
Frank Zinck was put through a grueling test overseen by Kancho Robyn Dionne,
Sensei Josh Gluck, and Sensei Troy Robertson. The testing consisted of:
Eight hours of physical testing
covering the entire Kyushu spectrum including made up scenarios designed
to test Sensei Frank's creativity, spontaneity and decisiveness.
Testing included questions on his theories, KRJJ direction and his beliefs.
A thirty minute demo
during the kids class of unrehearsed techniques.
"We expected to see 30 or 40 different
techniques in the first 45 minutes. Sensei Frank did 168 in that time frame.
Eventually we simply lost count because we were too fascinated by everything he
was doing, some stuff we had not even seen before." Sensei Troy Robertson.
"It was a magical day, my back gave me lots of trouble but in
the end I feel quite good and excited about the future of Kyushu-Ryu Ju-Jitsu.
The next generation of martial artists, our youth, will accomplish things I have
yet to imagine. They are our future. I love being apart of their development and
progress and look forward to hopefully seeing what they become capable of."
Master Frank Zinck
