An American Treasure

[Bob White]

From the book “An American Treasure John Wooden”, there is a section that I would like to share with you all. This section is about Andy Hill, the speaker at our banquet March 25th.

Hill and Wooden have grown so close that when Wooden was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was summoned to Washington, D.C., for the presentation in July 2003, he asked his two children and their spouses to join him. Then he asked Hill and his wife, Alex, to go along. “It was the thrill of a lifetime for me,” Hill says. “Coach was deeply moved. He is an American in the deepest sense of the word, and I think the gravity of it all really impacted him. He’s gotten every award available in sports, but I think this one was special. President Bush was obviously excited to meet him, being the big sports fan that he is. I think we were all moved by the ceremony.”
As much as Hill enjoyed being there for the presentation of the Medal of Freedom, it was a seemingly routine drive with the coach a few weeks later that brought him to tears... “Coach and I were doing a power-lunch show somewhere, and we were crossing the 405 Freeway, near the intersection of 134,” Hill says, “Suddenly, out of the blue, Coach says, ‘Andy, have I ever told you how much I love you and how much I appreciate doing this book with you?’ I was so shook up; I thought I was going to crash the car. “You know Coach, I think I sensed that,’ ‘But to hear you put it in words means more to me than you’ll ever know.’ Coach said, “You know, I’ve been working on that. I’m better at expressing things like that now.’
To me, that’s Coach. Still working on it, still trying to get better. He truly is an amazing man.”

Coach Wooden died last year at the age of 99. If my math is close he was 92 years old and still working on improvement. I believe this is a great example of our own journey in martial arts. It is our path to continually work on getting better. The word “Do’, means, “The Way”. None of us will get to be perfect, but with work we can always get better.
I also would like to mention that the honor that John Wooden received, “The Presidential Medal of Freedom”, is the highest award that a citizen can receive.
We are truly honored to have Andy Hill speak at our event.
Respectfully,
Bob White

 

[vishalshukla]

For those of you who will be attending the banquet and want a special souvenir, as well as those of you who can’t attend but want to, we have a special offer.

We will be filming the banquet and offering a special DVD. The DVD will include interviews with Keno legends and special guests like Benny “The Jet”. We will also include Andy Hill’s presentation as well as other great moments.

You can pre-order your copy of the DVD now as we will be producing a limited number of copies. To order now please go to http://www.bobwhiteinvitational.com/banquetdvd.html
The DVD is only $30 (including S/H) and all proceeds will be donated to the Royal Family Kids Camp.

For the kids,
Vishal Shula
Bob White Invitational Tournament Director

 

[Bob White]

We hope to have many of the martial arts leaders being interviewed on the DVD.If I start listing names of those who confirmed attendence the post would be very long. It would probably make more sense to list who will not be at the event.
The DVD will be professionally filmed and edited. I expect it to be about an hour to an hour and a half long. So many of us have not had the opportunity to meet some people we have read about for years and this will give you a chance to get some insight into them. I believe this will also give you a chance to contribute to the Royal Family Kids Camp as ALL profits go to them.
Respectfully,
Bob White

 

[Bob White]

While I was coming up through the ranks Mr. Parker would have training classes on how to teach. We would meet on Monday mornings and have a class from 8 to 12 at the Pasadena school. The tools I learned from him have helped me be a full time instructor for the past 43 years. Besides my father, Ed Parker and John Wooden have had the greatest impact on my teaching style. Mr. Parker and Coach John Wooden are gone but their message is still shared. Today, June 25th we have Andy Hill at our studio and I certainly hope people can take advantage of this opportunity to learn things that will improve their teaching skills. There is no doubt in my mind that you are a better teacher when you are trying to be.
Brian Strain and Bob Mitchell will be there today. We tested together for our Black Belts over 40 years ago and took those classes with Mr. Parker in the 60`s but we all want to continue our learning journey. There is no charge and I hope to see at the school today at 1:30.
Bob White