My stepfather, Ernest C. Diaz, was born in St. Louis, MO on Saturday, May 21, 1932. It was the same day Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. Dad was the youngest of five children born to Joseph (Josef) Diaz and Marie Moellenberg Diaz. Dad said the family did not have a lot […]
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Sometimes when you are researching the family history, you get an unpleasant surprise. I was researching my stepdad Ernest C. Diaz’s family history in the Library of Congress database. Dad did not know much about his mother’s family, the Moellenburgs, so I have been trying to find more information on them. While the discovery was significant, it was also a […]
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Joseph (Josef) Diaz was my stepfather, Ernest C. Diaz’s father. Ernie or Dad was the son of Joseph and Marie Diaz nee Moellenberg. Joseph was a first generation immigrant from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Joseph was born on May 12, 1893. According to his death certificate, his parents were Ulalio (Eulalio) Diaz and Betty Diaz nee Ramiro. I have […]
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A couple of years ago, I decided to stay at the rank of brown belt in Judo for a while. As a black belt in Taekwondo, I always assume that you keep going until you reach black belt in the art you are practicing. However, I began to change my mind about continuously trying to obtain a black belt […]
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In the distant past, one of the new holders of a teacher’s certificate in a traditional martial art brought a wheel barrow with round wheels for approval to the head of the style and his top two instructors. Previously, the wheel barrow had square tires and was referred to as a square barrow. The student waited with expectation as the […]
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On April 27, 2013, on what would have been his grandfather and namesake’s 71st birthday, Ken “Trey” Zimmerman III became the first black belt in the Zimmerman Self-Defense System under his father Ken Zimmerman Jr. “Trey” began studying martial arts shortly before his fifth birthday. “Trey” has trained in Taekwondo, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Gojo Shroei Weapons System. His goals […]
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Thomas E. “Snake” Kinney was a newsboy, head of a criminal gang, saloon owner and respected Democratic Missouri State Senator. Kinney, a tough street fighter rose to the top of the criminal world before becoming a respectable legislator. Kinney sponsored key child labor laws in Missouri and legislation limiting work hours for Missouri women to 8-hour days. Kinney never forgot […]
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Theodore Roosevelt served as the twenty-sixth President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. TR is famous for the “Strenuous Life”. He practiced boxing and wrestling through his twenties and thirties. What is not as widely known is that he practiced Judo around 1904, when he was in his mid-40s. Roosevelt would eventually earn a brown belt in Judo. Yoshiaki […]
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This article details the conditioning and martial arts workouts that I performed from 2006 to 2008. I used this program to earn my second degree black belt in Taekwondo and a third degree brown belt in Judo. Generally, I performed the martial arts workouts in the evening and the conditioning workouts in the morning. Martial Arts Workouts Monday P.M.: Judo […]
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At one point before I bought my own house, I thought home repairs were one of my skills. I helped my grandfather, Gilbert Ellis, make repairs to our house and the flat he lived in. Grandpa Ellis taught me how to replace electrical outlets, washers on sinks and build lots of things with wood. I put together lots of prefabricated […]
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