Open House
On Saturday, May 21, the American Martial Arts Institute opened its doors to the community, family, and friends for our Spring Open House. The purpose of the event was to promote camaraderie among the students and allow them the opportunity to demonstrate for friends and family. Grandmaster Crandall welcomed instructors and students of the American Martial Arts Institute for an exciting day of of sharing knowledge and skills with the community. The training hall includes three large, separate training floors with viewing areas, seven bathrooms, a conference room, an office, a school library, changing rooms for men, women, instructors, and master instructors, and areas for quality training equipment including mats, bags, shields, and more.
After Grandmaster Crandall welcomed the guests, he introduced his designated successor and the proprietor of the main location, Master Eric Stalloch and the other four Master Instructors, Master Freleigh, Master Chuff, Master Morris, and Master Moller, who assist Grandmaster Crandall and each whom led a demonstration during the day.
This was followed by three hours of exciting demonstrations by five class demonstrations from our different styles and programs including: Superkick (3-5 year olds), Children's Classes (6-12 year olds), Adult Classes (ages 13 and older), the American Cane System (Cane-Fu), and Takenouchi-Hangan-Ryu-Matsuno-Crandall Iaido (traditional samurai sword). Other demonstrations included weapon's katas, self-defense, board breaking, meditation demonstrations, and more. Many of the instructors also performed for the students.
On May 15, 2016, New Hartford Mayor Donald Ryan and the Village of New Hartford presented Clifford C. Crandall Jr. with a proclamation recognizing him and his school for their community, state, and country’s educational impact. Master Eric Stalloch made the formal public presentation to Grandmaster Crandall of the professionally framed proclamation from the Village of New Hartford, recognizing the twentieth anniversary of the world release of the American Eagle Style textbook. The proclamation also cited Crandall’s contributions to the community for his safety programs, television shows, public service announcements, scholarships, and publications. Grandmaster Crandall said, to the audience on hand, that he has been very fortunate to have had the experiences he has had and feels it is a responsibility and honor to pass this knowledge on to others. He thanked the New Hartford community for its support of his school and its efforts to promote safety for all ages. The proclamation is now on display at the main location.
It was an exciting day of camaraderie for the students and instructors.
