John Critzos,
II was the last champion produced by
Grand Master Kim Ki
Whang, and was known for his close
relationship to GM Kim (he was the son GM Kim never had). As a result, Critzos
gave the eulogy at Grand Master Kim's
funeral at the request of the Grand Master's wife and daughter. Today, the
Grand Master's uniform, training sticks and belt
hang in Critzos' private dojo. They are perpetually guarded by two authentic
19th century Samurai coats of armor and a
Samurai sword from the 1800's. Critzos is an
attorney practicing law in the Washington,
D.C. area. He concentrates his
practice on serious personal injuries and auto accidents. He is the head
of his firm which has two offices in
the D.C. area.
During his competition career, Critzos dominated the traditional martial
arts circuit from 1979 to 1985 when he retired amid
controversy which was written about by Black belt Magazine in an article
entitled "Traditional Controversy". The article
exposed the widely known, but rarely talked about judging flaws and abuses
that existed on the traditional circuit. It also led to
changes to be effectuated to curb the abuses. He came out of retirement in
1989 and won the All American Open in Madison
Square Garden for the 5th time as Heavyweight Champion. He came out of retirement
again in 1994 to win the U.S open for
the 5th time as Heavyweight/Grand Champion at the age of 39. During his career,
he also won the All American Invitational 5
times as Heavyweight Champion/Grand Champion; The All American Open 5 times
as Heavyweight Champion; The U.S.
Open 5 times as Heavyweight Champion/Grand Champion, The Eastern Regionals
twice as Heavyweight Champion/Grand
Champion; The North American Championships as Heavyweight Champion/Grand
Champion; The Keystone State
Championships, Ki Yun Yi's National Championships, and numerous other traditional
style contests. Few, if any, are able to
boost the record Critzos accumulated as well as the time span during which
he dominated. He did not compete on the
American Circuit, but rather confined his career to the Traditional Circuit
which he believed had a higher level of competition.
He was known for his flashy leg techniques, truculence, flexibility, and
speed in spite of the fact that he was a heavyweight.
His technical ability was matched by few, if any. He has been inducted into
Henry Cho's All American Open Hall of Fame,
The United States Naval
Academy Karate-do Hall of Fame, the Keystone State Championships Hall
of Fame, the
Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame (Outstanding
Player & Outstanding Leadership) , and the Hellenic Hall of Fame , which
is the
largest Ethnic Hall of Fame in the World. Presently, he is the head instructor
of the United States Naval Academy Karate-do
Team, which he founded in 1992. He is the only student of the Grand
Master that has chosen to progress in belt rank one
degree at a time as opposed to jumping degrees in an effort to speed the
enhancement of his standing and is a 7th degree
black belt. His first 5 Black Belt Degrees were awarded by GM Kim, He was
awarded a 6th degree by GM S. Henry Cho
and a 7th degree by GM Sok Ho Kang. The 7th degree was awarded in April of
2009 at an examination that was held at the
United States Naval Academy and is the highest rank to ever have been awarded
at one of the Military Academies in the
United States. This examination was attended by numerous dignitaries from
around the country as well as the Commandant
of Midshipmen. He has followed in his instructor's footsteps in that he has
produced numerous champions, still adheres
to the traditional style of focused training and advances the philosophical
perspective of the warrior not often seen any longer.
Source:Wikipedia
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