Kicking Off

There will be lots of punching and kicking in the Cal State Northridge gym June 22 and 23, but riot police will not be needed.

The warfare will be conducted with ceremony and structure as the first U. S. Shotokan Karate International Invitational is staged. Teams from the Soviet Union, Mexico, Japan, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Indonesia and all over the United States will show off their talents in individual matches during the two-day event.

The public is invited to the organized mayhem, which begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs until all the matches and exhibitions are over about 6 p.m. each day, said Robert Kroner, event organizer and Shotokan-style karate second-degree black belt.

Kroner, 48, who studies at the Northridge-based California Karate Assn. with Hiroyasu Sujishima, isn’t quite sure how he came to be in charge of the event, but he thinks that he was suckered into it.

“I had studied Shotokan in New York, where I grew up, and I picked it up again in Denver when I lived there,” said Kroner, a health care consultant from Hidden Hills. “I was impressed with the style because it stresses basics.”

After Kroner moved to California and began studying in Northridge, he had an opportunity to meet Hirokazu Kanazawa, head of the Shotokan movement, who was visiting from Japan.

The pair had a pleasant dinner at the Plum Tree Restaurant in Woodland Hills. After the meal, over steaming cups of green tea, Kanazawa said he was eager to have the Shotokan method more widely known in the United States and wanted Kroner to take on the job.

“I was so flattered to be asked by this man, whom I respected as a great teacher, that I heard myself agreeing to the job without knowing exactly what was involved,” Kroner said.

As it turned out, what was involved was lots of traveling and proselyting, which Kroner does in conjunction with business trips.

Another thing was the first international tournament.

As the two were parting after that original dinner meeting, Kanazawa told Kroner that he thought that the exhibition might be a good way to interest people and asked when Kroner would be holding it.

June 22 and 23, as it turns out, and Kroner is expecting a good turnout because the proceeds go to the National Awareness Foundation, an anti-drug campaign, and some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be on hand to greet the kids.

And there is the karate.

“In setting up the tournament, we invited Shotokan teams from many countries where it is well-known and popular, and we have asked outstanding students of other Oriental karate disciplines as well, “ Kroner said.

He is very pleased that the group from the Soviet Union will attend, but he says this international flavor does not mean that local enthusiasts have been shut out. Many students from the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles will be in the competition, including Kroner’s 16-year-old son Ryan, a Calabasas High School student and first-degree black belt.

Admission at the door is $8, and $5 for children under 12.

Going Native

There’s also an international interest in the National Park Service’s Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said David Gackenback, park superintendent.

“We are getting to be known nationally, and even internationally, it seems, judging from our guest book, out-of-state license plates and requests for interpreters,” Gackenback said.

He said that ever since the park service made a determined effort to show how regional Indians lived in the local environment, the Satwiwa Indian village and cultural center have drawn visitors from throughout the country and the world, particularly those with an interest in American Indians or the environment.

Gackenback said the Indian cultural center, which previously focused on the lifestyle of the Chumash, who were the original inhabitants in Malibu--may soon expand to include information about other Southwest tribes, including the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni. “We can see that the interest is there and we are very eager to encourage it with information, exhibits and programs,” Gackenback said.

The next event at Satwiwa, scheduled at 10 a.m. June 23, is the Chumash observance of the summer solstice.

For information, call (818) 597-1036.

Amazing Story

For more than 10 years, the people at the Center for the Achieving Blind in Van Nuys have helped Limerick Avenue School in Canoga Park.

These visually impaired folks have conducted arts and crafts programs, tutored youngsters in math and other subjects, raised money to buy supplementary educational materials and done a lot of other things that didn’t require 20-20 vision.

When the center’s Leo Goldstein found out that the elementary school didn’t have supplies to cope with any catastrophic event, he and his fellow members again went to work.

Goldstein dictated a letter to local merchants and individuals, asking them to donate money or specific items for the Limerick disaster relief program.

Five hundred letters were sent out, then the school’s PTA members followed up with calls.

So far, according to Susan Shaffer, coordinator between the center and the school, not one person, merchant or organization has donated anything.

“It’s astonishing when you realize that the people at the center are in their 70s and 80s and in various stages of blindness,” Shaffer said.

“They are willing to put their time and a lot of energy into trying to let the community know about the situation here. But, at least to this point, no one seems to be paying much attention.”

Landmark Revision

If you are a historical buff, you might want to check out the city of Lancaster’s newest offering of a free tour of the Western Hotel.

The hotel is Lancaster’s oldest surviving building, built about 1888, and Norma Gurba and the museum folks will tell you about the famous people who checked in and out of this landmark, as well as fill you in with pictures of the place.

Actually, the famous people are somewhat iffy.

Gurba says that maybe Harold Lloyd was a resident before he was an actor when he was a laborer working on the California Aqueduct.

Judy Garland, who grew up in the Antelope Valley, might have performed at the hotel, Gurba says, and possibly John Wayne, when he was living up that way, checked in and out. Gurba’s not sure.

She is sure that the historical society fought hard to keep this landmark from demolition, and is happy to be able to offer free tours at 1:30 p.m. every Friday at the hotel, 557 W. Lancaster Blvd.

Overheard

“I just hate thinking that more stores, like Bullocks, are going into this mall since I’m already up to my neck in debt from shopping the ones that are already there.”

--One shopper to another at the Promenade Mall in Woodland Hills