Grand Opening of the Albany Location July 31, 1999 Under the Proprietorship of Master Allen Hillicoss We are growing in many ways. The expansion of our school through the ownership of full-time school locations and partime class locations by certified black belt instructors is a big step in this growth. With five instructors interested in making their martial arts skills and our style a business Master Hillicoss' undertaking is a big step for everyone. The new Albany location is not only beautiful but is perfectly located on Central Ave., roughly two miles west of Colonie Mall. This 3,000 square foot open area with a high celling is perfect for a martial arts school. The grand opening brought in many visitors and allowed for the sharing os excitement with our schools instructors and students from Farmington and Yorkville. The demonstrations began at noon and were hosted by Grand Master Clifford Crandall who explained to the viewers what was being done and some of the history of the school. The excitement continued till 3:00 p.m. and included drawings and door prizes all afternoon. The action started with Nicole Stanulevich and Tim Quigley, both members of the School's Junior Rank Demonstration team, doing forms and a breaking. This was followed by black belt instructors who proceeded to demonstrate as many facets of the martial arts as one can think of. A picture was taken at 11:00 a.m. of the black belt instructors there although many more arrived throughout the afternoon. Among the travelers who arrived after 12:00 was Alex Jesse now only a couple months old, accompanied by his older sister Erin and two black belt instructor parents, Mrs. Lynn Jessee and Mr. Bret Jessee. In all thirty-one black belts were able to attend the grand opening. A special cake was made for this occasion by Master Hillicoss' mother. In the center was a gold good luck horse shoe with a soaring eagle. Here Master Jill Crandall executes the Half-Moon Staff kata that she won a bronze medal with in the international tournament in Russia. Other demonstrations in empty hand and weapons forms were done by Dr. Howard, Mr. Huth, Mr. E. Stalloch, Mr. Hommel, Mr. Johnson. Here Master Allen Hillicoss combines breaking with meditation by standing in a tray of glass and breaking two stacks of patio blocks with palm heel strikes. Other meditation demonstrations were done by Mr. Hommel, Mrs. Lindstrom, Mr. Breh, Dr. Howard, Miss Colasurdo, Miss Moller. A demonstration of Takenouchi-Hangan-Ryu Matsuno Iaido was done by Mr. Morris, Miss Moller, Dr. Howard, Miss Colasurdo. A demonstration of traditional Tai Chi was done with the execution of the 24-move Yang form by Master Jill Crandall, Miss Sharon Keep. Later more Tai Chi was demonstrated by Cheryl Freleigh, Melissa Morris, Jan Abraham. It was truly an exciting day and now the American Martial Arts Institute has a full-time training location in Albany. We welcome you to stop in and see our facility.