Kung Fu Ranking Ceremony ~ March 22nd 2025

Jo Gao Cassie Johnson receives her black sash from Shifu Gary J. LaChapelle Jr. and Shifu Eliot Prisby.

Saturday March 22nd, we were joined by Shigong Gary of New England Kung Fu and several of his students (my classmates) for a ranking ceremony, in which students who passed the March 1st test were awarded their new sashes.

This ranking was particularly special, because Cassie Johnson received her black sash, and was thus bestowed with the title of “Jo Gao”, 助教; Zhù Jiào in Mandarin. “Jo Gao” means “teacher’s assistant” in English. As with most black sashes, Cassie had grown into the role of “teacher’s assistant” well before actually receiving the title and the sash.

Cassie is an exemplary student. In addition to training regularly and hard, she is friendly and helpful to classmates. She attends most school events (like rankings) even if she is not the one receiving the sash. She frequently attends seminars and workshops, having specialized in joint locks 擒拿 (qínná). She also does private lessons frequently, and thus was able to learn a highly advanced Wudang Style Staff form, Eight Immortals Staff 八仙棍 (Bā Xiān Gùn).

Congratulations to Jo Gao Cassie and all the other students who received their new sashes:

To Probationary Black Sash:

• Jo Gao 助教 Cassie Johnson (Maynard)

Brown Sash, Red Stripe, White Tip:

• Treven Force (Maynard)

Brown Sash, White Stripe, White Tip:

• Hrishi Arun (Maynard)

• Scott Merriam (Maynard)

To Brown Sash, White Tip:

• T.J. Cooper (Oxford)

• Derek Le (Oxford)

• Mike Martin (Oxford)

To Blue Sash, Brown Stripe, White Tip:

• Tim Maslow (Maynard)

• Cormac Morgan (Maynard)

To Blue Sash, Brown Stripe:

• Brighid Morgan (Maynard)

To Blue Sash, White Tip:

• Randi Bastos (Oxford)

To Purple Sash, Blue Stripe, White Tip:

• Jackson Maslow (Maynard)

To Purple Sash, White Tip:

• Marty Kulma (Oxford)

• Tavish Kulma (Oxford)

To Green Sash:

• Megan Montiverdi (Oxford)

To Yellow Sash, Green Stripe, White Tip:

• Nischal Gupta (Maynard)

To Yellow Sash, Green Stripe:

• Fernando Dos Santos (Maynard)

• Mike Quirk (Maynard)

To Yellow Sash:

• Keira Foster (Oxford)

To White Sash Yellow Stripe:

• Liam Carlson (Oxford)

• Sonya Dooling (Oxford)

• Daniel Heron (Oxford)

• Louisa Mahoney (Maynard)

• Ryan Mahoney (Maynard)

• Katie Martin (Oxford)

• Harvey Thompson (Maynard)

To White Sash:

• Laiba Ahmed (Maynard)

An enormous congratulations to all the students. I am grateful to my students for trusting me with their Kung Fu instruction, as well as their families for supporting their learning. I am grateful to Shifu Gary for guiding me, my students, and my school. I am grateful to Shigong Gregg Zilb of Authentic Shaolin Kung Fu for steering our schools back on track when they go off course.

Photos are available on the school Facebook and SmugMug pages. Enjoy!

— Shifu Eliot