Some of you might not know, but our very own Simon Botoshi Clifford and his wife Karen have raised three amazing young men. Russell, Adam and Ethan Clifford are all To-Shin Do black belt holders and with the third recently graduating university with flying colors, complete a triple crown of higher educational achievements.
But more than their exceptional educational achievements, these young men are grounded, polite and generally lovely human beings. Their work ethic and temperament is a testament to their parents. Simon is already on his way to a Godan (5th Degree Black Belt) in To-Shin Do, but an honorary Sandan (3rd Degree Black Belt) of some sort must be given to Karen. Three graduates... three degrees of parental black belt. : )
A few days ago, Ethan, the youngest (I can't say the baby) graduated at the top of his class from San Francisco State University's School of Engineering. Not only did he achieve Summa Cum Laude of Mechanical Engineering, Ethan was the student representative who spoke on the schools behalf at the SFSU graduation. To top this off, after receiving many offers from schools across the nation, Ethan earned a place at Berkeley's prestigious and most sought-after Masters in Engineering Program.
Though, word, deed.
Ethan, as well as his two brothers, are true testaments to the power of those words.
As a family friend and co-ninja in his First Degree Black-Belt Testing Class, I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. You are a true warrior of the modern day.
Paul Hantoshi Molinsky
