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Many thanks to Diane Cooling for this weeks masters profile. Her information was so well written I am submitting it verbatim. I’m sure you will find these Masters as interesting and accomplished as you would expect, coming from the Order Of Isshinryu. I will allow myself some brief personal comments on these men in appreciation for the privilege of having them on our site.

Juan D. Lopez

Juan D. López was born in Santa Clara, Cuba in 1960.  His parents fled the Castro regime, and he grew up in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. His martial arts training began at the young age of 12 in an outdoor dojo located in a parking lot behind a shopping mall.  His first sensei was Eduardo Caro, under whom Juan and his older brother Paco studied for three years. It was about this time that the Bruce Lee-induced karate boom began.  Sensei López remembers, "The goal for beginners at the time was to peel your knuckles by doing push-ups on the parking lot tar, and develop big, fat calluses to show how tough you were.  I still have marks on my knuckles from those days - not very wise." When Sensei Caro left Puerto Rico in 1974 to study medicine in the Dominican Republic, the López brothers became the head instructors of the two dojo he left behind.  In 1975 the brothers contacted Sensei Malachi Lee for instruction, and for a brief period before his death studied with him.  After the passing of Sensei Lee, they became direct students of Master Cooling. The Lopez Brothers were known throughout Puerto Rico as tough, hard competitors. When they walked into a tournament, many of the attendees would comment, "Well, there's first and second." Although he has briefly studied Aikido and Arnis, Juan's core discipline has always been Isshin-Ryu. He has several maxims that he would like to share with students: * Stick to the basics.  They are the ones that will get you out of trouble, and will remain with you for the rest of your life. * Strive for a balance of your body/mind/spirit.  These are the three stars in your patch. * Always seek the truth, and once it is revealed to you, live by it. * If your sensei is not practicing the above, it is time for you to move on. His influences in the martial arts?  "Malachi Lee, who showed me in the brief time that he was my sensei, a great dedication for what he believed in (Isshin-Ryu Karate), and of course Denshi, who not only polished my martial arts but molded me as a better human being." One of his favorite stories happened about 12 years ago.  Sensei Smith challenged Denshi to take his red and white obi off and compete in a Washington, DC tournament as a regular black belt. It didn't take long for the "Toby temper" to flare, when the judges weren't paying attention to the competitors.  Denshi stopped in the middle of his kata, walked up to one particular judge and told him to wake up and watch his kata - and he even placed after doing that!  He didn't have anything to prove to anybody, except to take Sensei Smith up on his challenge.  "I came back convinced that day that you indeed have to be "un poco loco" to belong to this family!" Sensei Lopez's full-contact training nights were legendary. He would fight everyone, one after another, with no breaks.  While the rest of us collapsed on the sidelines after a 3-minute round, he was still going strong with the next person in line. While you tried your darndest to hit him with everything you had, which only bounced off of him, one shot from him rocked your world. His kata performances are on a par with his fighting abilities. There was never any mistaking that he was executing every technique with the intent to destroy. A pretty tough man, but with an intensely spiritual heart.  He will be the first to tell you that God is his guiding light. Master Cooling promoted Juan to rokudan in March, 1993.  He was awarded the Male Competitor of the Year award by the Hall of Fame in 1989. Sensei López has a B.S. in chemistry and chemical engineering, as well as an M.S. in environmental engineering.  He has been employed by the Federal Government at Aberdeen Proving Ground for the past 17 years.  He lives with his wife, Maria, and their two beautiful daughters Marian, 16, and Maribel, 6, in Bel Air, MD.

MASTER SHAFFERS COMMMENTS
Again, Master Coolings seminar gave me the opportunity to meet yet another outstanding Isshinryu master and all round good guy. Diane and Toby referred to him as legendary in their introduction. As I met the others and Master Lopez’s name would come up, they were not exaggerating. At any function where there are a lot of people, every one gets about the same play. Not master Lopez! You could tell that people were drawn to him, liked and respected him. He is very charismatic with leadership skills that are part and parcel of his Masters skills. He is another example of why the O.I. can boast of some prestigious Masters.

 Master Denny Shaffer, Ku-Dan