Project Future participating in 2nd annual Grand Master Heisner Legacy Kick-A-Thon

By Senior Contributing Writer Benjamin Joe

Members of Project Future will participate in the second annual Grand Master Heisner Legacy Kick-A-Thon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 18, at the Niagara Community Church Gym, 10500 Cayuga Drive, Niagara Falls.

Robert Heisner was the founder of Project Future where he taught Bushido Kai, as well as the Warriors of the Sword, which is hosting the kick-a-thon and acts as a ministry spreading Heisner’s ideals of honor, self-discipline, courage and respect.

Heisner died in March 2024.

Grand Master Martin Drake, an eight-degree black belt and head instructor at Project Future, said there are approximately 40 students in the program and many of them will be at the demonstration.

Sponsors are asked to donate a dollar amount per kick made by the student.

“It’s to keep his (Heisner’s) memory alive,” he said. “Kids sign up to do 500 kicks and they get pledges. I sponsor a bunch of kids myself.

“And then they’ll do demos. Some self-defense. One-step board breaking. And we have a skit. We have someone comes in with a hood and a mask and tries to grab one of the kids. It’s all scripted, it doesn’t look very nefarious. … The kids get a kick out of it, and that’s besides doing the 500 kicks.”

Robert Dallman, director of Warriors of the Sword, said all funds from the kick-a-thon will be split between Project Future and Good News Global, a program in the Niagara County Correctional Facility run by the Rev. William Whitmore.

Whitmore is also a black belt in Heisner’s Project Future.

“Good News Global is the largest provider of full-time chaplains in the world,” Whitmore said. “We have chaplains both international and U.S. Most of our chaplains are located in county jails in the United States.”

Whitmore not only ministers to prisoners, but also helps the staff at correctional institutions. He said he prays with officers, has Bible studies with inmates, and helps both groups develop a personal relationship with God.

While this is the first year Good News Global will be a beneficiary of the kick-a-thon, Whitmore is enthusiastic about Project Future and its program.

“Absolutely, 100% yes,” he said when asked if he believed in it. “It helps make our world a better place to live.”

Dallman said his life had been forever changed by meeting Heisner while in SUNY Niagara.

“I’ve trained with Bob Heisner for over 40 years,” Dallman said. “As a 22-year-old, young man at the college, my life could’ve been a huge mess, but I met him and that changed.”

Donations are asked to be made payable to ChristLife Inc. to continue programing for students, as well as the prison ministry.