Ariel Coronado was a great friend and dedicated student of Mark Mikita from 2010 until his untimely death in 2022.

A welder, machinist and metal worker by profession, he was the Panday or bladesmith of the school and made all of our training blades. He also built apparatus for the school for the students to train on. Working with heavy steel all day, every day, he was so immensely strong and solid that one of his fellow students respectfully referred to him as the Mexican meat wall. Possessed of the most vicious sense of humor, he could crack up the entire school at will.

There are truly no words to express the depth of loss we all feel at his passing. Surrounded by the innumerable weapons he made for us, his spirit lives on in this space and he will long be remembered...​