Victor and Angus Sweeney with Sensei James Sidwell and Sensei Mark Shelmerdine.
Sempai Jason, Angus and Victor all fought in the COLTs heavy weight division while Christian fought in the COLTs light weight division.
Sempai Jason and Victor were up against each other for their first fight. Victor lost to Jason by a half-point due to a solid kick to the ribs, but the round still went to completion.
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Angus was up against a black belt in his first round. Angus lost by a half-point when he took a jodan mae geri to the face, but continued the fight to completion.
Sempai Jason then went up against the black belt who had bested Angus. Sempai Jason fought well but also lost by a half-point due to a head kick, yet he finished the round all the same.
These three had fought in the AKKA state titles last year and in others, but for Christian, it was his second tournament. He fought well for his second time, but ultimately lost his round due to an ushiro geri kick.
Well done to all competitors for turning up and representing KIMAA.
Sempai Jason Lambe, Victor Sweeney, Sensei James Sidwell, Shihan Rick Cunningham, Angus Sweeney, Sensei Mark Shelmerdine & Christian Girdham.
Sensei Mark McFadden and Patricia Tan with the KIMAA North Coast Little Lions team.
On Sunday May 22, four Little Lions from the KIMAA North Coast team competed in another round of the National All Styles. The tournament was held in Queensland.
Four Little Lions – Brad, Liam, Isaac and Loc – participated on the day. Sensei Mark McFadden (3rd Dan Kyokushin, 3rd Dan Kobudo) and Patricia Tan were the coaches.
Brad Chisolm of Ballina Dojo came second in point sparring, while Loc Ngyuen of Lismore Dojo came first in point sparring. Both boys fought in different divisions.
Well done to all who competed, and to Brad and Loc for their wins!
Sempai Rob James with Kancho Jim Casey at the NAS.
Sempai Rob James (2nd Dan Kyokushin) also competed in the NAS. He participated in the Open Black Belt and Veterans divisions.
Up against some very talented and skilled competitors, in the Open Black Belt division, Sempai Rob placed 4th. He performed the senior Kyokushin kata, Seienchin.
Sempai Rob participated in the NAS to inspire his Little Lions to do well in their own kata tournaments that are held at Aspley Dojo. “Seeing their Sempai compete in a kata tournament might inspire them in some small way.”
Sunday May 15 saw another KIMAA Black Belt Class held at Annangrove Dojo. The session was an extension of normal the normal Sydney Kobudo (weapons) training schedule.
A number of katas were covered in the class to revise basics, finesse and correct timings. Some were kyu-grade katas, such as Sanchin or the Pinans, as well as dan-grade, such as Seienchin or Garyu. The Kyokushin Bo kata, Chion, was also practised.
The Black Belt class: Sempai Alex Lloyd, Patricia Tan, Sensei Ben Ng, Sensei James Sidwell, Sensei Don Cheong, Sensei Mark Shelmerdine, Shihan Rick Cunningham, Sensei Peter Olive, Sensei Paul Finnerty, Sensei Ian Holdaway, Sensei Mark McFadden and Sempai Jason Lambe.
After the black belt session finished, the bulk of students participated in a Kobudo class.
Weapons revised included the Bo, Sai and Kama.
The Kobudo class: Sempai Alex, Sensei Mark, Patricia, Sensei James, Shihan Cunningham, Sensei Paul, Sensei Peter, Sensei Ian, Sensei Mark and Sensei Ben.
At the end of the class, Shihan Cunningham presented Trish Tan with her 3rd Kyu in Kobudo, having been graded in the April KIMAA Lismore Seminar.
Trish Tan receives her 3rd Kyu in Kobudo from Shihan Rick Cunningham.
The second KIMAA seminar of 2016 was held in Lismore, NSW Far North Coast, at Lismore Dojo on the weekend of April 16-17. The seminar was run by Shihan Rick Cunningham (6th Dan Kyokushin, 6th Dan Kobudo).
The seminar was hosted by Lismore Dojo’s head instructor, Sensei Mark McFadden (3rd Dan Kyokushin, 3rd Dan Kobudo). Other black belts in attendance were Sensei Jon Ellis (3rd Dan Kyokushin, 2nd Dan Kobudo) and Sempai Wally Gray (2nd Dan Kyokushin). KIMAA Karateka included adults and kids from local dojos Lismore and Ballina. Sensei Barry Potts from Northern Rivers Shukokai Karate brought along his students to participate in the seminar’s Saturday session.
The Saturday session of the seminar focused on Kyokushin Karate.
The primary focus of Saturday’s class was on bunkai (application) from kata (pattern or form). The applications were taken from various Pinan Kata and Naihanchi.
Everyone had a good time, and a lot of content was covered in the day.
Saturday participants in the KIMAA Lismore Seminar.
Sunday began with Kobudo. A grading was held, and students were assessed by Shihan Cunningham. Trish Tan, Wally Gray, Jack Hannah and Wes Snyder were all graded to their next Kyu belt in Kobudo. Congratulations to all.
Kobudo students in the KIMAA Lismore Seminar.
After the Kobudo was a Little Lions session. This session included kihon (basics), pad/bag work and kata.
The Little Lions enjoyed themselves, especially having guest instructor Shihan Cunningham show them a few new tricks!
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Lunch was then served, expertly BBQ’d by Sensei Jon Ellis. Thanks go to Geoff from Wyrallah Rd Blue Ribbon Meats for supplying the snags to feed the hungry Little Lions after the morning session. Patricia Tan was also a great aid with the supply shopping and other little situations that arose. Of course thanks also go to the parents of the Little Lions who gave up their weekends to come and support their kids.
Shihan Rick Cunningham with the North Coast Little Lions.
The opening of this dojo is a proud expansion of KIMAA operations on the North Coast. Thanks go to all students who helped clean and prepare the new dojo for training.
The new Ballina Dojo.
In other recent news for Ballina Dojo and their Little Lions, on Sunday April 10, Cooper competed in the first round of the National All Styles.
Cooper came second in the Pee Wee Points Sparring division. Congratulations, Cooper! Thanks go to Sempai Rob James for standing in Cooper’s corner on the day.
Competing were three fighters from Ballina Dojo and eight from Aspley Dojo.
Sensei Jon with the competitors from Ballina Dojo.
Mick Calnan, Cooper Bahadur and Peter English, all students of Sensei Jon, fought on behalf of the NSW Far North Coast. It was the first time competing in a tournament for Peter and Cooper, and the second time for Mick.
Mick fought very well but unfortunately did not win his fight. He made the dojo proud though, earning the nickname ‘The Gumtree’ from his fellow competitors because they couldn’t knock him down or budge him!
Cooper fought two fights and won both. He lost his last fight – in the final for his division – but made an admirable effort for second place.
Peter had one fight and was put up against a 1st Kyu (Senior Brown Belt). Peter is a 10th Kyu (Orange Belt). It was a tough fight but Peter managed to hold his own against the much more seasoned opponent for the entire two-minute round, also taking second place in his division.
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Videos of some of the fights are available on the private North Coast Kyokushin Facebook page for members there.
Eight of Sempai Rob James’s Little Lions also competed on the day: Brock, Bodie, Quinten and Chantelle Dielwart; Darius and Mayhar Firoozi; Jack Bolger; and Isaac Selwood.
Sempai Rob and the competitors from Aspley Dojo.
Sempai Rob was impressed by everyone’s courage and determination on the day – most notably young Isaac, who has only been training a short time but managed second place in his first tournament.
Chantelle twisted her ankle seconds into her first round and was taken to hospital. She has since been released with no broken bones, just severe bruising and soreness. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Brodie and Brock Dielwart performed well in their first tournament as did Darius Firoozi. Jack Bolger placed second in boys 8-10 years; Isaac Selwood second in boys 10-12 years; Mahyar Firoozi second men’s novice 70-80 kgs; and Quintin Dielwart placed third in the men’s 8th Kyu novice.
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Four students from Lismore Dojo attended the tournament with Sensei Mark to watch and support their fellow karateka. Jack, Yacho, Lachlan and Phil enjoyed watching their first live Kyokushin tournament, giving them a taste of what they need to train for in the future. Their attendance is a typical reflection of the KIMAA attitude, showing up to support your mates in the dojo even if you don’t have a fight on the day. Their cries of encouragement from the sidelines would have helped the fighters from Ballina and Aspley get through their two-minute rounds, no doubt.
Well done to all involved for their training in the lead-up, their performance on the day and their continuous display of the Kyokushin spirit.
Kyokushin Karate gradings were held recently in KIMAA‘s two dojos in the Far North Coast of New South Wales. The gradings were for the Little Lions (kids classes) and adult junior kyu grades.
Kyokushin International Martial Arts Australia 