North Coast NSW – Kyokushin International Martial Arts Australia

Senior Grading – June 11, 2022

On Saturday June 11, a Kyokushin grading was held at Annangrove Dojo. Students were assessed by Hanshi Howard Lipman and Shihan Rick Cunningham, with Shihan Peter Olive leading the grading.

Participants included karateka from Turramurra, Annangrove and Ballina dojos. Also coming down to support those grading were instructors and students from Lismore and Young.

Sempai Mark Long, Sempai Ben Brady and Sempai Blayne Gale were attempting higher level black belt grades, while Rientz, Brad, Jurgen and Nevin attempted their Shodan (1st) Dan grading, including the Kyokushin 40 fights.

Congratulations to all those who graded successfully, including KIMAA’s newest Yudansha (black belts). After the grading, Hanshi Howard awarded the new black belt grades. This included grading Shihan Peter Olive to Rokudan, 6th Dan.

The new Kyokushin black belt grades are:

Shihan Peter Olive (6th Dan)
Sensei Mark Long (3rd Dan)
Sempai Ben Brady (2nd Dan)
Sempai Blayne Gale (2nd Dan)
Sempai Rientz Inglis (1st Dan)
Sempai Bradley Chisholm (1st Dan)
Sempai Jurgen Bradatsch (1st Dan)
Sempai Nevin Alwis (1st Dan)

New Kobudo grades were also announced, with certificates from Sensei Hokama soon to be awarded. These were graded by Hanshi Howard and Shihan Rick. The new grades include:

Hanshi Howard Lipman (8th Dan)
Shihan Rick Cunningham (7th Dan)
Shihan Mark Shelmerdine (5th Dan)
Shihan James Sidwell (4th Dan)
Sensei Paul Finnerty (4th Dan)
Sensei Mark McFadden (4th Dan)
Sensei Jon Ellis (4th Dan)
Sensei Alex Lloyd (4th Dan)
Sensei Ben Ng (2nd Dan)
Sensei Ian Holdaway (2nd Dan)
Sempai Patricia Tan (1st Dan)
Sempai Stephen Runge (1st Dan)

North Coast End-of-Year Sessions – December 2021

Karate students of Lismore and Ballina dojos joined forces on Sunday December 12 for beach training. The weather was a bit overcast but the water was warm as the students pushed through their end-of-year training session.

After the beach training session, the end-of-year awards were given out by Sensei Mark McFadden and Sensei Jon Ellis. The Little Lions of the Year were Isaac from Lismore and Allan from Ballina, and the Adult Student of the Year was Seb from Lismore Dojo.

On Tuesday December 14, Lismore Dojo held gradings for the Little Lions and Adult classes. Congratulations to all students who achieved new grades.

Evans Head Seminar – May 7-9, 2021

On the weekend of 7-9 May 2021, a KIMAA seminar was held on the Far North Coast of New South Wales. The seminar was to celebrate the 15th birthday of Sensei Mark McFadden‘s Lismore Dojo.

KIMAA instructors and students from all 6 dojos participated in the weekend, which was held at Evans Head. The group met on the Friday for dinner at the bowling club. Training began promptly on the Saturday morning, beginning with a basics session led by Hanshi Howard Lipman.

Later in the day, the 50+ students broke up into various groups for further training in Kyokushin kata as well as a Kobudo group.

Group shot at the end of Saturday training.

That night the group gathered for a meal and Kyokushin trivia competition at the Evans Head RSL. Unsurprisingly, Hanshi Howard’s team won the competition, judged by Shihan Peter Olive, Shihan Mark Shelmerdine and Shihan James Sidwell.

Training started bright and early on the Sunday morning at Evans Head Beach, where Shihan Rick Cunningham led a beach training session. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all, from basics to kumite in the water. To finish the session, all children ganged up on Sensei Ben Ng, Sensei Don Cheong and Sensei Alex Lloyd.

After a shower and change of dogi, the students went back to the hall for further training.

It was an outstanding weekend of training. The KIMAA cohort had not been able to unite in large numbers except briefly for the Senior Grading at the end of 2020, and after a substantial period of time apart it was enjoyable, practical and useful to gather the students from Turramurra, Annangrove, Lismore, Ballina, Young and Brisbane dojos to train together once again.

Thanks go to Sempai Patricia Tan for organising the weekend, and congratulations again to Sensei Mark for 15 years of Lismore Dojo.

KIMAA Senior Grading – December 12, 2020

After a challenging year, it was a great pleasure for karateka from all six KIMAA dojos to gather in Sydney for the end-of-year grading.

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The KIMAA senior grading was conducted on Saturday 12 December at Annangrove Dojo. It was a 6-hour event, finishing with the famous 40 fights for Kyokushin Shodan. Select younger students from Sydney and a range of adult students from all dojos participated, with grade levels varying from 7th Kyu to 4th Dan.