On the weekend of December 5-6, the National All Styles Australian Championships were held on the Gold Coast. Competitors came from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The competition ran over two days on six mats.
To qualify for the nationals they all had to go through a qualifying round, then the Queensland State Championships and then be invited to participate in the nationals.
Cooper, Isaac and Ayla were in the under 7, Peewee division. Cooper fought a black belt in his first round and won.
Conrad and Brad were in the 8 to 9 years division. Brad did well, losing in an extension. Conrad placed Third.
Wes was in one of the largest divisions, the 16-year-old male 5th Kyu and above. This meant he was fighting and doing kata against black belts.
Trish performs Seienchin kata.
Amanda and Trish teamed up to do a demo kata with applications and came Second.
They teamed up again in the Creative Weapons section and came Third.
Amanda and Trish were also in the Women’s Advanced Kyu grade sparring, and unfortunately drew each other first up. It was a close match which Trish won.
Trish then went on to fight twice more and came Second in an extension. It was later discovered she had broken her thumb in the first match. Trish fought three rounds with the broken thumb – the power of the Kyokushin spirit and adrenalin!
The highlight was Trish winning the Women’s Open Kata division, performing Seienchin (which is in the KIMAA syllabus for 3rd Dan black belt). As the first competitor she had the option to do the kata again. She was told she was placed Second but if she did the kata again she would risk getting a lower score. She risked it all, with Sensei Jon Ellis telling her she could do a better kata. She did and placed First.
Trish and Amanda also were asked to compete in the Victorian team for the state against state competition, and were placed Third.
KIMAA’s Little Lion champions!
In the end KIMAA had:
3 Thirds,
2 Seconds and
a First place in the Australian National All Styles.
Congratulations to all who competed. It took a lot of hard training and effort in previous competitions to qualify for the nationals. Not only did these students make the journey to reach this point, they all were excellent ambassadors for KIMAA and did their karateka proud. Special congratulations to those who won a placement. Thanks go to instructors Sensei Mark McFadden, Sensei Jon Ellis (3rd Dan Kyokushin, 2nd Dan Kobudo) and Sempai Wally Gray (2nd Dan Kyokushin) for their continued teaching, support and mentorship in Kyokushin and Kobudo.
On the weekend of November 28-29, my wife Masumi and I travelled to Brisbane for me to conduct a seminar at Sempai Rob James’s (2nd Dan Kyokushin) dojo in Aspley. There were 15 kids and 12 adults in attendance over the course of the weekend.
Sempai Rob and Shihan Lipman lead the class.
Aspley Dojo Little Lions with Shihan Lipman.
On Saturday afternoon the first class was for the kids who were initially a little apprehensive, however they were soon made to feel at ease and settled down to enjoy their class. I was most impressed with their level of knowledge and attitude towards training. The class consisted of Kihon, Ido Geiko and Kata.
Personalised belts
At the conclusion of the class, Masumi wrote all the kids’ names on their belts in Japanese, which they thought was great.
This class was followed by a session with the adults where once again I checked and emphasised the importance of basics. Most of the class was spent on Kihon and Ido Geiko. Both were at a good standard, which is always a measure of capable students and a quality and dedicated instructor.
On Sunday morning there was another class for the adults and this was orientated towards Ido Geiko, Kata, some fighting techniques and a little self-defence. All the adults performed well and have potential to move forward in their grades.
A few deserve special mention: Jermaine and Amanda, the senior kyu grades, are excellent role models for the more juniors. Chris and Yolanda from the junior kyu grades also performed exceptionally well.
Aspley Dojo adults with Shihan Lipman.
All the adults also had their names put on their belts in Japanese by Masumi.
The seminar was a great success and enjoyed by all. Congratulations are due to Sempai Rob, who I have known since he was 17 years old. It has been interesting and pleasing to watch his progress over the years. His dojo now is well organised and well disciplined which is a mark of the man himself.
First was a Kids grading, followed later in the evening by an Adults junior kyu grading.
The belts and certificates were awarded to students on December 19th, the final night of training for 2014 at Turramurra. The grading results are available below.
Ayla Calnan is 7 years old. She has been training with Sensei Jon Ellis at Ballina Dojo for 9 months now and has grown from strength to strength. Ayla is a committed karateka with Shodan always on her mind during her training. Ayla trains hard in the dojo and her efforts have encouraged her mother Rikki-Lee and father Michael to join the dojo as well.
Ayla was diagnosed with Autism at 3 and recently diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and Tourette’s. She consistently works hard at everyday life as well as at her study of Karate. Ayla never complains or makes excuses for how hard training is regardless of the day she has had and is truly an inspiration for everyone who meets her.
Ayla has also decided to start Kobudo. Her first lesson last was two weeks ago at the Lismore Dojo with Sensei Jon Ellis and Sensei Mark McFadden in which she showed true spirit to conquer her afflictions.
“I am very proud to have Ayla as part of my dojo and do believe everyone could take a leaf out of her book. She never misses a class and never gives up! Well done Ayla OSU!”
On the Saturday, Shihan Cunningham walked students through applications from the Kyokushin Pinan katas. This was a great opportunity for the North Coast and Brisbane students to enrich their bunkai knowledge bank, particularly those who have not previously attended the seminars held in Sydney, like the August Bunkai & Tameshiwari Seminar.
After the Kobudo, the Little Lions did some Karate training followed by a lunch.
Thanks go to Shihan Cunningham for leading the weekend, and to Sensei Mark and Sensei Jon for hosting. Sempai Rob James will be returning the favour, hosting a seminar at Aspley Dojo in November.
Ballina Dojo has seen great growth under Sensei Jon Ellis, especially in its Little Lions cohort, over the last few months. KIMAA extends a warm welcome to all its new students, including the latest additions of James, Conrad, Cooper and the Kelly siblings.
