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.
The first session of the seminar was held on Friday night October 30th, at Shihan Howard Lipman’s (8th Dan Kyokushin, 7th Dan Kobudo) Turramurra Dojo. The class was focused on self-defence against an armed assailant, specifically against a hand gun, and later a knife. Ray of Dynamic Defence, a Krav Maga organisation, was the guest instructor at Shihan Lipman’s invitation.
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After a warm-up and a fitness session, Ray ran the class through various disarming drills that focused on the principles of defence against an assailant wielding a pistol. After going through the basics of gun work, the class turned to knife defence.
Ray’s class was enjoyed by all present. While the karateka only had time to learn the elementary steps of these drills, they got a great sample of the defence skills being taught. KIMAA hopes to have a class with him again in the future.
After the class, a group dinner was enjoyed at Noodle City in Gordon.
The seminar began with basic training, followed by sanbon kumite (or ‘three-step sparring’). The sanbon kumite gradually increased in intensity, using takedowns and counters from bunkai to develop more advanced defensive manoeuvres.
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This Saturday session included some of the more senior grades from Knox Karate.
The training progressed until lunch, with seniors challenged to come up with their own self-defence combinations while working with a partner.
After a BBQ lunch, cooked by Sensei Mark McFadden and prepared by Shihan Cunningham’s wife, Kirsti, the seminar moved on to tameshiwari (board breaking).
Kyu grades performed single, double and triple board breaks on wood placed on besser blocks, depending on their specific grading requirements.
Sempai Ben Ng and Sempai Don Cheong performed two multi-breaks (breaking four handheld boards with four consecutive techniques) as part of their grading syllabus. Sempai Mark Long and James Ruprai also performed a multi-break. Sempai Wally Gray then showed the younger generation how it’s done by breaking four boards at once with seiken (forefist) and shuto (knife hand) techniques.
Saturday’s training finished with fitness and fight training. Shihan Cunningham hosted a dinner for senior grades and the guests from other dojos at his house after training.
Saturday Group Shot
The senior grading began at 9am on the Sunday morning. Sensei Peter Olive (4th Dan Kyokushin, 1st Dan Kobudo) led the grading while Shihan Lipman and Shihan Cunningham assessed the performance of the students.
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After the basics segment of the grading was completed, the karateka student body was broken up into groups. Those grading remained in the dojo, while Yudansha and Kyu grades not being graded went outside to do belt-specific training.
Sensei Mark McFadden, Sensei Jon, Sempai Rob, Sempai Mark Long (2nd Dan Kyokushin), Sempai James Campbell (2nd Dan Kyokushin, 2nd Dan Kobudo) and Sempai Alex Lloyd (2nd Dan Kyokushin, 1st Dan Kobudo) revised black belt katas, including Seipai, Okinawan Seipai and Sushi Ho.
Sensei Mark Shelmerdine (4th Dan Kyokushin, 4th Dan Kobudo) took the brown belts through Pinan Sono Go, Gekusai Dai and Yansu.
Sensei James Sidwell (4th Dan Kyokushin, 1st Dan Kobudo) took Nalin, 4th Kyu, through Gekusai Sho and Pinan Sono San.
The senior grading continued inside with advanced techniques, moving through stances, kata, bunkai, and fitness. The senior Kyu grades and black belts attempting the grading were Sempai Ben Ng, Sempai Don Cheong, Sempai Wally Gray, Josh Darley, Victor Sweeney, Patricia Tan and Jermaine Downs.
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Finally, the grading culminated with kumite (sparring). It was the longest part of the morning for those grading, with Josh and Victor completing 20 fights to meet their syllabus requirements.
Wally
Hieu
Chris
Congratulations to all those who participated in the grading. Belts and certificates will be awarded to students by their instructors over the coming weeks. Extra special congratulations to our newly promoted black belts: Sensei Ben Ng (3rd Dan Kyokushin), Sensei Don Cheong (3rd Dan Kyokushin) and Sempai Wally Gray (2nd Dan Kyokushin).
The weekend did not end after the grading, however. After another lunch prepared by Kirsti, students were broken up into groups based on their Kobudo experience for weapons training. Bo, Sai, Eeku and Arnis (Escrima Sticks) were covered for the remainder of the afternoon.
KIMAA Black Belts: Sensei Mark McFadden, Shihan Rick Cunningham, Sensei Jon Ellis, Sempai Rob James, Sensei Ben Ng, Shihan Howard Lipman, Sensei Don Cheong, Sempai Alex Lloyd, Sensei Mark Shelmerdine, Sempai James Campbell, Sempai Mark Long, Sensei Peter Olive & Sensei James Sidwell
It was a tiring but successful weekend. It is always a productive and worthwhile exercise to bring all the dojos together: students get to train with karateka outside their own dojo, and all get to check that their techniques are matching the required KIMAA standard. Thanks to Sempai Alex Lloyd and Jonathan Lee for the photography and videos. Special thanks to everyone who travelled to Sydney for the occasion and, as always, to Shihan Howard Lipman and Shihan Rick Cunningham for organising the weekend.
KIMAA Dojo Operators: Shihan Rick Cunningham (Annangrove), Sempai Rob James (Aspley), Sensei Mark McFadden (Lismore), Sensei Jon Ellis (Ballina) & Shihan Howard Lipman (Turramurra)Shihan Rick Cunningham & Shihan Howard Lipman
On the weekend of August 22-23, KIMAA Yudansha (black belt grades) came together to do senior Kobudo and Kyokushin training.
Sensei Mark McFadden
Sensei Mark McFadden (3rd Dan Kyokushin, 3rd Dan Kobudo), head instructor from Lismore Dojo, came down to participate in the regular Friday night class and special weekend seminar.
Following the normal Friday night training, the seminar began on the Saturday afternoon.
The Saturday afternoon session was Kobudo training. The group revised multiple Bo katas, the Sai katas, the Eeku, the Jō and the Arnis (screamer sticks) in exhaustive detail.
Seienchin kata
The full Yudansha group came back together on the Sunday morning, including Sempai Rob James (2nd Dan Kyokushin) from Brisbane’s Aspley Dojo.
Shodan, Nidan and Sandan Kyokushin katas were all reviewed at great length.
Particular focus was given to the count and timing of techniques, how to break down the katas when teaching, and the overall kimae (focus) a martial artist must apply when executing these movements.
The purpose of each movement and possible bunkai were looked as well.
Yudansha Training Weekend
Most senior katas were revised, from the relatively junior Gekisai Sho and Taikyoku Ura katas to Seienchin and Kyokushin Seipai. The Bo kata Chion (a requirement for Kyokushin Nidan) was practised as well.
The group enjoyed a meal together after training.
The weekend was seen as very successful and productive, with the senior grades able to tackle a lot of high-end content quickly yet in detail. More black belt training weekends will be held in the future.
Thanks go to Shihan Cunningham for taking the seminar and to Sensei Mark and Sempai Rob for making the journey to Sydney.
KIMAA Yudansha: Sempai Jason Lambe, Sempai Jessica Den, Sempai James Campbell, Sensei James Sidwell, Sempai Rob James, Sempai Don Cheong, Shihan Rick Cunningham, Sensei Mark McFadden, Sensei Mark Shelmerdine, Sensei Ian Holdaway, Sensei Peter Olive, Sensei Paul Finnerty and Sempai Alex Lloyd
A Karate and Kobudo seminar was held on the weekend of July 4-5 at Lismore Dojo on the NSW Far North Coast. Instructors and students attended from Lismore, Ballina and Aspley dojos.
Thanks go to Shihan Cunningham for travelling from Sydney to teach the seminar, to Sensei Mark for hosting, Patricia for her organisational skills (including feeding a small Kyokushin army), and to Genevieve, Amanda and Julie for other lunch duty assistance.
Training began on Saturday afternoon under the instruction of Shihan Rick Cunningham (6th Dan Kyokushin, 6th Dan Kobudo). Shihan Cunningham took the students through Kyokushin basics, focusing on the progression from initial basic training to practical use in kumite (sparring). This involved various partner work and light contact exercises.
Students were broken up into groups for Kobudo, focusing on the Bo and Sai. After this, everyone came back together for bag work and more contact drills.
The senior grades and visitors from the Far North Coast and Brisbane then went to Shihan Cunningham’s for dinner.
Sunday morning started at 9 am with a basics session led by Shihan Howard Lipman (8th Dan Kyokushin, 7th Dan Kobudo). The first session had an emphasis on technical precision, to check standards and ensure uniformity across the five KIMAA dojos. The class also practised Sanchin kata.
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Everyone then rotated through partners for practising bunkai, including from the senior kata Seienchen.
After a lunch, prepared by Sensei Ian Holdaway (3rd Dan Kyokushin, 1st Dan Kobudo) and Shihan Cunningham’s wife, Kirsti, students again broke up into groups for Kobudo.
Patricia Tan receiving her 4th Kyu Kobudo certificate.
The final session had students break up into groups based on what they wanted to focus on. This included more Kobudo, Kyokushin kata and applying a choke.
At the end of the class, Patricia Tan received her certificate for 4th Kyu in Kobudo.
The KIMAA senior grades and other students extend their thanks to Shihan Lipman and Shihan Cunningham for organising another successful seminar.
The next weekend seminar will be held in the second half of the year.
Sempai Rob James (2nd Dan), head instructor of Aspley Dojo, hosted a KIMAAKyokushin and Kobudo seminar in Brisbane on the weekend of November 8-9. Shihan Rick Cunningham (6th Dan Kyokushin, 5th Dan Kobudo) travelled up from Sydney to teach at the event. Sensei Mark McFadden and Patricia Tan came up from Lismore, and Will Brook from Byron Bay, to participate as well.
The class spent the Saturday afternoon practising basics, kumite drills, pressure points, self-defence applications and kata.
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On Sunday the group focused on Kobudo, learning new kata and applications with the Bo staff. The group enjoyed some outdoor training in the lovely weather.
Thanks again to Shihan Cunningham for teaching at the seminar and to Sempai Rob for hosting. These regular catch-ups between dojos are vital for sharing knowledge and increasing standards across all of KIMAA.
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.
Kyokushin International Martial Arts Australia 