All KIMAA fighters performed excellently, especially those for whom it was their first tournament.
Sempai Angus’s first round went to an extension in the adult heavy weight. It was an exhausting bout but he pushed through, using his strength and low kicks to win the extension. He came second after taking a roundhouse kick to the front of the head in the final. Sempai Josh and Cody fought off for first and second place in the boys 11-13 years under 40kg. Cody had taken an unfortunate hit to the throat but fought well despite the injury. Sempai Josh used his kicks to win the fight.
Sempai Angus Sweeney lines up for his first fight.
Sempai Victor, in the cadet heavy weight division, fought a competitor over 20kg heavier than him. He faced up and stood his ground valiantly despite the weight difference. Jasper’s first fight saw him take several illegal techniques to the throat, but he pushed on and displayed the spirit of Kyokushin throughout the bout.
It was Ethan and Andrew’s first tournament. Ethan fought Sempai Victor and displayed good control and confidence. Andrew stood bravely to his much heavier opponent, and gave it his all.
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Everyone walked away with a placement. Congratulations to everyone for their efforts:
Sempai Angus – Adult Heavy Weight (Open) – Second
Sempai Josh – Boys 11-13 Years under 40kg – First
Sempai Victor – Cadet Heavy Weight – Second
Jasper – Boys 13-16 Years over 58kg – Second
Cody – Boys 11-13 Years under 40kg – Second
Ethan – Cadet Heavy Weight – Third
Andrew – Adult Heavy Weight (Intermediate) – Third
Congratulations to all.
The competitors with their coaches after the tournament.
The KIMAA Japan Group Tour 2017 took place in January. The primary purpose of the trip was to train with Sensei Hokama and Shihan Ken in Okinawa, as well as attend the World Kyokushin Tournament. The karateka that formed the tour group included:
The tour began on January 7th where the bulk of the group, led by Shihan Rick, departed Sydney for Tokyo. The first component of the tour was a sightseeing trip on the mainland, for which Sensei Mark Shelmerdine, Sensei James and Sensei Jon brought their families along. Sensei Paul and Sempai Trish met up with the rest of the group in Tokyo, as they had been travelling in Japan already.
The group threw themselves into the wonders of Japan quickly, spending their time in Tokyo at the Japanese Sword Museum, temple of the 47 Ronin, the fish markets, the Yushukan, the Imperial Palace Gardens, Disneyland and Sumo at the Budokan.
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Two important Kyokushin sites were also visited during the group’s time in Tokyo: the memorial Shrine for Sosai Mas Oyama at Mt Mitsumine, and Sosai’s grave in Gokokuji.
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The group continued their travels around the country, staying in Yudanaka, Nagano and Kyoto. Everyone enjoyed staying in the Ryokan hotel in Yudanaka and seeing the snow monkeys. Sensei Paul, Sensei James and Sensei Jon also went skiing, where Sensei James really shined!
The group met with Shihan Howard and his wife Masumi in Kyoto on January 16th – bringing the whole group to a total of 19 people.
KIMAA at a Ryokan hotel in Yudanaka
Snow monkeys in Yudanaka
Paul, Jon and James skiing
KIMAA at Matsumoto Castle
Kinkakuji in the snow
Kiyomizudera
Paul, Alex and Mark at Kiyomizudera
Kenninji
Shihan Rick receives his thank-you gift for leading the sightseeing part of the tour.
On January 19th, the karate members of the tour group set off for Okinawa. The families returned to Australia while Masumi remained in Kyoto to spend time with her mother.
KIMAA first dinner in Okinawa with Sensei Hokama & Shihan Ken
Alex, Tony, Jon and Ken
The next two days comprised training at Sensei’s dojo with Sensei Hokama and Shihan Ken. The focus was on pressure points, breaks, takedowns, self-defence, kata bunkai and Kobudo. There was lots of partner work involved, and Sensei Jon Ellis performed a board break (tameshiwari) as a part of training.
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The Kobudo team performed a Jo kata to Sensei Hokama. Sempai Alex demonstrated bunkai for the kata. The standard of the group’s kata and bunkai greatly impressed Sensei Hokama. Sensei and Shihan Ken then ran the team through other possible defence manoeuvres with a Jo.
On Friday the 20th, Sensei Jon Ellis was graded to 3rd Dan in Kobudo and Sempai Alex Lloyd was graded to 2nd Dan in Kobudo. Congratulations Sensei Jon and Sempai Alex!
Sensei Jon Ellis, 3rd Dan Kobudo
Sempai Alex Lloyd, 2nd Dan Kobudo
Tony Kuo, a student from Turramurra Dojo, joined the tour briefly at the invitation of Shihan Howard. He participated in all the training at Sensei Hokama’s dojo.
Shihan Howard Lipman
Sensei Tetsuhiro Hokama
Shihan Ken Ogura
KIMAA with Sensei Hokama and Shihan Ken after training: Sensei Mark Shelmerdine, Sensei James Sidwell, Sensei Jon Ellis, Sensei Mark McFadden, Shihan Howard Lipman, Sensei Tetsuhiro Hokama, Shihan Ken Ogura, Shihan Rick Cunningham, Sensei Paul Finnerty, Tony Kuo, Sempai Alex Lloyd & Sempai Patricia Tan.
The final event attended by the tour group was the Kyokushin Union’s 4th World Tournament. Fighters from all around the globe were competing, including from Australia. KIMAA caught up with Shihan Trevor Field (7th Dan) from Brisbane, who was the tournament’s Chief Arbiter. The tournament was hosted by Shihan Yasuhiro Shichinohe (7th Dan). KIMAA members trained with Shihan Shichinohe in the 2013 tour, and Sensei Don Cheong and Sempai James Campbell fought in his 2015 Okinawa tournament.
KIMAA at the Kyokushin World Tournament.
Shihan Howard and Sensei Hokama were invited by Shihan Shichinohe to sit at the official table. The rest of the group, along with Shihan Ken, enjoyed front row seats.
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The tournament was two full days, primarily focused on full contact knockdown fights. There were three divisions: Men’s Open, Women’s Open and Women’s Lightweight. Some demonstrations were also made, including Shihan Shichinohe performing an ice break.
KIMAA with Shihan Ken at dinner on their last night of the tour.
The tour group flew back to Australia after the weekend, arriving home on the morning of Tuesday January 24th.
The KIMAA Japan Group Tour was a fantastic success. The sightseeing was enjoyed by all, the World Tournament was a fantastic spectacle, and the opportunity to once again train with such knowledgeable and skilled martial artists as Sensei Hokama and Shihan Ken was special as always. Thanks go to Shihan Howard and Shihan Rick for organising and leading the tour.
Some of the students grading from Turramurra included Jasper Choi, Bernard Wilson and Elia Parsanejad. They kept pace well with the senior grades, Will and Trish, from up the coast.
Will performed admirably in his 20 fights for 1st Kyu (Senior Brown Belt).
Amanda sparring for her grading.
Sempai Rob sparring.
Will Brook with Sensei Jon after his 20th fight.
Results decided upon by Shihan Lipman will be announced by the various dojo head instructors. Congratulations to all who passed, and well done on everyone for attempting.
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Group photo of those who attempted the grading and supporting black belts.Shihan Rick Cunningham, Sensei Jon Ellis, Will Brook, Patricia Tan, Shihan Howard Lipman & Sensei Mark McFadden.
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
Round 1 got underway promptly at 10 am. Aaryan Sahukhan and James Parasyn in the ‘Boys 11-13 years under 40kg’ division were up first. It was Aaryan’s first tournament. He showed great spirit, but his more experienced opponent won the match. James used his high kicks to keep his opponent away, scoring points quickly and progressing to Round 2.
Next up was the ‘Men’s Open Middle Weight’ division. Sempai Alex won his fight with aggression and continuous movement. He moved to Round 2, where Sempai Ben and Sempai Don were waiting after both having a bye. The younger years were back to the fighting mats again.
Bernard Wilson, ‘Boys 11-13 years 40-45kg’, held his own against a young black belt from another dojo, but the more advanced fighter won the bout. Next was Kasra Parsanejad, ‘Boys 11-13 years over 45kg’. Kasra had a great first fight, using his height and long legs to overpower his opponent with numerous head kicks.
Andy Kuo of ‘Men’s Novice Heavy Weight’ followed next. Andy copped some heavy hits from his opponent but kept pushing through, winning the round, after two extensions, with gusto. Jasper Choi, ‘Boys 14-15 years 50-57kg’, fought after Andy. Jasper displayed great energy, narrowly losing but still showing the right aggression and pace that a young Kyokushin fighter should have.
Round 2 was the round of extensions and determination. James Parasyn fought hard, narrowly losing to his black belt opponent. His fight went to one extension before the judges could determine a winner, however.
Sempai Don entered Round 2 after his bye, quickly overpowering his opponent. Don used his strong leg techniques and relentless chasing to out-muscle his opponent, earning his place in the Finals for the ‘Men’s Open Middle Weight’ division.
After his win in Round 1, Sempai Alex came up against Sempai Ben, who’d had a bye. The two exchanged many blows: Ben’s trademark strong side and thigh kicks against Alex’s punching barrage and uppercuts. It was a close fight, but Ben’s blocking and fast leg techniques ultimately prevailed. After two exhausting two-minute extensions, the judges finally declared a winner, giving the fight to Sempai Ben.
Kasra fronted up to his second fight in the ‘Boys 11-13 years over 45kg’ division. Kasra again used his height and kicks techniques to great effectiveness, giving him another win.
The final round of fights saw the placement play-offs and finals. Sempai Alex was up first against the opponent Sempai Don and beaten in Round 2. Alex used his aggression and strength to overpower his opponent. The referee awarded Alex the match after he scored two waza-ari, securing Alex as Third Place in the ‘Men’s Open Middle Weight’ division.
Elia Parsanejad had her first fight of the day in the final of the ‘Girls 14-15 years over 55kg’ division. Elia had energy and aggression, dominating much of the fight. However, despite her grit and resilience, her opponent won the bout due to scoring waza-ari from well-timed techniques.
Following Elia’s fight was the big event, the final for the ‘Men’s Open Middle Weight’ between Sempai Ben and Sempai Don. Sempai Ben started the fight a bit more tired than Sempai Don after his longer session in Round 2, but both competitors showed nothing but strong resolve and Kyokushin fighting spirit. The two went punch-for-punch, leading to a two-minute extension. Both sides give it their all in the extension, but ultimately Sempai Don’s leg techniques had more power. The fight went to Sempai Don.
The ‘Boys 14-15 years 50-57kg’ division continued in a round robin. Christian Girdham and Jasper Choi both had losses in this division, but faced each other as part of the play-offs. Jasper moved around a lot but Christian’s height gave him the advantage he needed, taking the win. (A video of this fight is not available.)
KIMAA’s last fight in the tournament was Andy Kuo in the ‘Men’s Novice Heavy Weight’. It was a long, hard fight with an extension. Andy took a hit to the groin and the jaw. His opponent won the fight, despite the penalty against him, but Andy couldn’t have done KIMAA any prouder.
Most of the fighters won placements at the end of the day. These included:
Men’s Open Middle Weight champions: Sempai Don (1st), Sempai Ben (2nd) & Sempai Alex (3rd).
Men’s Open Middle Weight
Sempai Don Cheong – 1st
Sempai Ben Ng – 2nd
Sempai Alex Lloyd – 3rd
Men’s Novice Heavy Weight
Andy Kuo – 2nd
Girls 14-15 years over 55kg
Elia Parsanejad – 2nd
Boys 14-15 years 50-57kg
After the tournament.
Christian Girdham – 2nd
Jasper Choi – 3rd
Boys 11-13 years over 45kg
Kasra Parsanejad – 1st
Boys 11-13 years 40-45kg
Bernard Wilson – 2nd
Boys 11-13 years under 40kg
James Parasyn – equal 3rd
KIMAA victors.
Congratulations to everyone involved. Both first-time fighters and the more experienced combatants all displayed great determination and attitude, regardless of the strength and experience of their opponents. Shihan Lipman was very proud of all involved. Having KIMAA take so many placements, including the top three of the ‘Men’s Open Middle Weight’, was an extra special reward for all the hard effort put in by students and instructors alike.
Thanks again to Shihan Lipman, Shihan Cunningham and Sensei James for the coaching support, both on the day and in all the months of training prior.
KIMAA’s next big event will be the October/November Seminar & Grading.
Everyone fought well against their opponents. Notable mentions go to James Parasyn and James Kosimar for their wins, including James Parasyn’s two jodan mawashi geri techniques that led him to victory in his first round.
Victor Sweeney came equal third in his division and powered through many rounds to win his trophy.
Congratulations to Victor, and all involved.
Shihan Howard Lipman, Victor Sweeney and Sensei James Sidwell.
The following article continues the story of the 2015 KIMAA Group Tour to Japan. Click here to read Part 1.
The 22nd Okinawa Karate Tournament was held on March 15. This Kyokushin tournament was hosted by Shihan Yasuhiro Shichinohe (7th Dan Kyokushin). Shihan Howard Lipman’s friendship with Shihan Shichinohe goes back many years.
Sensei Jon and Sensei Mark with their fighters, James and Don.
Shihan Shichinohe gave the group the great honour of all having seats at the Officials Table.
Sempai James Campbell won his first round with great strength.
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Sempai Don Cheong fought very well but unfortunately lost his fight.
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Sempai James approached his second fight with the same intensity as his first. He won, making it to the Quarter Finals.
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As a Quarter Finalist, the local press interviewed Sempai James – with help from Masumi!
After a lunch break, it was time for the quarter finalists to perform Tameshiwari (“trial by breaking”, or board breaking). Four breaks (minimum three boards per break) had to be made using forefist, knife hand, elbow and heel. Sempai James was one of the few entrants to complete each break on the first attempt.
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Sempai James’s Quarter Final round was hard-fought, but he lost the round. He finished in the top eight adult male competitors at the tournament.
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We congratulate both competitors on their excellent performance. They made their instructors and coaches very proud.
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We were invited to attend the Sayonara Party that night, where Sempai Don and Sempai James received further congratulations. Shihan Shichinohe expressed to James how impressed he was with his punch! We enjoyed socialising with old friends from Shihan Shichinohe’s dojo and new friends made on the day.
