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.
Sensei Mark McFadden and Patricia Tan were placed First in the Creative Weapons division of the Queensland National All Styles Martial Arts Championships. Sensei Mark and Trish performed a combination of Kobudo exercises and kata, first Bo against Bo and then Bo against Sai.
In the Kata section, Trish placed Third in her division performing Seienchin kata. Wes did very well, coming fourth in his kata division.
Congratulations to all the participants, especially to Sensei Mark and Patricia for their success in the Creative Weapons division.
Sensei Mark McFadden hosted a fundraiser event for Blue September on Saturday September 27. The fundraiser was held at Lismore Dojo and participants came from a range of martial arts backgrounds.
The day included two hours of inter-style sparring and a BBQ.
All the martial artists involved got black and blue for Blue September and partook in the fundraising. Thanks to all who helped organise to make the day such a success.
A Kyokushin Karate grading was held on Saturday September 13 at Turramurra Dojo.
1st Row, L-R: Sempai Jon Ellis, Sempai Rob James, Sempai Alex Lloyd. 2nd Row, L-R: Sempai Todd Murphy, Jeremy Gray, Will Brook.
Shihan Howard Lipman assessed KIMAA students from Sydney, the NSW Far North Coast and Brisbane. A number of Little Lions and adults participated in the grading for kyu and dan (black belt) grades. The black belts who attempted the grading included:
Sempai Alex Lloyd (1st Dan Kyokushin): Sempai Alex is a student at Turramurra Dojo, Sydney, a former Knox Karate student and now instructor.
Sempai Todd Murphy (1st Dan Kyokushin): Sempai Todd is a student and instructor at Annangrove Dojo, Sydney.
Photos from the day
Kyokushin senior grading, September 2014
Sempai Alex
Jeremy
Sempai Rob
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Kata
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Fitness & Kumite (sparring)
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All attempting the grading performed to a high standard. Congratulations to everyone who participated. Special mention goes to the new black belt grades: Jon Ellis received his Sandan (3rd Dan) and the title of Sensei; while Rob James, Alex Lloyd and Todd Murphy were graded to Nidan (2nd Dan). Jeremy Gray fought an admirable 20 fights for his 1st Kyu (Senior Brown Belt) and Joshua Darley was graded to 2nd Kyu (Brown Belt). Will Brook also was graded to 2nd Kyu, despite having to attempt the grading with a broken hand!
The second of the biannual KIMAAKyokushin seminars for 2014 was held on the weekend of August 16-17.
There was a special Kobduo training session on the Saturday afternoon at Annangrove Dojo. Sydney Kobudo practitioners and guests from the Brisbane and North Coast dojos then enjoyed a dinner at Shihan Rick Cunningham‘s after training.
The Sunday session began promptly at 9 am. Before training commenced, Shihan Howard Lipman awarded some new grades. In Kobudo, Sempai Todd Murphy and Sempai Alex Lloyd were promoted to 1st Kyu, and Trish Tan was promoted to 5th Kyu. In addition, after years of dedication to Kyokushin and teaching at Annangrove Dojo, Sempai Ian Holdaway was promoted to 3rd Dan (Sandan) and to the title of ‘Sensei’. Congratulations to these KIMAA members on their new grades.
Shihan Lipman & Sempai Alex
Shihan Lipman & Sempai Todd
Shihan Lipman & Trish
Shihan Lipman & Sensei Ian
After these grades were awarded, training began, continuing on from the ground covered in the April seminar. Bunkai – the application of practical self-defence techniques derived from kata – from Pinan Yon and Pinan Go were studied. Sempai Jon Ellis and Sempai James Campbell demonstrated bunkai throughout the day under the instruction of Shihan Lipman and Shihan Cunningham. Students worked in pairs, constantly swapping partners to work with a range of karateka from the various KIMAA dojos.
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After working through the bunkai in great depth, Pinan Yon was demonstrated by Sempai Jon, Sempai Ben Ng and Sempai Don Cheong, and young Josh Darley; and Pinan Go by Sempai Don.
From the August 2014 seminar.
The group took a break for a BBQ lunch, kindly prepared by Shihan Cunningham’s wife, Kirsti, Shihan Lipman’s wife, Masumi, and Sempai Rob James‘s partner, Kerry. Sensei Ian Holdaway took up his usual post at the BBQ, of which he is a master.
Following lunch, the seminar was split up. Junior grades were taken by Sensei Paul Finnerty and Sensei Peter Olive to run through kyu level katas and their bunkai, while seniors practised Saiha and its bunkai.
The groups then recombined for tameshiwari. This literally means ‘trial by breaking’ and is the Kyokushin term used for board breaking. Breaking techniques for sokuto (knife-foot), hiji (elbow), shuto (knifehand) and seiken (forefist) were used to break the wood. Adults broke one to three pieces, depending on their grade level. Little Lions and Knox students broke one, or a ‘kids board’ depending on their age. After this, 2nd Dans (or those attempting that grade soon) performed a ‘multi-break’, as demonstrated in the video footage below.
As always, the KIMAA students were grateful for the time and effort put into the weekend by Shihan Lipman and Shihan Cunningham to further their understanding of Kyokushin and the techniques and kata they do in everyday training. The tameshiwari was particularly enjoyed. Special mention also goes to those from Lismore, Ballina and Aspley dojos who made the effort to fly down to Sydney.
Following this seminar will be the senior grading at Turramurra Dojo in September.
On Sunday August 3, four KIMAA students entered the 38th annual Australian Open Full Contact Karate Tournament. Sempai Ben Ng, Sempai Don Cheong and Sempai James Campbell from Shihan Howard Lipman‘s Turramurra Dojo and Daniel Williams from Shihan Rick Cunningham‘s Annangrove Dojo competed in the tournament.
The standard of the competition was very high, and KIMAA’s four entries did the organisation proud. Ben, Don and James all fought against opponents who ended up winning their respective divisions (medium, light and heavy), while Daniel won the 3rd and 4th Kyu Open Heavy Weight division.
Sempai Ben Ng
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Sempai Don Cheong
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Sempai James Campbell
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Daniel Williams
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Congratulations to all who competed and represented KIMAA, and again to Daniel on his excellent win.
Kyokushin International Martial Arts Australia 