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This year our local Sunshine Coast association will be hosting the 2010 Annual Queensland Chito-Ryu Karate Camp for all ICKFA members.  The camp will be held at the Maranatha Recreation Camp at Yandina, the same venue the camp was held 2 years ago.

This year prices will be a bit higher as the camp is now under new management and they are no longer offering teired prices for different age groups, just a flat rate for all ages.  However it is still great value for a weekend away in peaceful surroundings and the great company of your best karate friends.

If you’ve never been to a karate camp before, you’ll definitely want to check it out as it’s a great way to accelerate your progress with some intensive training.  And of course it’s a fun time that everyone is sure to be talking about for months afterwords.

Registration forms are now available for download, or ask your instructor for more information.

I look forward to seeing you at the camp.

Christmas Family Day, Training & AGM

The Christmas season is fast approaching and it’s time to celebrate what a great year we have had with all of our Karate friends and family. Once again we will be holding our Family Fun Day in Cotton Tree Park. As usual we will also be holding the SCCKA AGM on the day. There will be water training, games to play, presentations, lunch and a visit from the jolly man in Red. We need to know numbers for catering as the club will be supplying a sausage sizzle lunch so please add your name to the sign up sheet on the dojo noticeboard by Mon 7^th Dec.

Where: Cotton Tree Park

When: Sun 13^th Dec 2009

Start: 9am

RSVP: Mon 7^th Dec 2009

Don’t forget your hat, sunscreen, towel and a change of clothes… you will probably get wet!

This year’s the Sunshine Coast Regional Chito-Ryu Tournament was held 21 June at Kawana Waters State College.  It was a little bit smaller than previous years in terms of competitor numbers, but the standard of competition is getting much higher.  I think the smaller numbers can be attributed largely to the fact that many interstate competitors that our event normally attracts are planning on coming later in the year when we host the national championships in October.

This year the ICKFA, our national association is working on redeveloping our tournament rules in order to make the experience better for everyone, competitors, spectators and officials.  At our tournament we introduced a few rule adjustments to start trialing and I personally was very happy with the results and look forward to seeing the effects over the longer term.

In kata competition, we started using a new scoring system which sees each judges score performances according to a different sub-set of scoring criteria.  In the past, all judges have tried to judge all aspects of the performance which is both challenging for judges and makes it difficult for competitors to stand out from one another.  Under the new scoring system, each judge is looking at different aspects of the performance, and once competitors start to learn more about how the scoring system works, they will start to get more specific feedback from the judges about their performance just by looking at the scores and be encouraged to lift the standard of their performance and in turn develop a deaper understanding of the fundamentals of Chito-Ryu.

With kumite, we trialled a smaller ring size 6x6m and different positioning of the competitors.  Additionally, we went back to referee, mirror judge and arbitrator (scorer).  The smaller ring size is going to take a little bit of getting used to for competitors that have been around for a while, but so far the feedback has been good.  Due to the smaller amount of space there was a lot more action as there was less room for fighters to sit back and relax.

There are going to be more rule changes to be introduced, but so far so good.

Now for those who were there, here are the results from the 2009 Sunshine Coast Chito-Ryu Karate Tournament.

And, here are a few photos, thanks to Helen O’Grady and everyone who borrowed her camera on the day of the tournament.  You can find lots more via my profile on Facebook.

It’s been a while since my last blog post, so now it’s time to start catching up after a huge start to the year.  Rather than writing one huge post right now.  I’ll write lots of little ones give you all the details.

Hear are some of the things that have been going on in the last few months:

• Soke Sensei’s Sunshine Coast Visit
• National Training Camp
• Sunshine Coast Tournament
• Australia Zoo Demonstrations
• The Road to the 2010 Soke Cup
• Grading Successes
• Leadership Program

And some upcoming events:

• Association Trivia Night (Social Event)
• Gold Coast Cup
• Qld Training Camp
• National Championships

It looks like I have my work cut out, so I’ll get started, in no particular order.

Just last weekend, we had our annual Christmas training day at Cotton Tree Park.  It was a big day all around…

• Training in the park and the water
• Games for the kids organised by the Emmas (Emma Woodhouse & Emma Moehead)
• Association AGM
• A visit from Santa presents and all
• Free BBQ sausage sizzle put on by the association and supported by both our butchers in the club, Mick’s Meat Barn and North Buderim Butcher
• And finally we wrapped up the day with a few special presentations recognising the outstanding efforts of a few members, a tradition we started a few years back.

Awards were presented to Student of the Year, in a numer of categories:

• Beginner Child:  Emma Rhodes Pery
• Intermediate Child: William Nak
• Advanced Child:  Viet Kaas
• Beginner Adult:  Amber James
• Intermediate Adult:  Chris Baker
• Advanced Adult:  Jim Moehead
• Competitor of the Year:  Duncan Bigg
• Budoka of the Year:  Helen O’Grady

Unfortunately a few of the recipients weren’t able to be there on the day, but most have since received them in class.

Here are a few photos from the day, and a few in the dojo shortly after too.

A few weeks back we had our first ever Queensland Chito-Ryu training camp which brought together members from both Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast dojos.  The camp was held at maranatha recreation camp on the Sunshine Coast 21-23 November.  Of the nearly 40 people who attended I don’t there is anyone that isn’t really excited about next year’s camp which is to be held on the Gold Coast.

Please enjoy these photos from the weekend, which highlights some of the training and other activities that we got to enjoy.

By now word may have passed around the dojo about some of the great results from our Sunshine Coast members who participate in the National Chito-Ryu Karate Championships in Lithgow, NSW, Sunday 26th October.  This year our dojo was well representated with 14 competitors travelling interstate for the tournament.  Of the 19 events contested, our dojo won, 9 x Gold, 4 x Silver, and 6 x Bronze.  Not a bad effort!

While tournament results are not full measure of of , a karateka’s ability, it does say something about the level of commitment of the following members from the Sunshine Coast.  Here’s a full break down of the results for Sunshine Coast members.

• Rhys Woodhouse – 3rd Adult Black Belt Kata, 3rd 16-17 Yrs Boys Kumite, 1st Open Team Kata
• Emma Woohouse – 3rd Junior Brown & Black Belt Kata, 1st 12-13 Yrs Girls Kumite
• Emma Moehead – 3rd Junior 7-4th Kyu Kata, 1st White Belt – 4th Kyu Team Kata
• Jim Moehead – 1st Open Team Kata
• Mitchell Booker – 1st Junior 7-4th Kyu Kata, 3rd 12-13 Yrs Boys Kumite, 1st White Belt – 4th Kyu Team Kata
• Luke Moulden – 1st Junior White Belt – 8th Kyu Kata
• Viet Kaas – 2nd Junior Brown & Black Belt Kata
• Helen O’Grady – 2nd Adult 5-1st Kyu Kata, 2nd Ladies Open Kumite, 1st Open Team Kata
• Keanu Caston – 2nd Junior 7-4th Kyu Kata, 1st 12-13 Yrs Boys Kumite, 1st White Belt – 4th Kyu Team Kata
• Sandra Phillips – 1st Adult Black Belt Kata, 1st Ladies Open Kumite
• Linh Tran – 2nd Junior Brown & Black Belt Kata, 3rd 14-15 Yrs Boys Kumite
• James O’Grady – Did not place, this time
• Georgia Butner-Johnson – Did not place, this time
• Duncan Bigg – Did not place, this time

Here are a few photos from the weekend, training on Saturday & tournament on Sunday.

The sports karate kumite classes for both adults and juniors will until the end of the year.  Next year our local association will be hosting the regional Sunshine Coast tournament once again and the National Chito-Ryu Championships.

Here are few pictures from our local association’s trivia night at Bli Bli Hall last Saturday, 23rd August.  A special thank you to our committee for organising what was a great night, especially thank you to our quiz master Deb Woodhouse, and Ryan Kolcze who was our auctineer and music trivia quiz master.

Great job to everyone who entered the desert competition, and congratulations to John Strazzari who was the winning bidder and won the honour of becoming the official taste tester and judge.

A great night for all involved and also a good social fundraiser for the club.