27th September 2008
| Michael McEachern | Nidan |
| Joanne Marianoff | Shodan |
| Tiffany Apatu | Shodan |
| Jeff Ainsworth | 4th Kyu |
| Kustave Heino | 4th Kyu |
| Peter Chirocosta | 4th Kyu |
| Adam Doolan | 5th Kyu |
| Adam Faulkner | 5th Kyu |
| Kazuhito Yoshida | 6th Kyu |
| Rumesh Perera | 8th Kyu |
| Paul Rojas | 9th Kyu |
| Anne Schneider | 10th Kyu |
Photos
Grading September 08 - Part 1 Kihon
Grading September 08 - Part 2 Self Defence & Kata
Grading September 08 - Part 3 Tamashiwari
Grading September 08 - Part 4 Kumite
Grading September 08 - Part 5 Kumite
Grading September 08 - Part 6 Kumite
Comments
Congratulations to all these students for a really good effort.
Firstly, Joanne and Tiffany who dedicated many hours of their time for this grading. I was especially impressed with their self defence which had clearly been thoroughly prepared. The key to self defence is to react quickly, effectively and in a controlled manner. Each time the assailants were dealt with quickly and finished off on the floor (on their bellies so unable to re attack) or put into submission holds or standing arm locks. Joanne and Tiffany completed 40 fights in great form all the way to the final round.
This is optional for females who are able to elect to do only 20 fights. They made the decision to complete 40 fights at the start of the year and never veered from the goal. Well done Jo and Tiff – very inspirational.
I would also like to make mention of Michael for achieving his Nidan. This requires some additional complex katas and more advanced techniques, all of which were demonstrated smoothly and without hesitation. Again its all about the preparation and the fact that Michael chose to live at the dojo for around 6 months prior to committing to this grading is testament to his strong performance.
Other worthwhile mentions include – Jeff Ainsworth and Kustave Heino who graded after quite a long absence due to work and overseas stints. Both Jeff and Kustave have been members of Brisbane Dojo for several years and its great to see them back progressing their karate. Both having previously trained in Japan for stints over the past few years.
Peter Chirocosta deserves acknowledgement of another good performance. Peter holds a blackbelt in another karate style (you can certainly see this when you watch his side kicks!!) but has chosen Kyokushin due to our hard tournament style training.
Adam Doolan and Adam Faulkner have been training very regularly and that really showed. Adam Doolan spent many hours assisting Joanne with her self defence skills drawing upon his previous jujitsu training. Adam Faulkner who due to work commitments was unable to train at the dojo as regularly as he would have liked but by the look of his fitness and technique he was certainly training elsewhere. Very good performance by both Adams.
Lastly to Anne and Rumesh – special mention to Anne for finally getting off her white belt. I have had several difficult conversations with Anne regarding her progress and adjusting to Kyokushin from her previous martial arts training – but she certainly got a handle of things and is heading in the right direction. And finally to Rumesh who came to the grading after completing a 13 hour taxi shift. I don’t know many people that could drive a taxi all night and then come in and do a 3 hour grading.
Well done to all of you.
OSU
Dom
