Welcome back Masato!

Tonight we welcomed back Masato to the Kyokushin Brisbane dojo.

Masato had been training in Kyokushin in Melbourne and also Muai Thai in Thailand over the last 6 months!

Great to have you back in the dojo again Masato!

Paul Briggs session delayed

Sensei Dominic informed us that as he will not be in the dojo next Saturday that the Paul Briggs session will be postponed until April 4th.

It will be a great session and for those of you who haven't been trainin for a while it will be worth turning up for a casual session just to have the opportunity to be trained by the Hurricane!

Special Guest Instructor - Paul Briggs

Paul "Hurricane" Briggs will be a special guest instructor next Saturday 21st at Kyokushin Brisbane Dojo! 8:30AM - Don't be late!

For those of you not familar with Paul Briggs please read on...

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Paul Briggs (born August 13, 1975 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a former Australian boxer. He was a highly ranked contender in the light heavyweight division.

"Hurricane" Briggs' career began with kick boxing at a young age, turning professional by the age of 15. By the age of 17, Briggs was accomplished enough to challenge Thai kick boxing great Jom Hod Sor Chid Lata for the World Kickboxing Association (WKA) title. Briggs spent the next two years training in Thailand with the very man who defeated him. This training propelled Briggs to the WKA World Championship.

Briggs soon tired of international kickboxing competition, having accomplished about all there is to accomplish. He quit competing and began working as a DJ.

In November 1999, Paul Briggs began boxing. Over the course of 5 years, Briggs compiled a 23-1 (17 KO's) record, leading to a WBC #1 rating and a WBC Light Heavyweight World Championship fight against Tomasz Adamek, who at the time, had 28 wins and no losses.

Briggs is currently located on the Gold Coast, and frequently commentates boxing matches on Fox Sports and Mainevent.

Briggs authored an autobiography entitled "Heart, Soul, Fire" detailing his rise to success as an international kick boxer, his descent into organised crime, drugs and violence, and ultimately his rise back to respectability and dominance in international boxing.

Upcoming Grading

28th of March will be the first grading for 2009.

With several high grade students looking to grade (Luke, Jason and Peter) it should be a great grading. Sensei Dominic said at tonights class that everyone's kata is staring to look sharp.

Grading will be at 10am so there won't be any 8:30am class on the grading day.

If you are free it will be great to see everyone there to support your fellow students as they strive to move up the ranks!

Its tournament season again everyone!

It just about time for the tournament season to start so if you are interested in fighting it might be a good time to talk to Sensei Dom or Sensei Mark and let them know you are interested in fighting.

The first local tournament it is the QLD State Titles which will be held on the Gold Coast again this year. This tournament is a combined tournament hosted by Shihan Tony Bowden, QLD Branch Cheif of the AKKA (Australian Kyokushin Karate Association). Also participating is Shin Kyokushin and of course IKO1. The tournament may also have participants from other styles such as Tae Kwon Do, Karate derivatives, Kickboxing etc.

At first I thought this tournament would be a good starting point, however last year there was only 1 skill division but with weight categories. This meant that an orange belt could be fighting a black belt! This year might be different, however if this is your first time fighting then you might want to speak to one of the Senseis about it to see if it appropriate for you.

If you are a novice fighter then consider the AKKA NSW State Titles, the AKKA Nationals, Ipswich Tournament or the Shin Kyokushin Sarina Budo Challenge.

The AKKA Nationals is a large event, however they have several divisions. Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Of course there is weight category divisions for each as well.

In any case its time to start making a plan and going for it. Once you let the Senseis know that you want to fight you might be surprised to find that you could be pulled out of class to concentrate on fighting technique rather than doing the traditional class. You also might find that you are required to complete more training out of the dojo, such as track work.

Good luck to everyone who is going to fight this year!

IKO Honbu Uchi Deshi Program 2009

Some of you may already be aware, but most may not, that the Kyokushin Honbu Dojo in Tokyo offers a Uchi Deshi program.

Uchi Deshi is a Japanese term meaning live-in student who trains under, and assists a Sensei on a full-time basis (From uchi for "inside" and deshi for "student").

One of the dreams of many Kyokushin students is to undertake the Uchi Deshi program of Honbu. Sensei Garry was one to complete Uchi Deshi programs, both in Australia and Japan.

Back in the old days the program was 3 years, but now days they offer programs as short as 3 months. This is a great opportunity for everyone to be able to boost their Kyokushin skills. If you are serious about Kyokushin then I would recommend talking to Senei Dom or one of the other instructors as soon as possible!

See the links below for more information on IKO1's program!

Kyokushin Uchi Deshi Program Description:
http://www.kyokushinkaikan.org/en/information/2008/12/01/01uchideshi_program.pdf

Kyokushin Uchi Deshi Terms:
http://www.kyokushinkaikan.org/en/information/2008/12/01/02program_term.pdf

Kyokushin Uchi Deshi Application Form:
http://www.kyokushinkaikan.org/en/information/2008/12/01/03application_form.pdf

Welcome back Carlos

For those who have been training the last few Saturdays you would have had the privilege of training with Senpai Carlos from Costa Rica.

Unfortunately Carlos is only in Australia till next week, but those who got the chance to spar with him won't forget!

We look forward to seeing you again soon!

For those that don't know Carlos Castro he is an accomplished Kyokushin fighter competing in the several times in the World Weight Category Tournament, World Open Weight Tournament and Americas Cup. These 3 tournaments being the strongest tournaments in Kyokushin. Carlos is still an active Kyokushin fighter so it is great when he gets time to stop into the Brisbane Dojo.

Thank you Carlos.

Congratulations Jeff

At Wednesday night training we found out that Jeff Ainsworth got married last weekend.

Congratulations Jeff!

It seems that Sensei Troy Freeman and a group of Kyokushin Brisbane members performed a karate demonstration at the wedding!

I found the following picture on facebook. Looks like it was pretty exciting.

Good Luck Shaune!

New Zealand's Wellington dojo is celebrating its 10th year anniversary and as part of this they will have an array of events including some one match fights.

Senpai Shaune O'Farrell will be fighting this weekend in one of those one matches.

Good luck Shaune!

For those that don't know the Wellington dojo is the home of Sensei Raan and Sensei Troy. They are probably the strongest Kyokushin dojo in New Zealand.

Before and end of class

Sensei Domonic said last Wednesday night that during the "eyes closed" time at the start of class it is important to let go of the issues you had been dealing with during the day and focus your mind on Karate.

At the end of class there is also another "eyes closed" time. Sensei reminded us that this is the time of think about some things in your karate that need improving. Maybe you had trouble with your front kicks today, this is the time to think about those things.

When you come to class the next time during the "eyes closed" time before class you should pick up what you were thinking about at the end of the last class and stive to work on that during the class.

Don't just come to class and be a zombie and follow along. You need to be thinking about improving your own personal karate during the class as well!

If you have any questions you should speak to one of the Senseis or one of your senpais.

Questions about the web site...

I was asked at training the other night why I was writing this blog when we have a perfectly good website as it is for Kyokushin Brisbane.

Well... I want to make it perfectly clear that this is not a website that is in opposition to the Kyokushin Brisbane website. 

As I said in my first post on this blog... this website is an addition to the main website and not a replacement.

The main Kyokushin Brisbane website is a great website and has heaps of information for about karate. But that website, by its design, is very static. That is primarily what the site is designed to be - provide basic information on training karate at Kyokushin Brisbane dojo, and it does that very well!

This blog is a little different... it is designed to give more regular updates to keep everyone informed about what is going on at the dojo.

Although I am only fairly new to Kyokushin, I really enjoy training and would like those who don't get to training as often to know what is happening at the club. This blog is a great way to let them know.

I am enjoying writing the blog and will try and put as much information as I can on here.

E-mail me or catch me at the club if you want to talk about it more...

March Tournament

As most of you know the Qld Kyokushin Karate State Titles will be held in May this year. As a warm up for this even Sensei Dom has decided to hold a tournament in March.

The details of this tournament have not been officially announced yet, but I can tell you that it will involve some one matches and some round robyn fighting. The tournament will be suitable for beginner students as well as advanced fighters!

So start getting serious about your training now! If you want to fight make sure that you talk to Sensei Dom, Sensei Mark, Sensei Raan or Senpai Mal as soon as possible.

Peter Chirocosta - Winning the 2008 Qld State Titles <- This could be you!!!

Monday night training

Great to see a good turn out at the beginners classes with some new faces! If you are thinking about starting training at Kyokushin Brisbane the beginners classes are take away the pressure of starting in the main class.

You get a lot more individual attention and this will really benifit your karate in the long term!

Also great to see good numbers at the main class for Monday for Senpai Mal's class! Lets keep the numbers up as the more people training really lifts the intensity of the sessions.

On a side note - Senpai Todd Goodwin, great to have you back training with normal classes. Senpai Todd was previously instructing the Thursday night circuit.

Change to Thursday night training

As of last night the Kyokushin Brisbane Thursday night training session is being taken by Sensei Raan rather than Senpai Todd. 

At this stage the classes should stay the same, but expect changes from Sensei Raan as he settles into his new night. 

For those that don't remember Sensei Raan, he used to take the Monday classes but rest during December and January.

Good to have you back at the dojo Sensei Raan!

Saturday outcome & Monday training!

Thanks to everyone for doing a great job with cleaning the dojo this weekend! It looks really great.

I think Sensei Dom and Sensei Mark are very happy with the results!

If we all work together we can keep the dojo looking great for 2009!

Also - don't foget that this Monday is the Australia Day public holiday...so there will be no training on Monday night.

See you all on Wednesday... I think Sensei Dom will be making it a hard one cause of missing Monday - so look out!

Dojo cleanup this saturday

There is a clean up at the dojo this Saturday....

Please remeber what Sensei Dom said about collecting your gear - make sure that all your pads are either picked up or clearly marked otherwise they will be thrown out!

It will be after training, so please stick around and help out as it will be great to get the dojo all shinny again!

Sydney Training Camp

Shihan Nik Cujic's dojo in Sydney will be holding their annual training camp in March this year. So pencil in March 20, 21 and 22nd if you would like to attend what will be a great training camp.

For those that don't know much about Shihan Nik... he is the Australian Branch Cheif of Kyokushin Karate as appointed by Kancho Shokei Matsui... basically the number 1 in Australia. He is a 6th Dan and has been training in Kyokushin for almost 40 years!

Shihan Nik runs a full time dojo in Sydney and several other part time dojos with his wife, Sensei Joy Cujic.

** Speak to Sensei Dominic or one of the other instructors for more details **

Thursday nights

Senpai Todd is giving up the Thursday night classes!! I know we will all missing his hard fitness sessions.

Thursday will now be run by Sensei Raan Apatu. The night will still be focusing on fitness so those of you looking for a good workout should try and come along!

Anyone for YoGa?

Welcome back to sparring everyone! Tonight class brought 4 rounds of light sparring - first for the year. I hope everyone went OK... I know it was hot and certainly tough getting back into sparring after the christmas break.

One important announcement from tonight class was that this saturday, 17th January, Sensei Mark will run a yoga class after the normal karate class. This sounds like a lot of fun and hope you can all turn up to do the yoga! Those of you with injuries who aren't doing normal training might want to ask Sensei Dom or Sensei Mark if you can attend just the yoga class!

Grading December 2008 & Tournament in March

Grading December 2008 results are now up on the Kyokushin Brisbane website... http://www.kyokushinbrisbane.com/gradings/gradings_2008_04.htm

Congratulations for those who graded up! For those who didn't grade up - don't be too worried about it. The best thing is to come back stronger and next grading show the senseis that you deserve the grading!!

Sensei Dominic has also advised that there will be a tournament in March. He is not sure of the details yet but it looks like it could be a good tournment for you to try for the first time. If you are interested in fighting make sure you talk to one of the Senseis as soon as possible so they can help you prepare!!!

Good luck everyone!

Thursdays are back!

Senpai Todd is back in action on Thursday nights. Tonight he really got us going for the year with a good workout.

There was a good turn out and it is great with more people coming on the Thursday night as it really lifts the vibe!

If you want to get fit then Thursday night is the night for you!

1st Training session for the year....

Well the first training session is over for the year. Sensei Dominic said he would go easy on everyone, however it turned out to be a pretty hard class.

After working through the basics Sensei Dominic worked the class with punch and kick combinations on the bags and finished the class with conditioning - punches and kicks.

At the end of the class Sensei Dominic asked everyone what their goal was for the year. It was good to hear people's goals, ranging from winning tournaments, getting more flexible, gradings and conditioning.

Good luck to everyone in 2009!