Author: Ash Prime

Welcome to Term 3 everyone.
I hope all have had a nice break and are ready to train hard.

A few things to note…

Wednesday will be grading for Bella and Damara after previously being delayed.

Reminder that Wednesday class is now at the North Ipswich Scout Hall.
8A Smith St North Ipswich. I’ll have a sign on the railing to make it more visible.

As several students approach black belt, more advanced levels of sparring will be incorporated into their training. For safety, all students on brown belt and up will require a mouthguard for sparring. Standard boil and bite style mouthguards are suitable. These can be purchased from many chemists, sport stores or online. Let me know if you need assistance with this. Below brown belt do not require a mouthguard but are welcome to use one.

If anyone would like to order any gear such as uniforms, gloves or shin pads please let me know.

Please ensure term fees are paid as soon as possible. If you need to pay over time that’s fine, please just let me know.

All class times:
Monday Harrisville 4:30-5:30pm
Tuesday Ipswich 6:15-7:15pm
Wednesday Ipswich 10-11am
Saturday Private Dojo 2-3pm

Every day is an opportunity to improve ourselves. Think about why you train Karate. There can be many different reasons. What is yours? Identify your goals and the path will become clearer.
Always keep our Dojo Kun in mind:
Respect, Effort, Courage, Kindness.

Mon – 4:30-5:30pm Harrisville, 7-adult

Tue – 6:15-7:15pm Ipswich, 7-adult

Wed – 10-11am Ipswich, 7-adult

Sat – 2-3pm Ipswich, adults

$100 per 10 weeks. Family discounts.

Join any time. Inclusive or all abilities.

Term 3 begins July 8

Those who paid in full for term 2 receive a 10% discount on term 3 fees due to one missed week.

Important news for Ipswich Wednesday class. We are moving!
From Term 3 onward, Wednesday class 10-11am will now be held at North Ipswich Scout Hall (same location as Tuesday night class).
8A Smith St North Ipswich.
There is also a small playground in the park behind the hall for the young ones.

Karate Books Part 4

Karate Kenpo: The Art of Self Defense by Mabuni Kenwa

One of the few books written by one of the “old masters” as they say. Mabuni Kenwa is known as the founder of Shitoryu Karate, of the well known “styles”. Although, Mabuni has this to say about styles, “There are no styles of karate-do, just varying interpretations of its principles.” At a time when Karate was becoming popular in Japan, each master was asked to name their style of Karate to fit in with the Japanese tradition of martial arts style names. Prior to this, all the Okinawan masters simply practiced Karate, with their own individual methods.

Written in 1934, this book gives a little history and philosophy on Karate, followed by some explanation of basic techniques along with illustrations. A detailed description of Sanchin follows with step by step instructions and illustrations. A large portion of this book is instructions on Se-Enchin kata, with llustrations and descriptions on performing the kata and two person practice of applications. This is one of the few examples of kata applications being clearly recorded by one of the old masters.

All classes will be on this week.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday.
Last week of term 2.
We will have a yellow belt grading on Monday for Sadie and a brown belt grading on Wednesday for Damara and Bella.

Today I’ve created a Karateka Kreator character sheet. Some of you may be familiar with this concept from RPG tabletop or video games. I thought it could be fun for students to have a go filling out their karate attributes. It could be helpful to identify existing strengths and see where more could be done. It wasn’t easy to choose the attributes but I tried to keep it simple while covering important areas. Incidentally, Mind, Body, Spirit are the Three Battles that Sanchin kata refers to.

You can print it out or use a mark up feature on your device. Simply fill in the dots to match your level of each attribute. 5 dots would be extremely advanced, such as an Olympic athlete or master wizard, so be honest when filling it in. Nobody would ever have 5 dots in everything! It’s ok to have 1 or no dots on something too. Having empty dots leaves room for improvement. You don’t have to show anyone but you can if you want and I’d love to see some. Happy to help if anyone isn’t sure about something. I’ll do one for myself as an example. This could be a great way to set some goals for self improvement. You could also use it to create a fictional character!

Hi everyone.
Unfortunately I have a cold so to avoid spreading it we will skip classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. So sorry.

We will have one more week left of term 2 after this week, including the Ipswich grading so hopefully I’ll be fine by then.
Fee credit given for next term.

Karate Books Part 3

“THE HISTORY OF KARATE AND THE MASTERS WHO MADE IT” by Mark I. Cramer. A good book. I very much enjoyed this. Concise yet comprehensive. It covers the cultural context of Karate’s development, Karate philosophy, biographies of notable masters and more.

Karate Books Part 2
SANCHIN Three Battles by Pervez B Mistry.
A whole book dedicated to the best kata, Sanchin!
Sanchin kata develops mind, body and spirit (the three battles), all essential aspects of an effective Karateka. I practice Sanchin daily and there is always something for me to improve on. It is simple in appearance yet highly complex on deeper study. This book goes into great detail on many aspects of Sanchin kata, such as how to perform the kata, breathing and tension with descriptions of anatomy and why things are done, the effects of Sanchin on the musculoskeletal, respiratory, and nervous systems and practical fighting applications of Sanchin. Highly recommend for anyone wanting to truly understand Sanchin and its value.