I hope that you have all had a good break despite the rain. It has certainly been the wettest winter that I can remember since we arrived in NZ nearly 6-years ago. 

It is a disease where the lungs slowly fill up with granulomous and fibrous tissue, causing a reduction in lung functionality. 

I have probably had it a couple of years without knowing it but it is only in the last 6-8 months that my fitness and energy levels have taken the real big nose-dive. 

I am being treated by very high doses of a drug called Prednisone – a treatment that will probably take about a year. 

One of the many side effects is that I am likely to gain a fair bit of weight (especially in the face) due to fluid retention and an increased appetite (which I shall try to manage).  

The good news is that I am already feeling a lot better and it is very likely that I shall make a full recovery. 

I would like to thank everybody for all the concern that you have shown and the well wishes that I have received. 

I would also like to thank everybody for the understanding that I have not and will not lead by example to the standards that I am used to. Some of my warm-ups may continue be interrupted by some fairly intense coughing fits.

I shall make every attempt to regain full fitness as soon as I am able. 

Anyhow, the dates for next term are Wednesday 17^th July until Wednesday 18^th September and there don’t seem to be any public holidays this term to watch out for.

Juniors 

Everybody put a lot of effort into their training last term and congratulations go to the following juniors for successful gradings: 

Junior Red Belt:

·         Casey McCarthy

·         Melanie McCarthy

·         Naveen Singh

·         Jaden McFarlane

 Junior Yellow Belt:

·         Sarinah Archer

·         Tem Witika

·         Kaden Meehan

 Junior Blue Belt:

·         Mark Strachan

·         Terri Hutton

·         Haylee Hutton

·         Emma Corbin

·         Wayne Crump

·         Rhea Petersen

 The few who didn’t grade last term will get a chance very early on in the next term.

 The results of the junior end of term Kata competition were as follows:

 Orange belt and below:

·         Gold – Tem Witika

·         Silver – Steven Hawes

·         Bronze – Kaden Meehan

 Green belt and above:

·         Gold – Keegan Downey

·         Silver – Rhea Petersen

·         Bronze – Kent Petersen 

The end of term sparring competition was a lot of fun to watch as usual and this time, the red team won against the blue team with a score of 11 – 9.

 A couple of weekends ago (23^rdJune), we took a kids team to compete in the Central North Island Regional Championships. 

What I saw, reminded me of why we don’t do sport Karate: 

In the Kata, kids who performed simple Katas well, scored much higher than kids who performed the much more difficult katas, maybe not so well. 

In the Sparring, the judges only really scored reverse punches (and obviously ignored almost every other technique) making the entire competition very technique poor. 

The judging was very inconsistent, kids were getting hurt, getting angry with each other and crying. Kids were getting shouted at by their instructors, team members, parents and other adults when they performed poorly. 

I find this sort of naked aggression in the name of sport quite offensive. It cannot be anybody’s idea of a good time. I would rather see my kids playing table tennis or soccer or something else that they will remember as being enjoyable. 

Having said all this, I want to congratulate Keegan, Kent, Rhea and Jellena who performed some very difficult katas (extremely well in my eyes) especially Rhea, who came away with a bronze medal. 

You also performed very well in the sparring – it is a shame that your superior techniques were ignored by the judges. 

Adults 

This last term saw all adults improve with leaps and bounds. 

Congratulations go to the following who graded successfully: 

8^th Kyu Yellow Belts:

·         Jack Akker

·         Robert McGregor

·         Dale Hutton

·         Jonathan Hopkins

·         Alex van der Wettering

·         Peter van der Wettering

 5^th Kyu Blue Belts:

·         Shaleen Deo

·         Steven Sales 

2^nd Kyu Brown Belt:

·         Jocelyn Scott 

I must say again how much I am inspired by everybody’s enthusiasm and particularly by the efforts and the resulting high standards of the beginners – you are well on the way to your next grading already – keep it up! 

During this break, we have been holding some pretty intense high grade sessions and I hope to be able to grade Tony and Nick to 2^nd Kyu before the start of next term – watch this space for confirmation! 

We will probably make high grade training during the breaks a regular feature. 

Some of you are getting within sniffing distance of your black belts: who knows, may be within 9 – 12 months? It is up to you! 

Also, a reminder for anybody that wishes to purchase karate suits or other karate equipment, I recommend that you do so through Robbie Smith: 

17 Edwin Street

St. Andrews

07-850 9390

025-604 1568 

Also check out the web site for pictures of Helena’s 40^th Birthday party. Thanks to all of you who came – we had a fantastic night and it is clear that we have some very talented singers in the club. Long live Karaoke!!

Finally, I would like to call an instructors meeting for adult brown belts and above on Monday 15^th July at 8:30 PM to organize next term’s training. 

Cheers and see you all soon