As you probably all know, we were given the opportunity by UNZKO, The Union of New Zealand Karate Organisations, to grade before a panel.

The grading panel was made up of the following people; Dennis May (7^th Dan), Len Monk (7^th Dan) and Bob Dalton (6^th Dan).

The grading consisted of several parts:

• ·         An in-depth interview with both Helena and I.

• ·         An examination of how we run our junior classes.

• ·         An examination of how we run our senior classes.

• ·         A performance of basic techniques.

• ·         A demonstration of 8 high -grade katas each.

• ·         A demonstration of 2 bunkai (applications of kata) each.

The grading took just over an hour and both Helena and I found it, physically, very demanding indeed.

We received the results yesterday and we are very happy and proud to be able to announce that Helena has been graded to 3^rd Dan, and I have been graded to 4^th Dan. What made it extra special for us is that all members of the panel felt that we had succeeded "…with flying colours."

This result is very good for the future of this club as national black belt gradings of this kind are superseding individual organisational gradings, and are the only grades that will be recognised by the WKF (The World Karate Federation). This means that both Helena and I are now qualified to conduct black-belt gradings for our students that will be recognised by these governing bodies.

Both Helena and I would like to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your support. A special thanks to all junior members, whose exemplary behaviour on the night, definitely contributed to our success.

Also an extra special thanks to Nick Wilkinson and Adrian Roberts who had to learn a hell of a lot in a very short space of time in order to be able to partner me for the bunkai. Your performance was impeccable and I could not have achieved this without you. Thank you!

Regards