Hi All
And thanks for all the hard work that you put into your training last term – it has certainly paid off and many of you were able to grade to your next belts – well done.
Many apologies for having to cancel the Junior sparring competition and the adult social event at the end of last term. I, and many other of the instructors were away with a pretty mean cold. Helena was the only instructor available to take the last training of the term and we felt that it would not be safe to hold the competition with only one instructor – I hope you enjoyed the games night instead.
This next term looks also to be a little disrupted. Deanwell School is holding its bi-annual production and the hall will not be available to us on the week beginning 4th September and the week beginning 11th September. There will, therefore, be no Kid’s classes on those two weeks. Your training fee invoices have been adjusted accordingly.
We will have a little limited space available, so any adult members that have achieved orange belt or above are welcome to come along on those dates and practise – there will be no structured class and no tuition.
Helena and I have just been notified that we have been approved by Karate New Zealand to grade. Helena will be going for her 4th Dan and I will be trying for my 5th Dan sometime in October.
We haven’t yet been given the exact dates and we haven’t yet been told if the grading panel will be travelling to our club or if we have to grade at another location.
The last time we graded was in June 1999 and it was very tough indeed. We have, therefore, started our own training programme in order to be fit enough to stand a chance. If we are successful, the club will benefit as we will then be able to grade our own students up to a 3rd Dan level (when you have reached the required standards, of course!).
If the grading panel does come to us, you are all most welcome to watch.
The grading tradition dictates that people grading from white belt to 1st Dan Black Belt must train at least twice a week and there must be a minimum period of three months between gradings (unless exceptional circumstances prevail) – usually, though, it takes a bit longer than that.
Grading from 1st Dan – 2nd Dan requires at least 2-years training between grades; grading from 2nd Dan – 3rd Dan requires at least 3-years training; grading from 3rd Dan – 4th Dan requires at least 4-years training; grading from 4th Dan – 5th Dan requires at least 5-years training etc.
9th Dan is reserved for heads of organisations and 10th Dan is normally awarded posthumously – which is why it is known as the grade of death.
Other styles of martial art, especially the American ones, do not adhere to this protocol. That is why it is possible to come across 10th Dans there that are in their 30’s, something that I find ridiculous. Some of those clubs have actually run out of grades and allow grades up to 15th Dan – thankfully it is quite rare, and nobody really takes them seriously.
Anyway, we will keep you all posted.
Congratulations go to the following people who graded successfully last term:
Junior Blue Belt
· Jim Cameron
· Ben Smith
· Jake Wilkinson
· Sam Wilkinson
Junior Purple Belt
· Maysell Downey
Junior Brown Belt
· Theresa Smith
Junior Brown 2-Stripes
· Jelena Downey
Junior Black Belt
· Sarinah Archer
9th Kyu Red Belt
· Thomas Hunt
· Ihaka August
· Atchara Chumsombat
· Raj Ralm
8th Kyu Yellow Belt
· Chris Steele
· Domenic Young
· Lee Liu
Well done all – the standards were very good.
Those that missed out on a grading last term; practise hard and we will try to ensure that you are ready next term.
Also, congratulations to the winners of last term’s kid’s kata competition:
Yellow Belt and Below
Gold Medal – Sean Georgeson
Silver Medal – Gareth Martin
Bronze Medal – Jared Kelman
Orange Belt and Above
Gold Medal – Jelena Downey
Silver Medal – Theresa Smith
Bronze Medal – Sam Wilkinson
Just a reminder, if you want to buy uniforms or equipment, we suggest that you do so using a Hamilton based retailer at www.bushido.co.nz – (the contact phone number and address can be found on our website www.bugeikan.com) you can go along there and try uniforms on for size – something that we highly recommend.
The dates for next term are as follows:
Wednesday 19th July – Wednesday 20th September. (We don’t train on statutory holidays).
Anybody, brown belt and above, who is interested and willing to commit to instructing next term – we will have an instructor’s meeting on Monday 17th July at 6:30 PM – please attend!
When paying term fees, please make out your cheques to either Helena or I, or cash – thanks!
Cheers and see you soon!
Guss & Helena Wilkinson