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THE ASHIHARA SHINBUN
(shinbun means newspaper in Japanese)
SINCE 2003
No.4 FEBRUARY 2005
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WELL DONE SEMPAI LEANNE & TIM
Sempai Leanne & Tim were given the hard task of controlling & running the Dec 04 senior grading as part of their 2nd Dan grading which will be held in June 05. They had to demonstrate if they had what it takes to be an Ashihara instructor, which is expected when a student becomes a 2nd Dan. As I have said before, 1st Dan black belt is not the end of the journey, it’s just the start. Sempai Leanne & Tim showed us what osu is all about by doing a great job. Congratulations from every one at Geelong Ashihara.
DECEMBER 04 SENIOR GRADING
I have to say that this is one of the best senior karate classes I have ever been involved with in my 20 years doing Ashihara Karate. Not that the class is big, its because the quality of the class is exceptional, I can see more black belts coming out of this class then I have ever seen before. This is the best buzz a Sensei can get (karate wise), to get one black belt out of a 1000 is great, but the possibility of getting maybe a half a dozen out of one class is unreal. These students worked like machines, they don’t give up. This was very evident in this grading. Sempai Leanne & Tim pushed these students hard and they never looked like giving up. Luke Bryant was going for the highest belt in this grading, he was taken to the limit, but it was easy to see that he loved the challenge. Well done Luke & well done to all the students that took part in the senior grading.
DECEMBER 04 JUNIOR GRADING
The magic is right here, the expectations dreams & excitement of getting to the next belt or stripe is the best thing when it comes to the junior gradings. I bet the kids surprised all of the parents when they showed you what they can do, I think the kids liked being put to the test to show what they can achieve. It was great to see the kids broaden their attention span & focus for near on 2 hours. I was so very proud of them, & I bet all of the parents were feeling the same. Jordan Carroll and Bradley Cousins done a great job when they took on 4 senior students coming at them from 2 sides simultaneously, this was the first time these students had ever done this, I have to tell the truth, it just about brought a tear to my eye. Well done Jordan & Bradley & well done to all the junior students that took part in the grading.
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December 04 grading results
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Juniors
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Seniors
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Jordan Carroll 2nd yellow
Brad Cousins yellow
Daniel Stirling 2nd Blue
Rachel Vollebregt 2nd blue
Jessi Vollebregt 2nd blue
Leisha Vollebregt 2nd blue
Achyuta Ellis 2nd red
Erin Cleary red
Jack Heywood Day red
Carly Barnett 2nd orange
Alex Krajnc 2nd orange
Taylor Matthews 2nd orange
Junior Matthews 2nd orange
Mykie O’Connor Castree 2nd orange
Alexandria Mckerlie orange
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Luke Bryant yellow
Chris Bradford yellow
Nathan Read 2nd blue
Robert Ilsley 2nd blue
Ross Hill 2nd blue
Ben Bliss 2nd blue
Blake Tonkin 2nd blue
Luke Van Kruijsbergen 2nd blue
Dave Tonkin blue
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ATTENDANCE AWARDS
100% Attendance
Bradley Cousins
Taylor Mathews
Laird Johnstone
Dylan Kayler Thomson
Nathan Read
2nd Best Attendance, Just under 100%
Rachel Vollebregt
Jack Heywood-Day
To all these students congratulations & thank you very much for all your support.
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SENIOR KATA COMPETITION RESULTS
This competition was ran with a handicap format, so that all the belt levels could compete equally. All competitors were required to do Shoshin kata ichi with & without a partner. All competitors put on a great display of kata skills. Scoring was very close.
The eventual winners were.
1st Chris Bradford
2nd Laird Johnstone
3rd Dylan Kayler Thomson
Congratulations guys on a great effort.
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Just a reminder to all the parents of the junior students. Each month students can try for a merit badge, this has proven to have been very successful & has enticed students to learn & memorise their Karate basics.
For this to be ongoing I need the $3.00 payment for each badge so that I can keep buying new badges from the USA. Your ongoing support with this is very much appreciated.
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JUNE 2005 GRADING
The next grading is shaping up to be the best grading ever, with Laird & Dylan going for their 1st Dan black belts & Sempai Leanne & Tim going for their 2nd Dan black belts. I hope parents & juniors can come & watch these students try for their Dan grades. Remember to bring a pillow to sit on, because its going to be a long one. This grading will be advertised so that the public can come & watch. Most of what Ashihara has to offer will be on display. It will be great to see Laird & Dylan finally get the chance to try for their black belts. These two students started in the junior class (yes I remember when they were shorter then me) now they are strong young men, it will be an added bonus for them to be able to grade along side Sempai Leanne & Tim. Date to be announced.
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How is this for great stretch. I am never going to complain about having sore muscles or being to old to do the splits again. It is hard to believe but this lady is 96 years old. This proves that you are never to old to be flexible. So all you students that are finding it hard to get that leg up, think of this old lady for inspiration.
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FIND THE WORDS
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ASHIHARA
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MAWATE
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NI
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SOSHIN
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HIJI
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UKE
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KATA
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KARATE
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YOKO
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JODAN
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DOJO
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I would like to announce the Engagement of Sempai Leanne & her long time boyfriend Scott.
On behalf of Geelong Ashihara Karate I would like to congratulate them & wish them all the best for the future.
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Well it’s the start of a new year, I hope everyone had a good holiday & tried to fit a little bit of Karate practice in. I hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Year. Now its full steam ahead to get ready in 5 months for the next grading. We all need to start learning our new Kata & fix any mistakes we may have made in the last grading. If any one is having any trouble with a Kata or technique please feel free to ask myself or any of the other Sempai, we will gladly help you fix the problem.
You would have noticed in the news over the holidays that there was a lot of knife attacks in Geelong. In the seniors class we have for the past few years trained in knife defence, I think starting this year we will be putting a bit more time into defence against a knife attack & awareness. If you are going to enter into a knife fight you will get cut and you will bleed. Defending against a knife is a last resort, you have to do what you can to get out of it. If they want your money just give it to them, without your life you can’t spend it anyway. You have to be aware of the people around you & aware of your surroundings, things like escape routes or if there is something you can pick up & use to defend yourself with. If there is nothing you can do to stop the attack then you have to use knife defence. We do need to take this seriously.
Training is an ongoing thing, if you want to be able to defend yourself with Mushin (no mind or instinctively) you must train constantly. Doing a 6-week self-defence course then stopping will not give you the Mushin you need to save your life. To be sharp we must train & train & train. It must become your Do (your way, your path in life). If your training saves you only once in your life it was well worth it.
There are two kinds of people, those who do the work & those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition.
Osu.
Sensei Mark.
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