We are also in the process of rejoining the Australian Karate Federation as National and State members.  The AKA has its own competition squad and its time we got serious about competing for the opportunity for our students to represent both their State and Country.

Our instructors are all being processed for Blue Cards, and have gained or are in the process of acquiring First Aid.CPR accreditation and as members of the AKF will regain Coaching and Refereeing accreditation.  Its all happening!

Regards,

Bob and Cheyne McMahon

6th Dan Koshinkan Karate

The tournament will be held on Sunday October 16 from 1pm.

More details to follow.

Cheyne McMahon

This will be the third tournament for Team AKA this year, but the first for a few of our members.

Click Here for more information on the next competition…

Best regards,

Cheyne McMahon

Australian Karate Academy

The enbu starts at 9am and will start with our Kindy Karate students, then move onto the Kids Karate, and finally the Adult Karate participants. There will also be some kata demonstrations from Team AKA!

Look forward to seeing you there at 9am!

Best regards,

Cheyne McMahon

Hello Bob & Cheyne,

I’m sending to you some photos we took at the 2011 NSW Open Karate Championship. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your help in training Khoa over the last two years and for your support at the competitions.

Bob and Cheyne, you are not only great martial artists; to us you are devoted and excellent teachers, experienced to coach kids and adults alike. You’re also great role models in martial art performance and have a great sporting spirit. Above all, you have provided a friendly, nurturing and enjoyable learning environment.

Thanks to this, Khoa – along with other students – has been able to earn, to improve and to achieve a great deal after two years of training.

After receiving the Gold Medal, one parent came and asked Khoa what club he has been training with. In a clear voice and I am sure also with great pride and gratitude, Khoa replied that he was from the AKA Coorparoo Dojo in Brisbane Queensland.

Thank you and big cheer to our Dojo!

Chuong Nguyen – Father of Khoa Nguyen, 13 yrs old, Brown Belt, two years training.

Geez it makes me feel like fantastic when we get this kind of feedback.
Best regards,

Cheyne McMahon
Senior Instructor
Australian Karate Academy
p: 0403 350 339
e: cheyne@aka.com.au
w: www.aka.com.au

Both Sensei Bob and I are very proud of everyone’s effort and attitude and especially the way our students conduct themselves. It is a real credit to my father, and what he has instilled in me and the club.

Team AKA (Brisbane Bulldogs) did pretty well for an inexperienced team, and walked away with 2 Gold, 3 Silver, and 3 Bronze. Below are the results from Team AKA -

Brendan Wallis – Silver – 10/11 years boys kumite (kyu)

Evie Lukin – Bronze – 10/11 years girls kumite (kyu)

Khoa Nguyen – Gold – 12/13 years boys kumite (kyu), Bronze 12/13 years boys kumite (open), Bronze 12/13 boys kata

Steve Walker – Gold – Over 70kg men kumite (kyu)

Sean Hannington – Silver Over 70kg men kumite

Karleen Hannington – Silver Over 60kg women kumite (open), Bronze Open Women Kumite, Bronze Open Women Kata

Kathrin Kohl – Bronze Over 60kg women kumite (open), Bronze Open Women Kumite

Cheyne McMahon - Bronze Open Men Kata

Below are some photo’s taken from Choung Nguyen (Khoa’s father).

Kids – 4.30pm – 5.30pm

Aduts 6.15pm – 7.30pm

We were planning on going down to the Stones Corner hotel for a bite to eat and listen to music, however Sensei Bob and his music program kicks off next week. So instead, we wil head to our usual Easts Leagues Club. The following month will be down at the Stones Corner hotel though.

Hope to see a big crowd today!

Also - QUEENSLANDER!!!!

By Mitani Kazuya (Translated by Joe Swift, edited by Bob McMahon)

I have written previously on Kihon for Kumite. If Kumite and Toride are the actual techniques, then kata is the Kihon. This is the theory of Karate practice as written in Itosu’s 10 lessons, i.e. to learn Kumite through Kata and to practice on the Makiwara. I also learned this way, but I was interested in how styles other than Karate did things as well.

Especially the competitive format as developed by the JKA.  As I watched this format, I believed that Karate could also be used in this arena, so I participated in the modern arena. I believed that 70-80% of Karate techniques could be used there. And, just as I thought, the athletes from my organization showed the power of Karate. I also have interest in other styles fighting techniques.

Leaving this alone for a while, I also hear that Karate is based on kata, or that it is a Budo passed on through kata. I have believed this way of thinking was a bit odd over the years. The different kinds of Te probably had this tendency, but the Te of Matsumura had to have been Kumite and Tuite. The concept of “being in time” that Matsumura passed on shows this. Karate uses Kumite and Tuite as its central practice as well, according to Itosu’s 10 precepts.

Hanashiro Chomo Sensei (Kinjo Sensei’s teacher) wrote his “Karate Kumite” in 1905, the year Karate was established, so Kumite existed right from the very beginning. Leaving Toride alone for a while, this means that Kumite was a central theme in Karate. Hanashiro Sensei was one of the originators of Karate, and he learned Matsumura’s Te, meaning that the same was true of Matsumura’s Te. Also, as we can see from the 10 Precepts, Tuite was also used in Karate.

Karate was practiced mainly solo, but it was not Kata practice. Even if you practice kata every day you will not improve at Karate. This is also generally misunderstood.

Itosu Sensei distinguished between Kumite and Toride, but I believe this distinction is comparatively recent. I believe that they were considered the same in the past. On the “Oshima Hikki,” Te is referred to as Kumiai-jutsu. The person who was responsible for bringing it to Ryukyu was Koshankin. Thinking on the existence of Kushanku Kata, then it must have been Koshankin who disseminated the Kumiai-jutsu on which this kata is based. This Kumiai-jutsu may have been dying out or lost by the time Matsumura came around (this is why Matsumura’s Te was created), but it was the first art transmitted.

This Kumiai-jutsu, as we can see from the kata, must have considered Kumite and Toride as the same thing. Looking at Motobu Sensei’s ”Watashi no Karate-jutsu” and “Okinawa Kenpo Karate-jutsu” (he says Karate but it is really Shuri-te), he shows many photos within grappling range, showing that Kumite and Tuite were not clearly distinguished. (Comparing these photos with the Kumite photos in later books, we can see that Motobu Sensei was actually good at what he was showing). Kinjo Sensei is the same in this regard: when facing him and exchanging blows, you are invariably grappled and tied up. Thus, Kumite and Toride are actually one in the same, but they were broken up for the purposes of analysis.