Okinawan karate master
coming to Canberra
Okinawan Goju-ryu karate
master Yoshio Kuba Sensei,
10th Dan, will visit Australia
for the first time in late
September to hold seminars in
Canberra, ACT.
Kuba Sensei’s mission
will be to impart a deeper
understanding of the
movements in Goju-ryu kata
and their applications, but
a solid knowledge of karate
basics will be required to
participate. The seminars will
be open to practitioners ofall styles ranked Brown-belt
and above.
Director of the Goju-
Ryu Karate Kenpo Kenbu
Kan, Kuba Sensei has been
studying his homeland’s
indigenous fighting arts
since he began training as
a 15-year-old in Okinawa’s
Shorei Kan dojo under
Seikichi Toguchi, a student of
Goju funder Chojun Miyagi.
He is also a professional
acupuncture therapist in
Okinawa City.Karate fighters battle
in Bendigo
More than 200 competitors
did battle at the annual
Victorian Kyokushin Karate
Championships, which was held
for the first time in Bendigo,
Central Victoria, on 2 April.
Held at the Bendigo Events
and Exhibition Centre, the
tournament featured traditional
Kyokushin ‘knockdown’ full-
contact fights (no gloves, but
no punching to the head) as
well as kata and continuous
non-contact sparring divisions.
Attracting a diverse range of
competitors and styles, the
event was held under the
auspices of three major full-
contact karate organisations
— Shinkyokushin under
Shihan Peter Volke, Melbourne
Kyokushin Karate under
Shihan George Kolovos, and
Kyokushinkaikan, directed
by Shihan Steve Hardy and
Shihan Barry Johnston — with
assistance from local instructor
Sempai Tamara Thomson. The
Bendigo community also got
behind it, with strong support
from the City of Greater
Bendigo and Mayor Cr Margaret
O’Rourke, along with sponsors
Bendigo Bank and Barry
Plant Bendigo.
The morning session
consisted of continuous non-
contact and kata competition,
from which a standout was
Loong Fu Pai (freestyle) stylist
Emma Tui Whatarau, whose
excellent technique won her
the Open Kata title against
strong competition.
In the afternoon, the
standout full-contact fights
included a very strong Female
Open Middleweight final thatsaw Lisa West take a heard-
earned victory over Camilla
Barker, while the Female Open
Heavyweight final saw Bree
Ward and Rebecca Weller fight
hammer-and-tongs for the
duration of their spirited bout,
with Ward taking the win.
In the Open Male
Lightweight final, Andrew
Hume-Laver was victorious
in a hard-fought match with
John Bougias, while the Open
Middleweight finalists put on
a very technical fight before
international representative
Mathew Ah Chow won by
wazari (half-point for a stunning
blow) over a very game and
much-improved Zac Mawson.
The last fight saw strong
kickboxer Masoud Kashami
come out with all guns blazing
against Alexander Kocic,
landing hard body punches
and thigh kicks to good effect,
when suddenly Kocic (another
international representative)
connected with a fight-stopping
round kick to the head, scoring
an ippon (full-point victory) and
the title.
During the event, a special
presentation was made to
recognise two of Australia’s
Kyokushin pioneers, Hanshi
Ivan Zavetchanos and Hanshi
Eddie Emin. Zavetchanos, 9th
Dan judo, trained at Kodokan
Judo headquarters in Japan
with Kyokushin founder Sosai
Mas Oyama and, in the 1960s,
he brought Shigeo Kato to
Australia to promote Kyokushin.
Emin, 9th Dan, is a pioneer with
more than 50 years’ experience
and taught many of today’s
Kyokushin instructors.IMAGINE PICTURESAikido luminary in town
Sydney’s Aikido Yoshinkai
NSW (AYNSW) and Aikido
Shudokan in Melbourne again
hosted Japan’s Kyoichi Inoue
Hanshi, 10th Dan, in late
April. The joint seminars were
attended by local, interstate
and overseas aikidoka keen to
learn from the living legend
and former kancho (director)
of the Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo
in Tokyo.
Accompanied on this trip
by his wife, Aiko Inoue Shihan,
Inoue Hanshi imparted words
of wisdom from his many
years studying and teaching
Yoshinkan aikido. Students
were also lucky to see him
demonstrate his subtle and
effective nuki waza technique
of absorbing and neutralising
opponents’ power, before
being given the opportunity to
try it themselves.
One of the first direct
students and uchi deshi (live-in
disciples) of Yoshinkan founderGozo Shioda, Inoue Hanshi
co-developed the Yoshinkan
techniques and basic kata
that form the foundation of
the syllabus used around the
world today. Inoue Hanshi was
also the head aikido instructor
for the Tokyo Metropolitan
Police for over 25 years and
then became the head of
Yoshinkan Honbu.
This was Inoue Hanshi’s
second visit to AYNSW, run by
chief instructor Darren Friend
Sensei and Senior Instructor
Peggy Woo Sensei, who both
learned directly from Inoue
Hanshi during their many years
at Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo.
“Both seminars were a great
success, with students learning
invaluable skills and principles
of aikido, relevant to not only
within the dojo, but also in life,”
said Woo Sensei. “Thank you,
Inoue Hanshi, for all your years
of dedication to the art and
your pearls of wisdom.”Inoue Hanshi
teaching at
AYNSW12 ƫđƫ333ċ (%06) #ċ*!0 | (^) BLITZ & PIECES