Sobukan Dojo

 Important dates

Karate-bu

From 31 October, karate-bu times changed, now from 1pm until 1:50pm. Due to my Judo black belt grading, there will be no karate-bu class on Saturday November 21.

１０月３１日から空手部の練習時間を１時から１時５０分までと変更させていただきました。柔道の昇段審査のため、１１月２１日は休ませていただきます。

Grading tests

Only one month until grading tests! Good luck with your preparation. I am very pleased to take requests for lessons to help you prepare. Kids kata, and much of the adult’s syllabus is also available on video, please bring a USB to the dojo for copies. Grading tests are $25, to be paid in advance of your test.

Dojo contributions

As our dojo grows, so does the need for people to step up and assist with various aspects of instruction and administration. I am thinking about forming a dojo committee to formalise such contributions. I have been keen to arrange a ‘gasshuku’ or camping trip for a while, but need help. I would like to appoint individuals to be responsible for a number of roles. If interested any a leadership role in any of the following areas, please let me know.

• Social and training events
• Japanese culture and language lessons
• Filming and editing syllabus, drills and also promoting the dojo on social media
• Research and instruction in the fields of:
  • Striking
  • Throwing
  • Grappling
  • Jujutsu
  • Koryu Uchinadi drills
  • Self defence
  • Kudo competition

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Many members already make great contributions. This list is by no means exhaustive, but I would like to thank a few individuals, in no specific order:

• Steven Pace – for general leadership and assistance with all events and classes, even teaching recently while injured
• Geoff Tynan – for leadership in jujutsu classes, kata classes and helping out new students during and after classes
• Daniel Headland – for his commitment to assisting with my judo grading (and associated preparation) and developing throw drills with Kynan
• Kynan Schroeter – likewise, for developing throw drills, and stepping up to assist while Pacey has been unavailable
• Jason Gleeson – for assisting in instructing kid’s classes
• Justin Tronerud – for providing some great resources recently (I hope to make these available soon)
• Sean Walker – for introducing many potential students, including Jim and Sean Colyer
• Raghu Anbalagan – for never missing a demonstration and being SA’s pioneer in Kudo competition
• Umehara san – for always making himself available for demonstrations despite a very busy schedule and being a club inspiration
• And wow, there are so many more – don’t even let me get started on the kids and families!

AsiaFest

Thank you to everyone who competed, volunteered, photographed, officiated, loaned equipment or otherwise assisted with AsiaFest. Thanks to everyone’s substantial contributions, the Sobukids Challenge, Kudo Nationals and various demonstrations went off without a hitch.

Sobukids Challenge

I was very proud of the way everyone competed in the Sobukids challenge, particularly in the kumite event. Everyone fought hard, but carefully and safely.

Kudo National Championship

I was hoping to have a full list for you, but here are the Sobukan Kudo results – to the best of my recollection! My apologies in advance for any errors or omissions! Congratulations everyone on demonstrating great attitudes, skill and fighting spirit.

Gold medal winners:

• Daniel Scibilia
• Doug Harrison

Silver medal winners:

• Steven Pace
• Daniel Carlesso
• Jo Purvis
• Tristan Walker

Bronze medal winners:

• Jim Burger
• Takumi Nishiyama
• Raghu Anbalagan
• Tayla Jeffries

Kudo preparation weekly schedule

Please find a rough schedule below to assist competitors in preparing for the 2016 Kudo Nationals in March.

In order to peak in March, this is what our training schedule will focus on:

November & December

• Strength and conditioning
• Basic techniques and tactics
• Eliminating individual weaknesses

January & February

• Cardio
• Combinations & counters
• Sparring

March

• Cardio
• Your ‘game’
• Weight control

Well, AsiaFest and the Kudo Nationals are over – thank you to everyone who was involved: competitors, demonstrators, volunteers, families, officials, spectators and all who loaned equipment.

The tournament taught us a great deal about our strengths and weaknesses, plus we have two new (padded) Kudo National champions – Doug and Daniel S! Congratulations to all competitors, everyone fought hard and made me proud. Full results should be available soon.

Now we are back to regular classes, with revised goals:

1. 2016 Kudo Nationals at the Arnold Classic in March (yes, Arnie will be there!). It looks like we will have a big team travelling to Melbourne for this tournament, with around 15 fighters indicating they will compete. Currently fighters should be focusing on conditioning for stamina, strength and power, eliminating their weaknesses, and solidifying their foundation skills.
2. Grading in about 6 weeks. We have a large number of students close to their next grades, and kata classes will be planned to help you succeed.
3. Self Defence. This is a reminder that we are a self-defence based martial art dojo. Combat sports have an important role in preparing us for personal protection, but our primary goal is to help you become healthier, happier and safer.

Take the content of last night’s classes for example…

Kids

• Self defence stages
• Verbal diffusion
• Environmental awareness
• Effective use ‘spectators’
• Practical escape
• Pre-emptive strikes
• Contingency planning

 Kata – many elements similar to the kids class:

• Self defence stages
• Verbal diffusion and decision making
• 4Ds: dialogue, deception, distraction, destruction
• Environmental awareness
• Pre-emptive strikes
• Multiple attacker drills – pads, sparring, stand up etc
• Low light and high noise scenario drills
• Third party protection drills
• Contingency planning and visualisation

 Kumite

• Elastic band punching and throwing drills
• Focus mitt punching and countering
• Thai pad and kick shield intensive kicking drills
• Kata guruma (fireman’s carry throw)
• Triangle choke and simple defence
• Conditioning: 60 x push ups, crunches, squat jumps
• Stretching

Oh, and welcome aboard to Samuel, Lucas, Kylie and Rick!

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The Kudo Nationals are on Saturday – so no regular classes! The weigh in is at 11am – don’t be late!!

Sobukan demonstrations are on the 4^th, 10^th and 11^th of October.

Please meet at the martial arts stage in the Japan section of AsiaFest before the start times listed below. If you are unable to collect your tickets before participation, I can leave your ticket/name at the Bartell Street entrance/box office. Tickets are available for the entire festival, so please don’t lose them!

For those competing in Kumite or Kudo, please ensure that you have your own mouth guard and groin guard. If you have your own NHG mask, gloves and shin pads, please also bring them, although some of the latter will be available at the event.

Good luck to all competitors and participants and a big thank you to all those who have donated time, vehicles, mats, equipment etc.

We might all be too tired on Sunday night, but it might be nice to go out for a meal and a few drinks after we have transported the mats and other equipment back to my place. Lets play that by ear…

http://www.asiafest.com.au

Important dates

Please note that there will be no classes on Saturday October 3 due to the Kudo Nationals at AsiaFest. There will be a jujutsu class on Saturday October 11, but no Kumite class due to the AsiaFest demonstrations.

Just another fun night of dynamic martial arts!

Sobukids learned how to generate power in punches, kicks and takedowns in a 3-person drill. They polished their kata and finished with some kumite.  Great discipline and technique kids!

The kata class was split into two, with one group working throws and the other learning the finer points of kicking.

Kumite class lived up to its name – lots of Kudo sparring interspersed with thai pad drills for fitness! We have some very talented and experienced martial artists on the mats!

Afterwards a few of us stayed back to refresh our demonstration material – a little comedy skit with plenty of locks, kicks and throws – with some knife and gun defence thrown in for good measure!

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This Saturday we will conduct our regular classes at Himeji Gardens, the Japanese gardens on South Road in the city, as the dojo is currently being renovated. Please wear your gi and bring your regular training gear, including sparring equipment.

Where: AsiaFest Japan Section, Rymill Park, Adelaide parklands
When: Saturday 3 October. Weigh in 11am. Rule lecture 11:30am. Fights start 12 noon.
Who: Anyone can participate, particularly those with a background in judo, karate, BJJ, kickboxing and/or Muay Thai.

Join the Facebook event below and register before 27 September.
https://www.facebook.com/events/836447493086278/

This competition is open to all ages over 8 years of age, and I encourage Sobukan students of 16 years or older to get involved.

SA currently has opportunities for single-facet martial arts, such as karate, judo, BJJ, kickboxing etc. We also have local UFC-style MMA competition. Kudo bridges the gap between these extremes. Kudo competition is dynamic and exciting, allowing punches, kicks, knees, elbows, headbutts, throws, sweeps, takedowns, submissions and limited strikes on the ground without the risk of injury associated with boxing and MMA. The rules and safety equipment reduce the risk of injury, enabling martial artists to become complete fighters while avoiding injury. The rules are also inclusive enough to allow pure strikers or pure grapplers to test their mettle in an a mixed martial art environment.