Sobukan Dojo

Hi Sobuclan,

This month’s newsletter is a couple of days early as I have some important reminders:

• Paul Cale, head of Kudo Australia, will be visiting our dojo tomorrow (Monday March 27)
• Register for the grading by Wednesday March 29
• Register for the TJKN karate tournament by April 1
• No junior class on Wednesday April 5

Important dates

Paul Cale

I am very honoured to advise that Paul Cale Shibucho will visit Sobukan on Monday 27 for adults’ classes.

You will be aware that Paul Shibucho is the head of Kudo Australia, but you may not be aware of his military and martial art pedigree. Paul Shibucho is the only Australian to hold black belts in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Kyokushin Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido and Kudo. He is a former Commando and Counter Terrorism expert. He is a panel member of the IOC Combat Sports programme. He leads a number of organisations including Kinetic Fighting.

Needless to say – do not miss training Monday night! Come with an open mind and remember your etiquette – don’t forget to answer with ‘OSU!!’.

Grading

Please register for the grading by emailing chris@sobukan.com.au with the following details and paying the $25 fee by Wednesday March 29.

• Name:
• Belt size:
• Prospective grade:

Good luck!!

No junior class on Wednesday April 5

I will be in Canberra for a business trip from April 4 – 6 and therefore there will be no junior class on Wednesday April 5. Apologies for any inconvenience. Sobukan brown belts Pacey and Geoff will run adult classes as per normal.

Competitions

The TJKN karate tournament and the BJJ State Titles are both on April 8. Registrations for both close this weekend.

These are rare opportunities to compete in SA – support local martial arts and test yourself!

Fundraising

Please help out with a sausage sizzle at Woolworths Cumberland Park on April 23 to raise funds for dojo activities, support Sobukan members and recruit new members! We start sizzling at 11am, please arrive early to help set up.

AMAA training day

Thank you Tristan, Sam, Jacynta and Sei for accompanying me to the AMAA training day on March 19. This was only a great opportunity to promote Kudo and learn a little Krav Maga and Hapkido. I was very proud to hear a lot of discussion regarding the skill level of Sobukan students!

It still seems like we have just entered the new year, yet here comes Autumn. March is our preparation month for gradings and competitions – don’t miss a class!

Important dates

Grading

One month until our grading! Please find the syllabus attached, and take note of the additional resources in the appendix. Please take charge of your learning; come early and practice what you have learned. Ask me or your seniors to teach you any parts of your syllabus you are unfamiliar with.

Competitions

The TJKN karate tournament and the BJJ State Titles are both on April 8. A number of people, particularly kids, have indicated an interest in competing in the Kumite, Kata and Kata bunkai events at the Karate tournament. Please register now via the link above and let me know what events you are competing in – the more the better!

As I will attend the Karate tournament, we will need to nominate a team captain to support anyone competing in the BJJ State Titles. So far a couple of people have indicated an interest in competing, please confirm whether you will be competing ASAP!

Kudo

We have some big Kudo events on the horizon:

• Kudo QLD Titles are scheduled (TBC) for April 9
• Kudo SA Titles are being planned for June. I have started to arrange for two high ranking instructors to travel from Japan to officiate, hold a grading and teach a seminar. Mark this one in your calendar, and start training now, I want Sobukan to do well!!

Japan

If all that wasn’t enough, a team of Sobukan members will be accompanying me to Japan in the second half of July!

Some things on the menu:

• train at some of the best Kudo, Karate, Jujutsu and MMA dojo in Japan
• sing our hearts out at Karaoke
• eat bucket-loads of sushi and other culinary delights
• climb Mt Fuji
• visit Disneyland
• day trips to various locations in and around Tokyo
• attend fireworks festivals
• explore a castle
• see the Great Buddha
• reflect at shrines and temples

So far Pacey and Sam are in, and a couple of others are ‘maybes’. If you want to attend, speak to me or these guys ASAP to ensure you can share flights and accommodation. If you need more motivation, check this out.

We have a sausage sizzle at Woolworths Cumberland Park on April 23 to raise funds for dojo activities and equipment, including this trip.

It’s turning out to be a huge year already – get in on the gradings, competitions and trip to Japan!

Important dates

Grading

Less than two months remain until our grading! I have emailed the new syllabus, please take note of the additional resources in the appendix. Take charge of your learning; come early and practice what you have learned. Ask me or your seniors to teach you any parts of your syllabus you are unfamiliar with.

Competitions

The TJKN karate tournament and the BJJ State Titles are both on April 8. A number of people, particularly kids, have indicated an interest in competing in the Kumite, Kata and Kata bunkai events at the Karate tournament. Please register now via the link above and let me know what events you are competing in – the more the better! As I will attend the Karate tournament, we will need to nominate a team captain to support anyone competing in the BJJ State Titles. So far a couple of people have indicated an interest in competing, please confirm whether you will be competing ASAP!

Kudo

We have some big Kudo events on the horizon:

• The World Cup is in India from Feb 10 – 13.
• Kudo QLD Titles are scheduled (TBC) for April 9
• Kudo SA Titles are being planned for June. I have started to arrange for two high ranking instructors to travel from Japan to officiate, hold a grading and teach a seminar. Mark this one in your calendar, and start training now, I want Sobukan to do well!!

Japan

If all that wasn’t enough, a team of Sobukan members will be accompanying me to Japan in the second half of July!

Some things on the menu:

• train at some of the best Kudo, Karate, Jujutsu and MMA dojo in Japan
• sing our hearts out at Karaoke
• eat bucket-loads of sushi
• climb Mt Fuji
• visit Disneyland
• attend fireworks festivals
• explore a castle
• see the Great Buddha
• reflect at shrines and temples
• day trips to various locations in and arund Tokyo

So far Pacey, Sam and Zandy are in, and Daniel C might also be on board. If you want to attend, speak to me or these guys ASAP to ensure you can share flights and accommodation. If you need more motivation, check this out.

We have a sausage sizzle at Woolworths Cumberland Park on April 23 to raise funds for dojo activities and equipment, including this trip.

Calligraphy

Thank you to Umehara san for hosting his annual kakizome sessions at Sobukan in early January. Umehara brought all the calligraphy equipment and spent several hours teaching our members how to brush their goals in Japanese.

Happy New Year! I trust you have enjoyed a happy, healthy and safe holiday period. I look forward to seeing you at the dojo on Monday 9 January and working off a couple of Christmas kilos that I gained from munching my way through some very generous gifts from members.

Please don’t feel guilty if you have indulged a bit these past weeks; its what you do between New Years and Christmas that matters, not what you do between Christmas and New Years. Life is balance. I hope you have focussed on happiness and safety these past couple of weeks and have recharged yourself for a year of fighting fitness!

News Year’s Resolutions can be quickly forgotten, but goals are vital. For help developing goals, please visit last January’s newsletter. As always, I encourage you to talk to me, and others, about your goals. Not only can others support you, but the act of publicly announcing a goal builds accountability. Set your goal, plan for success, and execute with discipline.

Every year Umehara san hosts a kakizome session at Sobukan. Kakizome translates as ‘first writing’. Umehara san will help translate your goal, or theme for the year, and teach you how to brush the Japanese character at our first class on Monday 9 January.

I reflect upon my five-year vision for Sobukan and how we can start turning vision into reality. I am very proud of our system. In 2016 I spent many hours refining our syllabus to make better use of our time together, and to recalibrate from a prescriptive toward a more descriptive syllabus.

I encourage you to review the adjustments, which include:

• Focus on counters and combinations, to develop core skills
• Closer alignment between the junior and senior syllabus to assist smooth transition
• Formalisation of self defence

The best system in the world still needs quality people to make it work. Sobukan is no exception. Teamwork is essential to develop dojo leaders, to create further training opportunities, and establish Japanese exchange opportunities. Accordingly, I have selected kizuna (bond/relationship) as my theme for 2017.

I will create a new page on our website introducing some of our members, particularly the higher belts. I have asked James Pill to interview our students, starting with the brown belts. Your cooperation will be appreciated, but is not mandatory.

Important dates                                                                                                                                                                                   

December 3 is International Day of People with a Disability.

To mark this occasion, Sobukan is offering free training to anyone with a physical disability for the month of December.

We all have limitations. It is important to focus on what we can do, not on what we cannot.

I recently met with 2015 Senior South Australian of the Year and music legend John ‘Swanee‘ Swan, who enjoys teaching music to disabled children and recommended teaching them martial arts. I have taught adults with a disability in the past and wish to encourage anyone with a disability to consider whether they might be able to enrich their lives via martial arts.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss your special needs today.

Don’t miss your last chance to get fit before beach weather! We will keep training all the way up until (and including) Christmas Eve! Take the opportunity this festive season to get healthier and keep yourself safe.

Congratulations to Jyah on his blue belt and to Mei, Hayden and Conrad for earning yellow belts in November. Keep up the great work!

Bonenkai

Let’s celebrate the end of a great year in collaboration with the Judo club – I hope to see you there!

Where: Oaklands Reserve, The Parade, Oaklands Park
When: 11am Sunday 18 December
What to bring: Plate of food and drinks
Who: All Sobukan and Karate-bu members

Half price passes for new members!

To celebrate our 5^th anniversary, 10-visit casual cards will be available for $50 for prospective members until the end of the year! If you would like to encourage someone to join Sobukan, or are looking for a Christmas gift, please consider giving them a 10-visit pass!

Paper Crane Ball

Sobukan performed the opening act for the Paper Crane Ball at the Hilton in November. Our performance included Japanese drum and flute music and spectacular techniques from Jujutsu and Karate to symbolise the fight against cancer. Thank you very much to Umehara san and Takumi for the music, Geoff, Pacey, Daniel C and Daniel S for being the ‘bad guys’ and to Sei for helping me beat them up! Almost $90,000 was raised for the Childhood Cancer Association! More info here.

Bunkasai

Thank you also to all the children and parents involved in the Bunkasai (Cultural Festival) Karate demonstration at the Japanese Community School. Well done everyone!

Important dates                                                                                                                                                                                   

Tonight Sobukan did something special. We performed at the Paper Crane Ball at the Hilton to raise money for the Childhood Cancer Association, a very noble cause.

My son Sei, Dan Scibs, Daniel Carlesso, Geoff Tynan, Steven ‘Pacey’ Pace, Takumi Nishiyama, Umehara san and I performed a short martial art skit that symbolised a child’s successful battle against cancer.

I mediated on stage while Sei played with a paper crane to Umehara san’s flute music represented the innocence and tranquility of life before cancer.
Pacey, Geoff and the two Dan’s entrance to the beat of Takumi’s drum symbolised the emergence of cancer. I fought back against escalating violence, winning at first, then finally succumbing to the overwhelming nature of the disease.
Sei then demonstrated the power of a child’s will fighting against the odds, and defeated the attackers. We then returned to a life of peace and normality.

The 500-strong crowd enjoyed the performance, particularly some of the more spectacular techniques such as flying kicks and the hanuman knee, and reacted predictably to the groin strikes. The audience absolutely loved Sei’s takedowns, kicks, punches and wrist and arm locks – you can probably hear the cheers and applause in the video.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a cameraman so no pictures of the event, but I have a picture of the dinner.

We then went out for a feast at Himeji restaurant: Yamazaki whisky, ramen, karaage, sushi, yakitori, nasu dengaku, edamame and takoyaki. It was a miracle a dozen of us were able to get a table without a booking on a Friday night, but we squeezed in.

A huge thanks to:
– The organisers of the Paper Crane Ball for the opportunity to participate in this event
– JAFA President Mike Dunphy for suggesting Sobukan martial arts 総武館　for this event
– Everyone who helped out tonight, including Gail Umehara and family members of all the performers for permitting them to be part of this
– Everyone else at Sobukan for their patience while we rehearsed for tonight

See you on the mats!

Half price passes for new members!

To celebrate our 5^th anniversary, 10 class casual cards will be available for $50 for prospective members until the end of the year! If you would like to encourage someone to join Sobukan, or are looking for a Christmas gift, please consider giving them a 10 class pass!

Paper Crane Ball

Sobukan will open the fully-booked Paper Crane Ball in November to raise money for the Childhood Cancer Association. Our performance will include Japanese drum and flute music and spectacular techniques from Jujutsu and Karate to symbolise the fight against cancer.

https://www.facebook.com/thepapercraneball/

Bonenkai

We are quickly approaching the end of the year. We usually have a picnic at Himeji Gardens to celebrate. What would you like to do this year?

Kudo Competitions

Want to be a World Champion? What about winning the Nationals?
Kudo yellow belts and above can apply for Australian team selection for the World Cup. If you are interested in competing in the Kudo World Cup in India in February, or at the Arnold Classic in Melbourne in March, it is time to start preparing! Let me know ASAP so we can establish your training schedule and work out a game that suits your fighting style.

Important dates                                                                                                                                                                                   

Before class tonight I asked some of the students why they weren’t practicing. They answered that they were waiting for class to begin.

During mokuso I asked my students to reflect upon how similar ‘waiting’ is to ‘wasting’.

Time is our most precious resource. It cannot be bought, nor replaced. When your time is up, it is up. Our time is limited and should be our most valued commodity. I can’t bear to think of you wasting your time, or mine. We should invest our time for maximum return.

Most Sobukids train twice a week. Many adults train more. Investing 10 minutes before class in additional practice will reap you in excess of 1000 minutes of practice over the course of a year. That is the equivalent of two months worth of lessons!!

In Japan they say 一期一会 (one time, one opportunity)

In Rome they said Carpe Diem (seize the day).

Gen Y say YOLO.

In any language, use every moment wisely and seize every opportunity to live your life to its fullest.

Never wait.

Never waste.

Never regret.