Term 3 ASKL was huge! Hosted by Evolution Martial Arts... both the workshop and competition were held at Pennant Hills High School. With over 100 attendees at the workshop and nearly 200 competitors at the competition there was no shortage of action on the mats!
For the Saturday Workshop a guest instructor from South Australia visited to share his kumite knowledge with us - thank you Adam Pearce for your time and efforts to teach at the ASKL. Adam is a long-time friend of Ray and Michael's. Adam lived and trained karate in Kochi, Japan for 3 years and is the person who first introduced us to Oishi Sensei at Meitoku-Gijuku High School back in 2008. We have created an ongoing relationship with the school in Japan and visited with our students in 2010 and 2016. Adam's kumite sessions at the ASKL Workshop this weekend were action-packed and informative. The students loved it and we hope to see you back again soon. We unfortunately missed the expertese of Luke Byrne from Victoria this time due to illness. Luke is a very popular instructor and we will certainly have him back again in the future.
Well done to all competitors at Sunday's All Star Karate League Competition. Thank you to parents and families for their support and to our referees, table officials and marshalls. Your efforts and knowledge are very much appreciated. Congratulations in particular to those who had their first competition. Our 4 and 5 year old competitors are always a delight to watch and this event was no exception to that rule. All you need is the courage to start & those children are now all well on their way of a life-long martial arts journey (we hope)! The athletic development/agility course was made look easy by some competitors who sped through in under 30 seconds! The weekend best time was a blistering 28.18sec. The overall standard of athletic ability is certainly improved since the addition of a specific agility program. Thank you for your support in this new endeavour - we are already seeing the cross-over into kumite as evident on the weekend. The kumite events were exciting and the sportmanship was outstanding. Go ahead and watch the highlights clip below to see what we mean [picture shocked and excited face here]. The beginner students were terrific in their approach to the day and their courage to jump in and try. Everyones experiences are accumulative. Learn from each event and find something to work on for the next - over time the improvements will be great. Please don't focus on winning or losing, but rather personal performances. Use each event as an opportunity to grow and learn - it is a long term plan and long journey toward black belt and beyond. Our more seasoned competitors - right up to some 17 year old students - put on quite an exhibition of skill, speed and strength. Congratualtions to everyone for their personal efforts and achievements. The ASKL motto is 'Challenge Yourself' - congratulations everyone on achieving just that!
The introduction of the ASKL Workshops has been a great success. The focus of the weekend as a whole is on developing young students and young people. By combining the workshop and competition we provide an environment that teaches our students about training, performance, preparation, pressure, nerves, competition and perseverence. It is a wonderful moment when students can be heard encouraging each other and congratulating others on their perfomances in the workshop and competition- from both Evolution Martial Arts and Ettingshausens.
Term 4 ASKL Workshop and Competition is hosted by Ettingshausens and will run on the weekend of November 11/12 2017. Don't miss it. Highly recommended.
Pics by Michael Ettingshausens www.madpix.com.au
