GKR Karate Unveils New Club Badge

gkr karate badge The premier event on the GKR Karate calendar is the GKR Karate World Cup. At this years event, held in Milton Keynes, Kancho Robert Sullivan alongside some of the top GKR instructors from around the world, unveiled the newly designed GKR Karate club badge. This marks the first upgrade to the badge in the club’s 35 year history.

Genesis of GKR Karate’s new club badge

Preliminary conversations about designing a new GKR Karate club badge began in around June 2018. These initial discussions obviously included obtaining Kancho Sullivan’s thoughts on the idea, given that he is our club’s founder and chief designer of the foundational badge that has been the defining symbol of Go-Kan-Ryu Karate since 1984. Kancho indicated he was in favour of the badge upgrade, and so began the task of creating a wide array of possible options.

Our first goal was to establish a basic checklist of features that the new design would need to have. These included:

The words ‘Go-Kan-Ryu Karate-Do’ must be present
A brighter colour mix
The maintenance of a traditional feel including the prominent use of kanji
Something that carried a strong look overall
The words ‘GKR Karate’ also being present (this was not written on our old badge)**

** The inclusion of the words GKR KARATE was paramount in this new design as many people outside of our club fail to connect that ‘GKR’ is in fact an acronym for ‘Go- Kan-Ryu’. Since most people know us these days as GKR Karate, we felt it was imperative to include this in the new model.

Our in-house Graphic Designer and Regional Instructor for Newcastle in NSW, Francis Fenlon, was assigned the responsibility of coming up with a host of new options. Feedback was sought from our senior instructor ranks in the UK, Australia and New Zealand over a 6 month period as we attempted to boil down an initial catalogue of 60+ designs into a short list of ‘finalists’. Fittingly, it was Kancho himself who gave the conclusive nod to the design that was unveiled at the 2019 World Cup.

Whilst we will always consider our foundational karate badge to be a very special part of GKR’s history, we hope that you think highly of our new design and appreciate the motivations behind its creation. Changing our club badge is indeed a big deal, and we couldn’t think of a better occasion than our most prestigious event to announce its arrival.

The new badge will be available through your Branch Instructor from Monday 1^st July 2019. Whilst the old badge can still be worn on uniforms for the time being, we will be offering a substantial discount on the new badges for the first few months (up to September 29^th). Please speak with your instructor for more details.

Shihan Gavin Samin

Assistant Chief Instructor

GKR Karate

Why GKR Karate?

GKR creates the right environment for our members to train in. Although we promote self defence and fitness, our style also fosters positive values, confidence, discipline, focus and well being. GKR teaches you not only how to punch and kick, it teaches you to be a better person.

We encourage students of all ages, from all walks of life to join our club and be part of the supportive ‘family’ that is GKR Karate.

Self Defence

Synonymous with martial arts, self defence and inner self confidence are one of the key takeaways from regular training. From the age of 5 GKR teaches basic self defence and extraction moves, continuing right through to our senior grades.
Weight Loss

Karate is a great way to lose or maintain a healthy weight, with most classes consisting of aerobic, stretching and toning activities. For those who may not have exercised in some time, GKR provides a supportive environment where students can train at their own pace and physical ability. Our classes are a mixture of men, women and children of all ages.
Focus

Many parents are keen to see their children develop greater focus and discipline through their martial arts training, and GKR’s classes provide the perfect environment. Instructors teach in a respectful and supportive atmosphere through karate inspired games, activities and drills.

Family

GKR promotes a family environment, encouraging kids, parents and relatives to all train in the same class. Staying a few karate grades behind your children, will encourage them to continue a regular training program.
Respect

As a traditional Japanese martial arts, karate promotes respect to our instructors, our club, each other and most importantly ourselves. This is a key part of your learnings as a student of GKR karate.
Friendships

Although karate is considered a solo sport, it is still the foundation for many life long friendships. Classes include games and partner work where children and adults alike take the opportunity to learn about and bond with their fellow class mates.

Have a question or require further information? Contact us today.

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GKR Karate Unveils New Club Badge

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