It’s been a big year for GKR Karate and we’d like to thank everyone who continues to make the club what it is today, students, families, instructors and management…everyone plays an integral role in the success of our amazing club.
The year started off strong and the last few months of 2024 has been no different with plenty of events, milestones and cause for celebration.
Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign
After a very successful Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign, we re-opened purple belt orders for the month of October in preparation for our second awareness month in February 2025. Thanks to everyone’s support we were able to donate $72,040 to RizeUp, $19,490 to Shine and £6,242 to Refuge. All Purple Belt orders placed in October will be mailed out mid-January 2025 in time for the next awareness month in February 2025.
National and State Champs
New Zealand and the United Kingdom recently held their National Championships with Australian State Championships also being held last month. It was a great way to wrap up what has been a big year on the tournament circuit. Congratulations to everyone who competed and thank you to the officials who ensured the tournaments ran smoothly. Now is a great time to speak with your instructor and start setting goals for 2025 and beyond!
Black Belt Camps
Black Belt Camps have wrapped up for the year with many higher grades enjoying a weekend of specialised karate training with GKR’s top instructors. These weekends are a valuable addition to regular weekly training and provide higher grades the opportunity to train with people they might not get the chance to otherwise. Keep an eye out next year for a Black Belt Camp near you.
Major Achievements
This year, GKR had the honour of assessing and progressing four longstanding and dedicated instructors to very special grade levels. Most recently, Bob McCracken from the United Kingdom and Mark Case from Australia were both graded to their 6th Dan and bestowed the title of Renshi Shihan by Kancho. They join Brett Vanderwiel and David Gugich, who were recognised in our September newsletter, as grading to 6th Dan and Renshi Shihan too. A very big congratulations to all of our Renshi’s on their outstanding achievement.
We also had a number of students grade to 4th Dan and 5th Dan recently. Click here to see GKR’s most recent Yondan’s and Godan’s. Congratulations to everyone on their new rank!
Christmas Message
By now, you will have received a Christmas email from Kancho- if you haven’t read this, please take the time to do so as it contains some noteworthy information. If you haven’t seen this email in your inbox, please check your spam folder or click here to read online. Best wishes to our GKR family for a Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.