A good standard for the Autumn Grading with all students demonstrating a good level of understanding and technique to successfully pass. It is not that often that everyone who steps up to grade is successful so well done on the hard work you have been putting in.

For any students that would like some specific feedback and direction for their training going forward please contact Sensei Adam.

Well done to all those that successfully graded:

12th Kyu (Yellow)

Ryan Gale
Jean du Plessis
James Ngo
Kaylah Smith
Kellie Windle
Summer Windle

11th Kyu (Orange & White)

Stacey Cole  *Double Graded
Lucas Wu *Double Graded
Chevy De Labertauche
Jack Forde

10th Kyu (Orange Belt)

Devon Jaffers
Cooper Higgins

9th Kyu (Green & White Belt)

Charlotte Shaw
Dixon Garland
Sara El-Deeb
Mariam El-Deeb

8th Kyu (Green Belt)

Bridget Weeks

6th Kyu (Blue Belt)

Amelie Ollivier
Millie Dorley
Bailey Weeks

Well done to all those that attended the Summer Grading. It was great to see the improvement in everyone who stepped up. The most pleasing thing to see was the spirit and effort that everyone was putting in demonstrating that the understanding that you need to bring your best effort to successfully grade is being understood. This is a very important part of any test and is why we do a formal grading to allow our students to develop the skills to perform under pressure.

There were some very good performances with students demonstrating that they are understanding the key basics for their level and have been working hard to get them right. As always at a grading it provides an opportunity for instructors to identify overall areas that may need to be focused on and we will work on these in the regular classes.

As is often the case in gradings not everyone was successful at achieving their new rank this time. Whilst everyone did show great effort and spirit (which made the decision to not pass them very hard), some students showed that they need a little more time at their current rank to ensure the correct technique is ingrained to be able to be consistently performed well under pressure. Whilst failing a grading can obviously be a very disappointing experience for the student it is again a great opportunity to work on developing a strong fortitude and a never give up attitude. I can assure you that along the journey almost every student will fail a grading at some stage. So whilst not a great experience it is one that we all have been through and through hindsight understand that at that time it was the best thing for us to continue to develop our karate.

For any students that would like some specific feedback and direction for their training going forward please contact Sensei Adam.

Well done to all those that successfully graded:

12th Kyu (Yellow)

Charlie Johnson
Abby Moore
Te Maioho Maitai
Steve Moore
Aiden Spoto

11th Kyu (Orange & White)

Devon Jaffers *Double Graded
Cooper Higgins  *Double Graded
Tahlia Boyd
Yusuf El-Deeb
Sam Thompson
Keahn Capon
Tobias Kim
Max Chilman

10th Kyu (Orange Belt)

Charlotte Shaw
Amy Jaffers
Jason Jaffers
Logan Priest

9th Kyu (Green & White Belt)

Harrison De Byl
Merryn Jaffers
Dylan Preston
Levi Lenton
Johan Shajee

Congratulations to Senpai Anthony Horgan on successful grading to jun-shidoin (junior instructor) at the QLD Brown & Black Belt Camp held over the weekend. Senpai Anthony is the first Gold Coast student to achieve this level.

Senpai Anthony has been with Gold Coast Chito-Ryu Karate since 2005 being our first student when the dojo was the garage of Sensei Adam’s house. Since then he has been a regular part of the dojo and represented the dojo in tournaments at State, National and International levels.

It was very pleasing to see how well everyone who attended the Spring Grading was prepared which led to some very confident performances.  The key to success is hard work and taking responsibility for your own success and many of the students who stepped up had definitely done this.

A special mention to John Lenton who graded to 2nd kyu (Brown Belt). The 3rd to 1st kyu gradings are by invite only after proving your technique, attitude and understanding in regular classes. The test is conducted in the Friday brown and black belt class and encompass a test of spirit and technique. John certainly gave it everything and was very deserving of his 2nd kyu.

Well done to all those that succesfuly graded:

12th Kyu (Yellow)

Yusuf El-Deeb
Levi Kim
Chevy De Labertauche
Toby Kim
Max Chilman

11th Kyu (Orange & White)
Charlotte Shaw  *Double Graded
Belinda Mallinson  *Double Graded
Logan Priest   *Double Graded
James Bull

10th Kyu (Orange Belt)
Isabella Parkinson
Dylan Preston
Sara El-Deeb
Mariam El-Deeb

9th Kyu (Green & White Belt)
Bridget Weeks

8th Kyu (Green Belt)
Hunter Smith
Benjamin Weeks

7th Kyu (Blue & White Belt)
Bailey Weeks
Kieran Milloy

6th Kyu (Blue Belt)
Jessi Mann
Troy Lester
Leonard Lam

2nd Kyu (Brown Belt)
John Lenton

Well done to those that attended the Autumn Grading, it was great to see some real positive improvement among those that challenged with most people passing confidently.

For those that were not successful this time please continue too work hard on your basics, frequently refer to the grading requirements for your level and ask for help and advice to ensure you can be ready for the next grading. Sensei Adam will be able to provide you specific direction if you ask.

Our next Junior & Senior grading is the winter grading. Almost everyone should be setting this as a target date to challenge for your next belt so start to fine tune your training towards being ready for this grading.

Congratulations on achieving your new belt:

• Ewan Hurtley – 12 Kyu (Yellow)
  Merryn Jaffers – 11 Kyu (Orange & White)
  Bridget Weeks  – 10 Kyu (Orange)
  Bailey Weeks – 9 Kyu (Green & White)
  Ken Wu – 9 Kyu (Green & White)
  Shone Denny –  – 9 Kyu (Green & White)
  Benjamin Weeks – 9 Kyu (Green & White)
  Jessi Mann – 7 Kyu (Blue & White)