Almost 80 eager young karate enthusiasts converged on Fairhome College on Sunday 15/8/10  for the staging of the Winter Aussie Kids Karate Championships. Entering the competition for the first time was 3 year old Keenan Luker eager to follow in the footsteps of his big brother, Drey, who at 5 is now a veteran of the competition scene and his dad, Daniel, well known in  Aussie Kids Karate circles as Sensei Dan, the instructor at a number of A.K.K centres.

The action throughout the day was fast and furious- each competitor vieing for that elusive gold medal and all hoping to steer their Club to the title of Club Champions. The Highfields team, boosted by the nomination of a huge percentage of their membership, overcame a determined effort by the smaller in number but equal in heart Glenvale side to take out the Club Championship trophy.

As usual, the days events culminated in Star Wars, the team event made up of each Clubs top 6 players. 13 teams stood prepared to do battle at the commencement of the event but only Highfields and Dalby remained after the elimination rounds. The Highfields team represented  the perfect combination of size and experience and put down a very determined effort by Dalby to take out both major trophies for the very first time.

Three graduates of the Aussie Kids Karate Program were successul in achieving their Junior Black Belts at the Renbukan Karate Association grading which was held at the Gold Coast on the 12th June, 2010.  All three boys have been heavily involved in karate training for over 5 years - starting out at the age of 7 within the Aussie Kids Karate Program. Their dedication and commitment paid off at the Grading. The boys were tested on their knowledge of basics, kata and free sparring before a panel of senior black belts from within the Renbukan Karate system.

Also successful was David Webster from Warwick who tested for Shodan(Senior Black Belt). David is Assistant Instructor at the Warwick and Allora Aussie Kids Karate Classes and has been involved in the art for approximately 4 years. David's high level of physical fitness held him in good stead during the grading, particularly in the free sparring where he conceded a huge height and weight advantage to his Gold Coast opponents.

Almost 140 Karate enthuisiasts merged on Toowoomba on 16th May for the staging of the 2010 Darling Downs Karate Championships. The Competition is now in its 27th year and although the format has changed a little over the years the level of competition is still as demanding as ever.
 
The morning saw the staging of an Aussie Kids Karate competition where children in the 5 to 12 age bracket compete primarily in martial arts based games. The Games are all designed to develop the children in the skills that they will need in future for more serious tournaments. The Glenvale Club was the most successful on the day and received the perpetual trophy as the tournament Champions. The littlest members from East Junior enlisted the help of a couple of "heavies" from other Dojos to take out the Star Wars trophy for the very first time.
 
Sunday afternoon saw the staging of the more traditional Karate event. Toowoomba was represented by a formidable team who produced some outstanding results.
 
In Kata events, Aussie Kids Karate Instructor, Daniel Luker returned to the tournament scene after an extensive lay-off. He blitzed the Black Belt Division with a very impressive win. Not to be outdone, Samuel Taylor produced a similar result in the Boys Kata division while Lilly Grant also won the Ladies Kyu Grade event.
 
The Sparring Division were made up of both non-contact sparring and also the Koshiki contact events. Toowoomba again had some impressive results with Daniel Luker winning the Mens Lightweight  Division, Dylan Sheppard winning the Boys 8-9 years Division and Samuel Taylor proving too strong in the Boys 12-13 year old event.

Report on Aussie Kids Karate Championships 7/3/10
 
Over 60 local junior karate enthusiasts competed in the first Aussie Kids Karate Championships for 2010 which were held at the Mt Lofty High School Gymnasium on Sunday(7/3/10). The children were all aged between 5 and 12 years and came from as far afield at Gatton and Dalby to take on the best that Toowoomba had to offer. A particularly strong contingent of 16 athletes represented the Highfields Club. Highfields members earned  7 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 2 bronze medal resulting in them winning the title as the most successful club on the day. In the Star Wars event, the final saw the Glennie Gazelles matched against the Dalby Dragons. Glennie used the reach advantage of some of its members to clearly outclass Dalby to take the title for the first time.

Report on 2009 State Koshiki Karate Championships

Ten representatives of the Aussie Kids Karate program on the Darling Downs traveled to Brisbane on 25/10/09 to contest the 2009 Queensland Koshiki Karate Championships.  While Koshiki mainly emphasizes the use of head and body armour to allow contact blows to be delivered without the fear of serious injury, the style of competition was also extended to points sparring and Kata(Forms) competition as well.  The team returned to the Downs with a haul of 10 first place trophies, 8 seconds and 8 thirds.

Most impressive of the local athletes were 7 year old Luke Levitt of Highfields who was entering his first Open Competition. Luke demonstrated what a huge future he has in the sport  when he earned first place in both the Koshiki and  Points Sparring events as well as a respectable 2^nd place in the Kata event. Although Luke has been involved in Karate training for over three years, he has recently developed the Karate bug seriously and is now training up to four times per week to try to achieve his goals.

Another honorable mention also goes to 15 year old Alfred Hunt, also from Highfields who stepped up to the 16-17 year old Division to seek a higher level of competition. At times conceding up to 20 kg in weight, Alfred fought with great determination and courage to place 3rd in both the Points and Koshiki Sparring and Second in the Kata event.

Over 60 members competed in the Aussie Kids Karate Championships held at Toowoomba East State School on Sunday 16th August, 2009. The tournament was well supported by the local Toowoomba Clubs and athletes also came from Gatton, Dalby, Warwick, Allora, Cambooya and Stanthorpe. All events were very hotly contested with the eventual overall winning Club being the Highfields Dojo. Highfields is the oldest and largest of the Aussie Kids Karate Clubs on the Darling Downs but despite this, they  had not won the Title since 2004. Well done to Declan Woods,Lachlan Harry,Luke and Haydn Levitt,Abby and Dylan Sheppard, Thomas Cochrane,Jack Cartwright and Connor Jenkinson who formed the winning team.

The Star Wars event was also well fought. The final saw  Gatton matched against Allora. Allora students used their reach advantage to overcome the strong challenge from Gatton to take home the Star Wars perpetual trophy for the first time. The Star Wars event has,of late, been monopolised by Clubs trained by Wilf Sim and people are starting to wonder what is his secret.

It is time to get ready for the next Aussie Kids Karate Championships which will be held at East State School Hall in Arthur Street Toowoomba on Sunday 16th August 2009 commencing at       9 am.  The Warwick Club is the current champions in Star Wars and Dalby were overall the No 1  Club at the May tournament.  C'mon  Toowoomba, Gatton and Stanthorpe. It is time to make your presence felt on the tournament scene. An entry form is available on this web-site or from your instructor.