During the recent shut down of many sporting facilities such as clubs, gyms and dojos, a lot of instructors decided that they would do everything in their power to continue their love of teaching and promote their sport. This they did by going online.
One such a man is Sensei (teacher) Rick Hislop Black Belt 5th Dan Head Instructor at the Sunshine Coast Martial Arts. This club which is now affiliated through the International body known as the World Shotokan Karate Federation, is under the control of the Chief Instructor Bryan Dukas.
Happy to say that this endeavour has been very successful: working in conjunction with Chief Instructor Dukas they have succeeded in keeping their pupils motivated. However, the highlight has been the fact that, not only has the response been from locals’ students, but also from overseas: students who over time have become aware of the high standard of training at the Sunshine Coast club. “We have had the pleasure of training people from South Africa, Germany, Japan and New Zealand. Both Bryan and I have also been training on line with our senior instructors in Japan,” said Rick.
For Rick it has been a very interesting experience. The response has been good and the students are still keen. “Also,” he adds with a laugh, “it has its funny moments. I don’t know how many times our training sessions have been interrupted by the family dog, running into the room, on screen waging his tail and jumping all over his master. However, with things the way they are, this creates a bit of fun and this helps keep the students happy.”
Rick who is a Brisbane boy hails from Sunnybank. He obtained his education at Sunnybank State High School and on graduating entered the work force as a carpenter and joiner.(shop fitting). Now aged 55 years young Rick could not be happier; he is happily married with wife Aggie and son Dylan, also a black belt in karate.
“I started in Karate at the age of 17, but after a while drifted away from the sport. I moved around a bit and settled for a while in Mt Isa till finally arriving in Noosa in 1993 with my wife and son Dylan. Then two years later along with my son, I moved back into karate and trained in the surf club at Noosa under sensei Steve Kelly for a total of three years: some of the training was tough ,lots of sand running and running the stairs.”
Following this, Rick joined the Karate Budokan International and along with his son, trained under sensei Wayne McDonald. Then during 2000, with his son by his side, both qualified for their black belts; indeed, a unique achievement. This was followed in 2008 with a visit to India, where both father and son contested the Budokan world championships. On returning home Dylan continued to compete winning gold medals at national level. For Rick this was to become a turning point as once again, he became heavily involved.
Then in 2015 came the experience that consolidated his future: he witnessed a Kata demonstration by international visitor South African sensei Bryan Dukas. When sensie McDonald left to live in Dubai, Bryan who had returned from South Africa took over the club, re-established a new dojo and assisted by Rick introduced, a new(Japanese) style of training, tradition and discipline: this further stabilised the club. “Everything about the demonstration (kata and style) had been of the highest order and this new system quickly spread throughout the club.
As their style was different (World Shotokan Karate Federation ) Rick and others were required to have their gradings re-assessed. “What I noticed was that the Japanese style was steeped in tradition and culture and certificates awarded on completion of grading, came from Japan.” Following this Rick has had occasion to visit Japan twice: 2017 and 2019. “We trained every day for two weeks; the atmosphere was great and again we learned a lot about their traditions and culture.’’
This year for sensei Rick will be 30 years of training, 20 of which have been in his present club: lots of locals in particular children , something of which Rick is indeed very proud and rightly so. ‘’During the virus we conducted classes- am and pm -every day, Monday to Friday; especially designed programs were drawn up, bearing in mind that our people were training with limited space available.’’
As of now, with club life and training restrictions showing signs of lifting, the club is anxious for confirmation that the Australian open titles will go ahead in Sydney October as planned. Also, they are hoping that the state championships will be held at a date to be named.
After many years of training locals, plus his own advanced training under Sensei Dukas and senior sensei’s in Japan, Rick Hislop has now reached the rank of 5th Dan. Highly ranked and well respected his contribution to sport in our community has been outstanding.
