For the people of Noosa who practise the martial art of Shotokan karate, the month of February 2023 would be, without a doubt, the date when Tokyo came to Noosa.
It was during this time that their club, Karate Noosa, owned and operated by Bryan Dukas 6th Dan Chief Instructor, had the privilege of hosting world chief instructor, World Shotokan karate, Hitoshi Kasuya, 9th Dan. During his visit he conducted training seminars and also held gradings of senior members.
‘’To not only have a man of this standing visiting us, but also conduct seminars and gradings is indeed an honour and a privilege,” said Dukas.
Karate was first introduced into Japan in 1922 when an Okinawan karate master Gichin Funakoshi was invited to Japan to give an official demonstration in Tokyo. His display was such an outstanding success, that Jigoro Kano, founder of judo, asked Funakoshi to lecture at the Kodokan Judo Hall (centre point of judo in Japan) on his skills.
Rather than return to Okinawa, he stayed in Tokyo to promote Okinawa te (martial skills). The rest is now history. His outstanding contribution to the art is considered by many to be such that he is now regarded as the father of modern karate.
For people who take up the art, they will find a sport that is traditional, well-structured and disciplined. Happy to say that our local club, under the training and guidance of Dukas and panel, were deemed by Kasuya Sensei to have established a club that is now held in high regard.
Despite the seminar being reduced from two days to one, owing to a flight cancellation from Tokyo, the Sunday seminar was a complete success. When the training program was set and word of his visit was made known within the boundaries of the east coast of Australia, 11 students took the opportunity to fly in from Melbourne as well as several from Sydney. And these numbers were supported by entries from the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Gympie
The Sunday event, which was conducted in the hall of the Noosaville State School had 79 students in attendance: several of them black belts. Ranging in age from early teens to the late 80 and coming from interstate and all parts of our region, it told us that the sport of martial arts has a wide following.
To get the innermost thoughts of all that is taught at a seminar, conducted by the world’s best, what could be better than to hear from a student who participated in all aspects. From one such a person comes the following:
Kasuyu Sensei provided an exceptionally informative session for the Southern Queensland community, distilling his decades of experience into easily accessible teachings, for a diverse student body of varying skill levels.
He displayed a range of techniques from basic to advanced and described their workings in detail, allowing both new and veteran students to develop their understanding. Several lectures ranging from the importance of discipline and respect in the dojo, to the presence of mind and body in training, were given that educated our students on how and why we train.
A variety of advanced combinations, spinning techniques and drills tested our students, improving their ability and confidence. The intense atmosphere of the sessions and the sensei’s commanding presence instilled discipline among the student body, providing an excellent example to all students on how they should act in every class.
Regardless of the student’s abilities, everyone took something out of the seminar, further advancing their knowledge in Shotokan karate.
Among the students were several black belts from the Noosa club and one, Rick Hislop, remarked, “All his displays were certainly well done and his fast hands and flexibility was amazing: and to think he was just a week off his 75th birthday made it really outstanding.”
When asked his opinion, 16-year-old Damian Mannion, black belt from Karate Noosa who has been training for six years, replied, “It was terrific. What I liked was the fact that he explained everything very well and his thinking came through very clearly.”
Another youth member was Dannica Starkey of Cooroy. A former junior black belt, now graded to brown belt in the senior grade remarked, “The way he conducted everything was a bit different, but it was well explained: it was really well done.”
Later in the afternoon, at the completion of the training seminar, three gradings were conducted by Kasuya Sensei The three members who were graded by the sensei, were Rick Hislop who received his 6th Dan, Nicole Thornton who graded 4th Dan and Dannica Starkey (now in the senior rank) from brown belt to black belt.
For Rick, his career has been a great experience. “I first met Kasuya Sensei, when I was on one of my training visits to Japan in 2017. To have this great man visit Australia is indeed an honour. Normally to receive this high level of grading that Nicole and I sat for today, we would have had to travel to Japan.”
However, because of Hitoshi Kasuya Sensei’s highest world ranking as an instructor, it was acceptable for him to conduct the examination. “For me it was a great feeling to receive this grading, with so many of my close dojo friends present. The whole seminar, has been a great experience and learning curve for all involved.’’
Nicole was of the same opinion. ‘’Similar to Rick, I started in 1998, but had a couple of years’ break when giving birth to my two sons: Josh now 21 and Ryan 19. I am very proud of the fact that when I returned to the dojo, they both followed: they have now also qualified for their black belts.”
Prior to this seminar, Nicole had also trained under Kasuya Sensei in 2017 and 2019. ‘’We met and I had the privilege of training under him, during one of my training trips to Japan. It has been fantastic with his great wealth of knowledge: to have him here training us at home is unbelievable.”
The visit of this world-renowned Shotokan Karate Instructor, has been an outstanding success. However, if we add to this the ‘’high standard of teaching’’( Kazuya Sensei’s words) within the walls of Karate Noosa, and you have the complete package.
Dukas then travelled to Perth to assist with two days training, with over 100 members in attendance.
So, on behalf of the sporting people of our community, we say to Dukas, chief instructor and his team, well done. To Hitoshi Kazuya Sensei we say Sayonara, and Do Agnate Gozaimasu – Thank you for everything.
