It was Wednesday 9 March and as I sat and watched the closing minutes of a training session at the Karate Noosa Dojo situated on Gibson Road Noosaville, I was suddenly reminded that it was in fact International Women’s Day. What caused this was sudden gathering of a group of female black belt members for a photo shoot.
Not only was this an inspiring thing to see but the fact that the eldest was an 80-year-young lady named Stella Edmundson: and this lady explained her interest in Karate as – “a way of life.” But perhaps the most pleasing aspect for some of these women was, apart from having obtained the coveted black belt, their children were also members of the club. To think that in this day and age a young mother with sons or daughters can not only train together but in times compete in such competition as the Kata.
Unable to attend the photo shoot because of school commitments, was another female member of note. At age 14 Dannica Starkey who holds a junior black belt has an outstanding record in competition; five consecutive Queensland titles, and four consecutive Australian titles, all in kumite: she rounded off 2018 by being picked in the Australian team. But 2019 was the best year of all; winning an Australian gold medal then the really big one, the gold medal in Japan at the world championships.
For the Noosa Karate club this young lady plus the senior black belt female members, have created for the women members, a standard in martial arts that is second to none. We can rest assured that as a result of hard years in training, there will be a lot of juniors who can this year, proudly point to a lady and proclaim for all to hear, “That’s my mum.” For any sport, the year 2022 would definitely be an International Women’s Day year to be proud of. For those who think that the world of martial arts should only be for men these achievements should for all time break the bias.
Karate empowers women to compete on an equal standard with men. The presence of the black belt women training in same sessions with the younger (sometimes family) members will help create close bonds, thus bringing them closer together. This helps to reinforce and respect the parent to children relationship, as well as instructor to student. For head sensi Bryan Dukas 6th Dan, his relationship with his father Mike Dukas 8th Dan, whom he trained under as a youth, is a classical example of the bond and attitude that is created. Now Bryan is in a similar situation: training daughter Mikayla aged 12 and son Brendon 11.
For some members the training will be full on as they prepare for a busy time ahead with tournaments: first will be a state tournament in late March, followed by the Queensland Open Championships in May. This will then see senior students settle into the June, July period of intense training under the visiting sensi Mike Dukas 8th Dan. This will be in preparation for the clubs’ annual visit, under supervision of Bryan Dukas, to Japan in August where they will train and compete for approximately 14 days in Tokyo and Kamakura.
On arrival, they will undergo a 5 day – seminar of intensive training under Sensei Hitoshi Kasuya 9th Dan, Chief Instructor of World Shotokan Karate. This will be followed by two days contesting the World Shotokan Karate Federation Championships which will consist of both individual and team events. These events will be conducted under strict Traditional Shotokan Rules and presided over by International Judges: each of who will have a minimum of 2 years judging at this level.
While there, Sensi Dukas will be subjected to a reviewal of his current licences: International A Grade Instructor, Judge and Examiner via theory and practical exams, and graded accordingly. He is at present an A grade judge. At the completion of the tournaments, there will be another four days training at various dojos around Tokyo. Regarding the training some will be four- hour sessions and others will be between 2 and 3 hrs. To be eligible for the tour members must be of a certain grading and have a been a member for a certain time.
A tour such as this would be a great opportunity of finding self-confidence within one’s self. This major factor, plus training and studying under some of the finest teachers in the world, and above all learning traditions that in some cases are hundreds of years old would be indeed an experience not to be forgotten. Despite being practised nation- wide and producing some students that are now winning at world titles in Japan, the sport has been getting little or no media attention. But on taking a good look around it becomes obvious that here is a sport that is definitely on the rise. Now that the male bias has been removed and the family participation is on the increase, the sport will know no limits.
Boxing.
Once again, we have good news from the Team Impact Boxing Academy. Situated in Unit 16/17, 5 Taylor Court Cooroy, this club which makes a habit of producing amateur champions at state national and international level, is once again heading in that direction. It has been announced that three members of the club Tiana Welch, Erin Carter and Angie Harris have qualified via Queensland, to fight in the final stage of the Commonwealth Games Selection Process.
The tournament will be held in Melbourne next weekend and a win in their division will see the fighters on the plane to Birmingham England, representing Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. We wish all fighters and coach Mark Evans every success.
Swimming.
It was in 2003 that the Shirley Strachan Memorial swim sponsored by McDermott Aviation, (a close friend of Shirley’s) and organised by Bruce and Sandy Warren of the Noosa Heads SLSC came into being. This annual swim went on to become something of a legendary event with anything up to 40 members taken part. However, in 2016 Bruce Warren passed away following a heart attack: and from then on with the total support of John McDermott of McDermott Aviation, the swim became known as the Shirley Strachan Bruce Warren Memorial swim.
This was done as a gesture of respect to Bruce and Sandy for their outstanding endeavour in making the swim, a tradition of the club. Last Sunday 35 members swam together celebrating 19 consecutive years of this great tradition.
First female home was Finella Gibbs-Beal and first male was Kilian Carrel, then Electra Outram and Jayden Morrow followed by Lola Gibbs-Beal and Taj Ryan. This event as in previous years, was a great success for all involved. With regard to the standard of swimming, the performance of the youth members ,has once again shown us, that in this club under the watchful eye of the legendary swim coach John Rogers (J. R.) that anything is possible.
Already Finella Gibbs-Beal, and Kilian Carrel have shown themselves to be in the top echelon of open water 5k and 10k swimmers in Australia and Taj Ryan and Lola Gibbs- Beal have definitely made their presence felt in the pool at state level. The bonding and team spirit amongst the swim team is also second to none. To see such talent in Noosa would of course be very pleasing to our past club mate Bruce Warren: now it’s a big thank you to wife Sandy.
Rugby League.
With club trials now well and truly under way the Noosa Pirates, despite Covid and torrential rain, are starting to show glimpses of what could prove to be a very interesting season. For the weekend trials against Toowoomba Souths, the A grade game was broken up into 4 quarters of 20 minutes each. With this system the coaching staff under Head Coach Brett Winkler gets a good look at the capabilities of players and if necessary, make some changes.
The game was won by Noosa Pirates 26-8 and there were indeed some very good signs. With only 10 minutes to go, the back line was still running hard on to the ball and with good sweeping passes out wide, showed they were running as a team and ably backed up by their support runners. In defence the forward pack, when their line was being hit, showed plenty of heart. For Pirates, team captain Seatom Reid, playing at full back showed great leadership calling shots and not hesitating to move up in attack.
For Toowoomba, half back and captain Ben Cook, also showed leadership: his good passing kept the pressure on Pirates. However, despite showing plenty of heart, which kept Pirates scoreless for nineteen minutes, their forward pack were unable to stem the wide passing of the Pirates: the fact that so many tries were scored out wide, was a good indication of their attacking style.
In reserve grade the Pirates also showed glimpses of speed in their backline and a similar attacking style. This game which was played over 3 sessions of 20 minutes each, was tight. With the lead changing several times, resulting from some good fast line breaks, it was definitely entertaining. However, the second half saw ball control start to slip on both sides: but with both endeavouring to play fast open football, indications for the season ahead are good. The final whistle had Pirates ahead 18-16. Good luck to both.
