We’re into the final preparations for the Sunshine Coast Friendship Tournament on this weekend, Sunday 5th August 2012, at Millwell Road Community Centre, Maroochdyore.  For the convenience of all competitors, here’s a copy of the schedule so that you can plan your day.

Download the schedule (PDF – 2012 Sunshine Coast Friendship Tournament – Schedule of Events.

If you are competing, opening ceremony will be 9.20am and competition will start at 9.30am.  If you’re keen to check out the kumite action and senior kata divisions that will all be after the lunch break.

Spectator Entry fee will be $5 per family.  Free entry for volunteers.

The association will also be running a canteen, BBQ and a 100 club.  Just in case you don’t know how the 100 club works… there are 100 squares for sale @ $2 a square, when you buy a square you put your name in it.  At the end of the day the board will be cut up into 100 pieces and 2 pieces will be drawn out at random.  First piece drawn out gets choice of $100 cash or a full car detail and wax valued at $150, second drawn out gets the other prize.  The remaining funds will go towards supporting Sunshine Coast athletes competing at next year’s Soke Cup in Hong Kong.

If you are able to help as a volunteer we’d appreciate any help you can give.  We have some table official training at Maroochydore Dojo this Saturday, 4 August 9.30-10.30am.  Table officials have one of the best jobs in the whole tournament, they get front row seats, lollies to eat all day and you even get a free lunch.  We also need helpers to pack up all of the equipment at the dojo on Saturday after the table official training, set up the tournament venue from 8.00am on Sunday morning and then return everything to the dojo Sunday after the tournament.  If you can help anywhere your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

So, we’ll see you at tournament!

It’s been a big year for our competitors so far.  Just last month, we’ve run our first ever Queensland State Titles, the Queensland Team has now been selected a and are starting preparations on the road to the National Titles to be held later in the year in Sydney.  And now we’re preparing for our final Sunshine Coast tournament of the competition season, the 2012 Sunshine Coast Chito-Ryu Karate Friendship Tournament.

The Friendship Tournament will be unlike any other tournament we’ve ever run.  There are a few important changes in the rules that will help level the playing field and make it a lot more interesting.  In order to enter, all competitors MUST be part of a kata team; no team, no entry into individual events.  Also, in all kata divisions, competitors will not find out which kata they have to do until they step into the ring.  So rather than just practicing 1 or 2 kata, all competitors will have to work hard on everything just in case….

For more information about the Friendship please download this important information, which explains everything in details.  About the friendship tournament (PDF).

Entry forms are available from the dojo of download here:  2012  Friendship Tournament – Entry Form (PDF).

The 2011 Sunshine Coast Cup is fast approaching and this year it’s going to be held at a new and much larger venue at Pacific Paradise State School, Sunday 29th May.  This will be the major Chito-Ryu Karate tournament to be held on the Sunshine Coast this year.  Entry forms are available now for download or from your dojo.

With momentum building on the Qld Chito-Ryu Karate tournament circuit and a prize of $400 for the season champion up for grabs, it’s still not too late in the season to start making your way up the rankings.  As our major tournament, this event will be worth double points so it’s great way to get a boost in the rankings.

And for those who are looking to compete for the first time, we encourage you to have a go and step out of your comfort zone.  It’s only when we step out of our comfort zone that we truly start to grow ourselves.  We have events for beginners and advanced members of all ages, so long as your a member you can enter.  The only thing holding you back is YOU!

Take the first step and download the entry form.

This year our Qld Chito-Ryu Karate tournament circuit is bigger than ever, culminating with the national championships to be held on the Gold Coast later this year.  But to kick off the competition season we are proud to announce the first tournament for the year to be held Saturday 5th March 2011.  With the recent expansion of the maroochydore dojo, we now have adequate space to run the tournament in the dojo.

If you have never competed before this is the perfect opportunity now with new divisions and events for beginners of all ages.  And of course we also have divisions for our more seasoned competitors too.

Download you entry form here, or get a copy of the form at the dojo.

For our local members who are thinking of competiting, we will be running a few pre-tournament clinics to help educate new competitors in the rules of competition and give them a better idea of what to expect on the day of competition.  Pre tournament clinics will be run at Sunshine Coast Karate’s Maroochydore dojo on Friday 18th Feb & Friday 4th March.  For more information, please speak to instructors.

Individual Kata – Divisions are broken up by age and rank so you will be able to compete against other people your own level.  In this event, you will perform a kata (preset pattern of techniques) and you will be judged on a variety of criteria, including: form, technique and application.  In order to make it more comfortable for beginner competitors competing for the first time, they will have the opportunity to have a more senior member perform the kata beside them.  Depending upon the number of competitors in the divisions, the top competitors may need to perform up to 3 kata as they progress through the rounds.

Team Kata – Divisions are broken up by rank.  In this event, teams of 3 people perform a kata all together.  Performances are judged in much the same way as individual kata except performances are also judged on the level of sincronicity.

Bunkai Demonstration Event – In this event, teams of 2 people perform a series of self defence applications.  This is an event for more senior competitors, purple belt and above.  In this event, both competitors must take the role of both attacker and defender, performing approximately 5 self defence applications each.

Karate Triathlon – Kumite Skills – This is a new event we are introducing this year for beginners as en entry level event to help develop the skills and confidence to compete in kumite (sparring) down the track.  Last year we started to introduce a similar event for younger competitors but this event will be open to all ages with divisions broken up into various age categories and there will be a few adjustments to format of the event.  As the name suggests this will be a 3 part event, with: line drills, bag work & partner tag matches.  Unlike kumite, this is a non-contact event aimed to help competitors develop confidence and skills in a fun format.

Individual Kumite (Sparring) – Divisions are broken up by age and rank so you will be able to compete against other people your own level.  In this event, you will compete head to head against your opponents. Unlike many other styles of Karate, in Chito-Ryu we practice bogu kumite, which is a form of controlled contact sparring with protective body and head gear.  By utilising protective equipment, competitors can practice in a more realistic format encouraging competitors to test their skills and build a strong spirit while remaining safe and free from serious injury which is common in other competition formats.

If you’re interested here are a few kumite highlights for previous Chito-Ryu World Championships from some of our Aussie representatives.

The ICKFA (Sunshine Coast Branch) is proud to present the 2011 Queensland Chito-Ryu Karate Camp. All Chito-Ryu members and families are welcome to attend! This year’s camp will be held at the Maranatha Recreation Camp, Sunshine Coast. For more information about camp facilities, please visit their website: www.maranatha-camp.com.

This camp will bring together members from Sunshine Coast Karate and Gold Coast Chito-Ryu dojos and perhaps a few from interstate for a weekend jam packed of training, team building and social activities. If you are serious about your training, we encourage you not to miss out on this weekend.

We are hoping that the camp will coincide with Soke Sensei’s Australian visit. However at the time of preparing these form, we have not yet been able to confirm the dates of his visit. If all goes well, he’ll be there, and that’s something you definitely don’t want to miss.

The camp will be held Fri 18 – Sun 20 March 2011.  Registrations will close strictly 2 weeks prior, Friday 4th March 2011.  For more information about costing, please download the registration form.

And for a bit of a trip down memory lane, here are a few pictures from the 2008 Qld Camp, which was also held at Maranatha Camp in Yandina.

Want to see more photos? Check out our facebook page.