In the back, seated behind the 2nd column from the right , there she is waiting for her son Kai (2nd from the front, right hand column) to finish at the 2005 camp.
She had already started then, but wasn't quite ready to take part at the camps.
First tournament, first trophy!
Kempo Ryu tournament - another trophy
As a green belt, having won a trophy at the an Australian Martial Arts Championships (AMAC) tournament
In 2009, she was featured on the cover of Marrickville Matters magazine highlighting the diversity of cultures in Marrickville at the upcoming street festival.
Another couple of trophies - for kata and kumite, at the 2011 Kempo Ryu Tournament, together with Taeko Pegios (the mother of another Kuro Obi black belt - Senpai John Pegios, and the then Sensei Shah, at his last tournament, where he too won a couple of trophies (in the veteran's division).
Things are getting serious here - this was at her shodan (1st dan) black belt grading, where she was required to do a board break at the end of the grading.
At the end of the grading, the compulsory photo with all the black belts who were present, and the traditional (in IFK Australia) board with the fight count and the signatures of all those who fought her.
The happy recipient of her formal black belt and certificate!
With Shihan David Pickthall, the Vice-Chairman and future head of the International Federation of Karate (IFK) after one of our camps where he was invited to come and teach and train us.
Being awarded her 2nd Dan by Hanshi Steve Arneil himself, in front of over 100 black belts from around the world, at the IFK Black Belt Camp in Holland 2016.
And while you're at the camp, of COURSE you have to pose with Hanshi, who is probably one ofthe humblest and most approachable 10th dans that you can imagine.
Kyokushin karate officially came into being around 1964. Its founder, Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, had been developing it since the early 1950s, having initially trained in Kempo as a child, then in Shotokan under Gichin Funakoshi (generally recognised as the father of modern karate), Goju Ryu under So Nei Chu, and Judo.
It rapidly gained in popularity, to the extent that it currently has over 12 million practitioners worldwide. It soon became known as The Strongest Karate, not only because of the incredible feats of strength and endurance that Mas Oyama performed, but also because of the rigorous requirements of the training and tournaments - i.e. the karate is also strong, not just its practitioners' bodies and minds.
Kyokushinkai means The Society for the Search for the Ultimate Truth.
Mas Oyama passed away in 1994, and Kyokushin broke up into a number of politically fraught Japanese groups, all claiming to be the true successors. His daughter, Kuristina Oyama, continues running the original organisation, known as IKO - Sosai, dedicated to his true legacy, yet even there, there are issues.
In 1991, Hanshi Steve Arneil, having been one of Mas Oyama's premier students, and at the time already 7th Dan, decided to strike out on his own. He formed the International Federation of Karate (IFK) which is based in the UK. Hanshi Arneil was the first person to undergo the rigorous 100 Man Kumite - 100 full contact fights in one day - which set a precedent for all others to come.
Less than 20 people world-wide have since completed them. More information can be obtained from Shihan Shah's original website - Australian Kyokushin - which was started in 1994 and is the oldest existing Kyokushin website in the world.
Hanshi Arneil still calls his karate Kyokushin, and teaches it as he was taught originally by Mas Oyama.
In July 2011, by a resolution of the IFK International Country Representatives meeting, held in conjunction with the 3rd IFK Junior World Tournament in Crawley, UK, Hanshi was awarded his 10th dan.
Shihan Shah got his first taste of Kyokushin at the age of 14 while he was living in Iran, where his father was posted as a diplomat. The family later moved to Singapore, where he again started training Kyokushin under Shihan Peter Chong.
In 1991, at the age of 31, he started yet again, for the third time, under the then Sensei Doug Turnbull, and finally got his black belt almost 25 years after he first started, and he has been training in Kyokushin karate continuously ever since.
He started teaching Kyokushin karate in 1995, when he started teaching at Newtown North Public School while still a brown belt. He is now the chief instructor for Kuro Obi Martial Arts, and personally teaches most of the classes.
In September 2015, he received his 5th Dan black belt from Hanshi Steve Arneil, under the auspices of the International Federation of Karate.
Since 2017 he has been the President of IFK Australia Inc, and has been working hard toward the promotion and development of the organisation.
Included among Shihan Shah's achievements and qualifications are:
- 4th place 1993 NSW AKKA Full Contact Championships
- 2001 Attending the First Ever IFK Black Belt Camp in Switzerland
- 2004 Attending the 2nd IFK Black Belt Camp in Switzerland
- 2006 Coach and judge at the 1st IFK World Junior Championships in Switzerland
- 2011 Judge and Referee at the 3rd IFK World Junior Championships in the UK
- 2014 Judged at the IFK Kata World Tournament in Belgium and received IFK International Kata Judging certification
- 2016 Attending the 3rd IFK Black Belt Camp in Holland
- Accredited IFK Clicker Referee and Full Contact Judge
- IFK Australia Contact, Clicker, and kata referee and judge
- IFK Australia Secretary 1999 - present
- IFK Australia President 2017 - present
- IFK Australia Tournament Coordinator for more than 10 years
- Australian Country Representative for the IFK (2004-2015, 2017-present)
- Level A International Referee for the World Martial Arts Championships.
- International Tournament Director for World Martial Arts Championships.
Ben (2nd from left in the image below) started training at Newtown Dojo in 1998, at the age of 12, when he started high school at Fort Street High School.
He graduated in 2004, the year that Senpai Alexander (far right - BB 2009) started at Fort Street, and went to University of Sydney where he got a degree in IT.
Senpai Ben got his black belt in March 2008, at a gruelling grading that included 40 fights against other black belts. In March 2013, he successfully graded for his 2nd Dan, which included 30 fights.
In 2014, Senpai Ben also tested and passed the certification for a Australian Martial Arts Championships (AMAC) Class A Judge and Referee, thereby qualifying him to be an international level referee in the World Martial Arts Championships circuit. The testing involves having been a referee at State and National Level for at least a year since he obtained Class B, and the passmark is no less than 100%. In 2015 he took on the job as NSW Technical Commissioner for AMAC.
In 2016, after 17 years of training, he decided he needed to take a break and focus on other priorities for a while. We wish him well and hope he decides to come back soon!
Here he is with his high school classmate Kosta Tzioumis, also a yellow belt, after a tournament. Pictured also are blue belts Vlad Shurupov and Gareth Poole from left to right respectively.
Now as a 3rd kyu, after another successful tournament (2004 Kempo Ryu), here is is together with Shigemi and Shahnaz. Ben is in his final year of high school here, and the two yellow belt boys in the picture with him are in their first. Alexander Yussof (Sensei Shah's son) is the 2nd from the left. The cycle begins again
Alexander got his black belt in March 2009, Shigemi is a white belt in at the left. She received her black belt in March 2012.
Senpai Aysha Harnekar, of Ashihara Karate International, demonstrating to Ben the application of biomechanics
Above, his sparring trophy at the Kempo Ryu Karate Tournament in March. Everyone in the picture except for Sensei Shah (who didn't compete) won a trophy at the tournament - some just forgot to bring it!
Ali Aryan (at the back of the picture), got his black belt in 2007. Alex Vij (blue belt) got his black belt in 2013
Ben with his Kata trophy at the 2005 National All Styles Round 3
March 2008: The new Senpai Ben, looking somewhat worse for the wear after having done the grading and his 40 fights, with a proud Shihan Doug and Sensei Shah flanking him.
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November 2012 - Senpai Ben having just been the Chief Referee for the Junior State of Origin team point sparring competition.
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March 17, 2013 - Ben's second Dan grading.
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