NEWS & EVENTS
9th June 2014
To celebrate Robbie Smith's birthday and incredible life, the Yoshin Wadokan dojo will be releasing sky lanterns on the field adjacent to the dojo. All are welcome to attend and celebrate his birthday and life with the friends and family.
When:Friday, 13th of June at approximately 5.30 pm.
Where: Hamilton Yoshin Wadokan dojo
In the case of bad weather, the release of the lanterns will be postponed to the Saturday (14th, at the same time).
27th May 2014
The Hamilton Yoshin Wadokan Karate Dojo is deeply saddened to inform you that Robbie Smith - our sensei, mentor, teacher and friend - passed away on Thursday 22nd May.
Robbie was a gifted martial artist and inspirational teacher whose tireless efforts, enthusiasm and dedication enriched the lives of all students in our dojo. He was a talented karateka who exemplified the ideals of both budo and good sportsmanship.
We will always miss you Robbie.
Our thoughts and sympathy are with Robbie's wife Mei Lin and children Isaac and Larissa at this time.
The funeral service will be held Thursday 12:30pm at Hamilton Gardens Pavilion, off Cobham Drive, State Highway 1, Hamilton East, Hamilton 3216.
Robbie will be lying in state at Pellows Funeral Parlour, Monday and Tuesday, 138 Grey St. Hamilton East. 07-856 5129.
Booking is essential.
13th March 2013
The past weekend has been a busy one with our dojo hosting Takagi Hideho Sensei 8th Dan Director Technical Council - JKF Wado-Kai and Sonoda Tamaki Sensei 7th Dan Wado Kai for three fantastic days of intense training. The seminar saw detailed instruction to all grades and ages from the Hamilton Wado Club and visiting members of Auckland and Palmerston North clubs.
Those that were around on Friday night were treated to a lesson detailing basic kihon, which was fantastic to receive and provided a good base for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday at Waikato Dio saw a good turn out for the morning session, with Takagi Sensei running through line work before progressing onto Pinan kata.
The afternoon session was marked by the group being split, with speciic focus given to higher level katas like Seishan, Kushanku and the entire Pinan set. It was brilliant to receive a complete breakdown of each kata, really identifying important and technical areas.
Finally to finish the afternoon session, Kihon Kumite was broken down again to a fine level and was very beneficial to all the member attending.
Sunday marked another morning session of training. The focus was on the importance of basic punching through line work and kata. Kihon Kumitw was also demonstrated which really allowed the students to ask questions and work on their technique. The afternoon session was the dan examination. All did very well, with a big congratulations to all those members of the New Zealand Wado Kai that passed their dan examinations and added to the Wado Kai family.
13th September 2012
Congratulations to our dojo members who where part of the winning team again at Oceania in Sydney. Team New Zealand Oceania champs yet again.
James Grace Kumite Gold -21 Male +78kg
Sarah Bryant Kumite Gold Junior Female +59kg
Junior Kumite Team Bronze
Tarek Lakbal Kumite Gold Junior Male Under 76kg
Junior Kumite Team Silver
Ewan Oliver Kumite Bronze -21 Male Under 68kg
Well done Team.
Coming Seminars
Friday 28th August 2015:
An open seminar in Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu with Sensei Toby Threadgill (Menkyo Kaiden) at Aikido Auckland Seishinkan dojo, 110D St Lukes Road, St Lukes, Auckland from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. The seminar will cover the importance of maintaining body structure and the principles of a connected and disconnected body.
Click below for more information:
Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th August 2015:
Joint seminars in Takamura Shindo Yoshin Ryu and Wado Kai karate with Senseis Toby Threadgill (Menkyo Kaiden) and Norma Foster (7th dan Wado Kai). These seminars are restricted to Wado Kai and TSYR students and will cover the principles of Shindo Yoshin Ryu that have influenced the techniques of Wado Kai karate.
Click below for more information:
Sensei Norma and Threadgill Seminar 2015
On Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th August, Yoshin Wadokan dojo hosted a very successful seminar which focussed on the relationship between Wado-Kai karate and Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu jujitsu. We were privileged to train with two outstanding senseis who shared a wealth of cultural and technical knowledge with us over the weekend. Foster sensei explained many finer points of kata and kihon kumite, while Threadgill sensei shared insights into the principles of movement and body structure which underlie Wadokai karate.
It was wonderful to host students from other Wado kai dojos, as well as martial artists from a range of aikido schools. We appreciate the energy, interest and commitment from everyone who made this seminar possible, and trust that it was a valuable and enjoyable experience for you all.
Upcoming Technical Seminar with Takagi Hideho Sensei 2015
We are pleased to announce that we will be welcoming Sensei Takagi - 8th Dan Director Technical
Council - JFK Wado-Kai, and Sensei Sonoda - 7th Dan Wado Kai to our Hamilton dojo in
November. The Yoshin Wadokan dojo will be hosting several sessions beginning on Friday 20th
through to Monday 23rd of November. This is an opportunity not to be missed! Please find more
information in the attached flyer below.
Technical Seminar for Wado Kai 2015 - Takagi Hideho Sensei and Sonoda Tamaki Sensei
If there are any further questions, please feel free to contact us.
Technical Seminar Takagi Hideho Sensei 2015
The Hamilton Yoshin Wadokan dojo was honoured to host four days of technical training with Sensei Takagi and Sensei Sonoda. The seminar spanned across four intense days (20th -23rd of November) in which detailed instruction was to all grades. It was fantastic to see a great turn out of students attending from Palmerston North, and several Auckland Wado clubs.
The first session highlighted fundamental basics to Wado Kai, namely kihon and speed of movement. This proved to be a good basis for which the rest of the seminar would follow. Saturday was spilt into a morning and an afternoon session, where more basics, such as junzuki/gyakuzuki and tobikomizuki/nagashizuki were drilled. The breakdown of these basics were excellent in improving our understanding. The group was split at times to give further in depth points to specific grades, to whom benefited greatly from the one-on-one tuition.
Kata and kihon kumite were scrutinised throughout Saturday with links constantly be drawn to the fundamental basics and stances. Emphasis was placed on stances and being grounded throughout each kata and in pair work.
Sunday marked a dan examination over the morning session. All examined well, with several new shodan grades joining the Wado Kai family. There were also others that successfully graded to nidan, sandan and yodan. A huge congratulations on all those that were sucessful!
Upon the conclusion of the dan examination, the afternoon session detailed certain aspects that were picked up on in the dan grading. Again it was fantastic to get such in-depth tuition from both Sensei Takagi and Sonoda.
The seminar culminated in a relaxed but informative session on the Monday night, with specific applications to moving and attacking with greater foot and hand speed. It was a wonderful way to finish the seminar, with plenty of smiles and a much better understanding of Wado Kai.
One last thank you for all those that helped behind the scenes organising the weekend, and a huge thank you to our visiting senseis!
Photos of the weekend can be seen in the Gallery!
Start of the new year is just around the corner!
We hope everyone has had a good holiday, and recharged the batteries for another full on year!
A reminder that classes do start on Tuesday the 3rd of February. There will be no class on Monday the 2nd due to Auckland Anniversary Weekend. Class times are the same as last year, or can be viewed here.
Look forward to seeing you at the dojo!
An exciting year planned!
Its been great to see everyone back and training and that you havent forgotten everything you learnt last year!
This year is shaping up to be fantastically busy, with lots planned and hopefully some great seminars planned throughout the year.
It will be important to keep up to date with notifications on the website when these things will be kicking off.
Our immediate focus turns to our first tournament of the year run by the club, the Hamilton Open. Entry forms have been circulated, and it would be hugely appreciated if you could get these back to your senseis so we can send them into the tournament organiser.
The Hamilton Open is scheduled for the 20th of March, which is not too far away now. We need as much help as we can get on the day to make things runs nice and smoothly.
We have mat marshalls, mat callers, kitchen staff, table staff and a BBQ to man. If you are looking at coming down, then it would be fantastic if you could lend a hand, even for part of the day. If you would like to email us using the 'Contact' tab and let us know you can help it would really be appreciated.
Seminars Coming Up!
Fantastic to see everyone back at training in Term 2, we hope that you have a relaxing holiday and are ready to get stuck into karate for another term.
We have been busy behind the scenes organising some exciting seminars coming up very soon. See the below seminars and instructors and be sure to pencil the dates in!
30th July, 2016 - Sensei Peter Stoddart 4th dan JKF Wadokai
19th-21st Aug, 2016 - Sensei Bob Nash 7th Dan JKF Wadokai
Flyers well be uploaded shortly, with the times and cost associated with the seminars.
Both of the above instructors are incredibly talented and very forthcoming with their immense knowledge. This is an opportunity not to be missed!
Fundraising!
As a club we are always looking at fundraising to allow us to maintain out wonderful training facilities, purchase new equipment and allow us the ability to get senseis from overseas to visit our dojo and teach us new techniques and refine old ones.
Buzzthepeople is New Zealand a site that donates to schools, charities or in this case sports clubs by simply ocacsionally completing quick surveys. Each survey done adds $1-2 to our clubs tally. If you would like to help us out, please visit:
http://www.buzzthepeople.co.nz/helpfundraise.aspx?s=92249188
Thanks! See you on the mat!