Hello and welcome! We are a Dojo of Shotokan Karate International Australia (SKIA), an association established in 1974 with around 50 clubs and over 1,000 members. We practice traditional Japanese Karate (restricted contact), as passed down from Kanazawa Soke (10th Dan Founder of the Shotokan Karate International Federation). We are affiliated with the Australasian Federation of Traditional Karate and Kobudo (AFTK), and are active participants in local, interstate, and international Karate seminars and tournaments.
We train at the Batemans Bay Surf Life Saving Club from 6:30pm to 8:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with extra training for senior grades (by invitation).
Sensei Ryan van Leent is our Resident Instructor. He began training at the age of six and graded to Rokudan (6th Dan Black Belt) under Kanazawa Kancho and Murakami Shihan at the 2019 SKIF World Championships. Ryan Sensei was a long-standing member of the ACT Shotokan Karate Dojo, and eventually became the club's Resident Instructor, before relocating to the NSW South Coast in 2019. He is qualified as a Karate Coach with the Australian Sports Commission, is a member of the SKIF Yudansha-kai (international Black Belt association), and is Chairman of the SKIA Referees Council.
Senpai Lauren van Leent is our Assistant Instructor. She began training in Narooma and graded to Shodan (1st Dan Black Belt) under Kanazawa Kancho at the 2014 SKIA National Seminar. Lauren Senpai is qualified as a Karate Coach with the Australian Sports Commission, and is a qualified Pilates Instructor and Sports Soft Tissue Therapist.
We hope you find something of interest in the pages of this website. If you are new to martial arts, we hope even more that it may spark an interest in you to come try Shotokan Karate and to take that first step. For many of us, that first step has started us on an incredible journey. We invite you to join us.
|