Martial arts: Top year for Northland Kenpo Karate

The Northland Kenpo Karate unit has another busy year ahead after the holiday break. Photo/supplied

This has been a year of milestones for Northland Kenpo Karate, a member of possibly the world's largest organisation of its kind - the Larry Tatum Kenpo Karate organisation specialising in self-defence, centred in California.

The year started with a visit by a 10th-degree black belt from New Orleans, who stayed with the Masons for a week in February and took in the beautiful Northland sights.

Moving on through the year, with great local support in Dargaville and Whangarei, classes grew in size and maturity of skill.

August saw the club head to Wellington to the Annual Championships at the Police College Gym in Porirua, where our students won two of the three overall age group trophies across all categories of skill sets.

Our June and December black belt gradings provided the impetus for intense learning and ownership of information taught through the age groups.

As a school we take a pragmatic western approach to such things and follow the pattern of most activities and sports, wherein we do not issue a "one size fits all" black belt certificate or rank, hence our juniors transition through a developing syllabus from probationary junior to full junior and then on to adult rank.

This acknowledges age-group skill and sidesteps the absurdity of, for example, a 12-year-old black belt being supposedly on an equal footing with an adult student (particularly in relation to life skills and maturity of outlook).

This approach has been well received by parents and students alike.

Standouts at the most recent gradings saw resident Whangarei instructor Karen Edwards, with about nine years of training, qualify through to first-degree black belt and breaking all moulds, Dayne Fowlie become a second-degree black belt, on top of receiving several local sports awards for his Kenpo exploits.

Dayne's attendance will be considerably reduced next year as he is heading to University in Auckland.

Following a final prizegiving and class, students have the Christmas holiday period and January to relax before another busy Kenpo year is upon us.