Recent news articles

PRESENTATION OF BUDOKAN’S NSW STATE TEAM MEMBERS & OLYMPIAN – THURSDAY 11TH JULY

This occasion has been a tradition at the club since 2006 and is always an important event. Its purpose is to pay tribute to the dedication and commitment of the club members who represented NSW at the 2024 National Championships. A highlight is to present specially minted Budokan medallions to those club members who became National Champions. This is a special year as we are now also able to present our 2024 Paris Olympic Games representative Josh Katz and our Olympic referee, Lubo Petr.  The proceedings will take no more than 30 minutes between the two normal Thursday classes – please try to support it.

  • So what are we doing:  Presentation to all Budokan club members and their families of Budokan’s  NSW State Team members; presentation of medallions to the 2024 National Champions; presentation of Olympic Games representative and referee
  • Why are we doing this:Because it’s really important to acknowledge effort, progress and performance irrespective of result. On our club merchandise there is a slogan that says: “We Fight As One” and we do just that. Collectively Team Budokan put in a massive effort at this year’s Nationals and we should celebrate that. 
  • When: Thursday 11th July, 7.15 – 7.45pm between Junior and Senior Classes. Seniors, please come to the club early and be on the mat by 7.00pm.
  • Who: All Budokan NSW State Team representatives. Please wear a WHITE JUDOGI and bring your medals.
  • Guests:   Mr Mark Hodges, NSW State Member for Castle Hill, Shadow Assistant Minister for Western Sydney   Mr Michael Stubley, Councillor Blacktown City Council and former member of Budokan

Although Clr Dr Peter Gangemi, Mayor of the Hills Shire is unable to attend, a Councillor (TBA) will represent him. Unfortunately, Federal Member for Mitchell The Hon Alex Hawke also has a previous engagement.

2024 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS & INTERNATIONAL UPDATE

Congratulations to Max Zollinger and Bianca Tandean on their selection to the Cadet World Championships 28-31 August in Lima Peru. 3 Cadet Men and 4 Cadet Women were selected from around Australia. Max and Bianca are the only Cadet athletes from NSW. Congratulations also to Kerrye for being selected as the National Cadet Coach for this event.      A number of other club athletes will be participating in upcoming international events: Hong Kong and Macau Cadet and Junior Cups (10-17August): Clarissa Vumbaca, Billy Nyamdorj, Flynn Mogilin, Crosby Peake, and Nikola Dobric.  Wishing all our athletes and coach successful and rewarding experiences.

2024 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

This is the first year that the Junior Boys/Girls division was split into U/11s and U/13s so there were possibly more divisions available, albeit this would make no difference to the number of athletes we entered.  This year 30 athletes competed in 41 mainstream age divisions.

  • These athletes won 28 medals:  9 Gold, 8 Silver and 11 Bronze.
  • Adding the “Adaptive” and “Kyu Grades” divisions, 32 athletes competed in 45 divisions the tally becomes 31 medals, an amazing: 12 Gold, 8 Silver, and 11 Bronze, the best club result on record.
  • Additionally, two of our athletes competed in 2 Kata divisions winning a Gold and Silver.

This would total the club’s tally to 13 Gold, 9 Silver and 11 Bronze medals. There were some milestone achievements this year including: our massive overall participation, first-timers to Nationals who put in huge efforts, first matches won at a Nationals, first time National medallists and first and multiple time National Champions. A very comprehensive report is available as an attachment to the email accompanying this Newsletter. Congratulations to all of you who put everything on the mat.

PDF icon 2024_nationals_-_detailed_budokan_results.pdf

PROMOTION TO ROKU-DAN (6TH DAN) BLACK BELT

Another highlight of the Nationals long-weekend at the Gold Coast was the convening by the National Grades Commission of a grading for “High Dan Grades”. Kerrye and I have been quietly practicing for our grading since January. We presented for our last grading (5th Dan) over 11 years ago and wanted to keep this grading quiet so only a few people knew about it.  On Friday 7th June, as we were doing our final practice before the grading, a number of Budokan athletes and families started to appear. We knew that the secret had been leaked (Thank you Dale!!). It was wonderful to see a sea of Budokan people watching us present for our grading and holding up 28 banners which spelt out: “It takes big hearts to shape little minds. Thank you Kerrye and Rob”.  So we passed our 6th Dan and, together with Dale are now able to wear a red/white checked belt – Budokan is fortunate to have 3 of these “high” grades on the mat. Thank you to all the Budokan families who helped us celebrate with a great club dinner on Friday night and presented us with some lovely gifts. Whilst this was a personal achievement for us, it hopefully sets an example to all club members that no one is too old or too experienced to keep learning, developing and progressing.  Thank you to Eddie Yuen for your months of teaching us Kata, and to Dale and Alan Broadhead for checking them. Thank you all for your support.

more