Author: Soshi Paul

Paul Murdoch started training in martial arts in Goulburn, in the local judo and tae kwon do clubs. He has been teaching martial arts in Canberra and Queanbeyan for 21 years and is pleased to have established the independent club Zanshin Martial Arts.
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ZANSHIN INSTRUCTORS SERVICE AWARDS

The continued success of Zanshin Martial Arts depends on the dedication of Zanshin Martial Arts’ Instructors. Instructor Service Awards were presented by Soshi at the Dan Grading to three dedicated and committed Instructors:

10-year service award to Sensei James Corbett (Queanbeyan Central Dojo). Sensei James is one of Zanshin’s most popular and energetic instructors. Sensei James started instructing as a 16-year old and has continued throughout motivating a huge number of students, including several who are now instructors themselves.

5-year service award to Sensei Bruce Kinsman (Coombs Dojo). Sensei Bruce, our oldest instructor, started instructing junior classes at Conder Dojo. He then ventured into new territory starting-up Coombs Dojo for junior and senior classes where class numbers and the population continue to swell.

5-year service award to Sensei Steve Hledik (Googong Dojo). Sensei Steve began Zanshin to support his daughters’ who were training. He found he loved it. He too ventured into new territory starting-up Googong Dojo for junior and senior classes. The strength of Googong Dojo continues grow as more families move into the area.

Good instructors, like these three, continue to help all Zanshin students’ progress. Opportunities exist for any senior students to become an assistant instructor at over 20 Zanshin Dojos throughout the region. The mentoring and guidance you will receive as an assistant will give you the confidence to become an instructor. The effort is worth the reward in seeing your own students develop to their full potential.

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EIGHT NEWLY PROMOTED ZANSHIN DAN GRADES

The Zanshin Dan Grading on Sunday 1st November 2020 was the grading many thought we may not get to have due to COVID-19, but we made it. What a fantastic grading!

Once a year eligible Zanshin Black Belts and higher grades participate in the Zanshin Dan Grading. We were fortunate to secure the Erindale PCYC for the 2020 Dan Grading. The venue afforded a big enough floor space, with mats for rolling and throwing, to enjoy seeing eight Grading applicants’ successfully grade, many Zanshin Club members participate and partner for the Dan Grading applicants, and space for spectators and family members to watch. With eight Dan Grading applicants in action it was the largest ever Zanshin Dan Grading. It says a lot about the strength of Zanshin Martial Arts at the higher grades and how much students are enjoying the training delivered.

·         Congratulations to Renshi Drew Wilkinson, now promoted to 4th Dan.

·         Congratulations to Sensei Mick Porter and Sensei Steve Hledik, now both promoted to 2nd Dan.

·         Five Black Belts are now promoted to 1st Dan and will soon get to wear their Hakamas. Congratulations to: Sensei Renee Bill, Sensei Rachel Santos, Sensei Mark Edmonds, Bhavna Varma and Nicholas Dale.

Dedication and an enormous amount of training (many years) went in to preparing for the Dan Grading. During the COVID-19 lockdown, they continued to train on their own to maintain their fitness. Training, and many years of it, starts now for the next challenge.

The newly promoted Dan Grades are very thankful for their instructors’ efforts teaching the many techniques, along with the club’s other students who week after week trained in the Ai Ki class to Uke (partner) for them.

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Zanshin Online Classes

Zanshin Online content is available now online! We have a few different things up already and we’ll be adding more regularly, so keep checking back for new videos and workouts to try with all your favourite instructors taking you through their best exercises. You don’t need to be a Zanshin Club Member to sign up for a paid subscription to our online classes.

Exclusive subscription membership with Zanshin online gives you full access to videos content of techniques, exercises and instruction with Soshi. More content is being added regularly, so you can log in to find new workouts and videos.

The cost is $6 per week, which is half the price of a Junior training fee and can be used for the whole family. A great way to keep up with your training in the present isolation period.

Sign up online at our website under My Account.:  http://members.zanshin.com.au/membership-account/

Thankyou all for helping us through this transition online and we hope you get something out of doing Zanshin activities at home.

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Zanshin Classes Closed

Zanshin classes will be closed from today, following the Government decision to close all non essential businesses and services, including indoor sports. We are disappointed to not be able to continue to bring you fun and challenging training but the health and safety of our community will always be our top priority.

Being at home has its challenges and we will be posting different exercises and activities you can do at home if you want to keep up with your training while you are in isolation. We hope you follow our posts and get some great ideas.

We will continue to monitor the government guidelines and will keep you up to date with any changes. Subscribe to our email list if you haven’t already for more updates.

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Age Guidelines for Zanshin Grades

Zanshin Martial Arts has 15 junior grades and 10 senior grades, followed by black belt (Dan) grades. We have structured it this way to help you get the most out of your training.

We also have a recommended age guide for grades, to help students receive appropriate training for their physical and mental development. Most age limits are a guide, you can be older or younger for all but a few of the grades. Our aim is to help you enrich your training and not rush through.

Junior White and Red Belts

At this grade, students should aim to grade around 3 times a year. Don’t feel like you need to grade every single grading. It’s important to take the time to learn your techniques properly. Lesson requirements are the minimum required to grade, feel free to do more.

Junior White belts are required to be 5 years old to grade. Students can train at 4 years old, but they will be unable to grade.

The following age guidelines are recommended for White and Red belt grades:
White 1: 5 Years 4 Months
White 2: 5 Years 8 Months
Red: 6 Years
Red 1: 6 Years 4 Months
Red 2: 6 years 8 Months

Junior Purple, Orange and Yellow Han Belts

At this grade, students have extra lesson requirements and an increasingly complicated curriculum. We recommend students grade every 6 months on these grades to take the time to properly learn the techniques.

Yellow Han 2 will not be able to grade to senior class until they are at least 11 years old. Any junior student older than 12 should consider moving up to the Senior class. You can ask your instructor about the process. Students older than 13 must attend Senior grading.

The following age guidelines are recommended for higher Junior grades:
Purple: 7 Years
Purple 1: 7 Years 6 Months
Purple 2: 8 Years
Orange: 8 Years 6 Months
Orange 1: 9 Years
Orange 2: 9 years 6 Months
Yellow Han: 10 Years
Yellow Han 1: 10 Years 6 Months
Yellow Han 2: 11 years

Senior Grades

Young senior students between 11 and 13 years of age should be looking at the following guidelines for gradings:

Yellow Belt – 12 years old
Green Belt – 13 years old
Blue Belt – 14 years old

This is a guideline; there are two grades on each belt. Younger students should be aiming to grade every 6 months instead of every 3 months.

Age limits apply for Brown (15 Years) and Black Belt (16 Years) grades due to the intensity of the training, you will not be able to apply for those grades without meeting the age requirements.