Kumiai-Ryu is a martial arts system that covers a variety of styles, and sensei Andrew Finch has been training for twenty years and operated a school in Cootamundra since April 2011.

Andrew says the competition was of a very high standard and he was pleased with his fighters, who came back with “a swag of medals”.

Andrew’s son Jack competed in the under 8s division, getting first in freestyle sparring, first in sumo and third in points sparring.

“These are his second national championships and he’s done really well, I’m very proud of him,” Andrew said.

New competitor Charlie McHenry proved he is a natural, finishing first in the sumo and second in sparring for the under 9s despite having just eight weeks of training under his belt.

Charlie’s mother Aimee Brooke says the sport has been very good for her son and given him a serious confidence boost.

Dean Larkman was competing at the national championships for his second time and improved on his previous result of one third place medal.

Dean finished first in kata, second in point sparring and second in sanda.

Sanda is a full-contact Chinese kickboxing discipline that might be recognisable to fans of mixed martial arts.

It includes punches, kicks, leg sweeps, throws, takedowns and other hard-hitting maneuvers.

“It’s basically like kickboxing with rugby league tackles,” Andrew describes.

Competitors wear headgear, gloves and a mouthguard and compete for three two-minute rounds.

Two points are earned for grounding an opponent if you stay on your feet, and one point for a takedown or strikes landed to the head or chest.

Andrew spent most of the day refereeing matches but did compete in his weight class of the sanda, earning himself a gold medal after defeating his opponent in two rounds.

Alex Filmer and brothers Robert and Roger Burgess also competed in the championships, with Robert finishing second in kata beginners.

These national championships marked the first time that a Kumiai-Ryu has been run by the Australian Martial Arts Championships.

This means that top competitors now have the opportunity to be selected for the Australian team and compete in World Martial Arts Championships events.

In March this year Cootamundra’s Ben Filmer was one such athlete, travelling to Turkey to compete in the sanda at the World Junior Wushu Championships.

Kumiai-Ryu classes run on several nights of the week in Cootamundra, including a women’s kickboxing class on Wednesday nights, in the Fisher Park grandstand. 

The first class is free for interested beginners- for more information contact Andrew Finch on 0418 859 843.