Some of Australia’s best martial artists will descend on Cootamundra when the Kumiai-Ryu dojo hosts their club’s national championships in October.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Kumiai-Ryu Martial Arts System (KRMAS) boasts 25 dojos across Australia, with some 1,700 members. Up to 200 of these members are expected in Cootamundra for the national championships, the club’s largest annual tournament.
Sensei Andrew Andrew Finch of the Cootamundra dojo is honoured to host the nationals.
“It’s fantastic. I was approached by our chief instructor to see if we wanted to host it and we jumped at the opportunity,” Finch said.
“We’re now the fourth largest dojo in Australia and the nationals just adds to our growth.”
Martial artists from all over Australia are expected at the national championships.
“There’ll be people travelling from Temora, Dubbo, Forbes, Cowra, Parkes, Bathurst, Lithgow, Port Macquarie even as far north as Townsville,” Finch said.
“We’d like to break the 200 competitor mark which I think is quite possible.”
The national championships will see individuals compete in a range of karate and muay thai events including kata or forms, points sparring and bare-knuckle sparring.
For the kids, sumo wrestling and sword fighting events will also be held.
Individual awards for each event are up for grabs and the dojo whose students perform the best in the individual events will crowned national champions.
Of the 105 Cootamundra dojo students, Finch expects 70 percent to compete in the nationals.
One such student, Ben Filmer, is raring to go.
“I’m pretty keen to compete on home turf.
“It’s good to see the Cootamundra dojo evolve to the point where we have the numbers to hold our own comps.
“Our dojo has only been around for five years and in that time we’ve built our numbers to a point where we can hold nationals which is a pretty big deal.” Filmer said.
Back in August, Filmer became the first student at the Cootamundra dojo to reach black belt status.
To get his black belt, Filmer was put through a grueling three-day test which included board breaks, timed runs, knife defence and three hours of basic skills.
Preparation for his black belt has set Filmer up for the nationals.
“Training for my black belt was the big bulk of my training for nationals.
“Now it’s just fine tuning to prepare for the specifics of the competition,” he said.
The KRMAS national championships will be held on Saturday, October 22 at the Cootamundra Sports Stadium and is open to spectators for free.