Sarah Whelan, United Kingdom

Sarah from the United Kingdom shares with us how starting karate led to a lifelong friendship, in this week’s GKR Stories

This is a story of a lifelong friendship that started in the dojo many years ago.

I started training in GKR Karate when I was 8 years old, and after a few weeks, I was hooked. I started begging my parents to take me to class more and more, and before long I was at karate almost every night of the week.

At the age of 12, a boy came up to me in class and introduced himself. He was new to the club and didn’t know anyone there. We said our quick hello’s and that was it. Around 3 years later, I was introduced to the same boy at a different class. His name was James! Little did I know at the time that he would one day become my best friend. I started training with James at his local class, and before long, we spent almost every weekend at each other’s houses. We went to as many karate classes as we could together, sharing our first experience of entering the senior opens and teaching a joint class together.

Whether it be at a class, tournament or grading, James and I always trained together, pushing each other to be better; faster; and to get the most from every class we attended.

Fast forward to the present day, James and I are still best friends. We’re both now in our 30s, and when both of us married our respective partners, we were each other’s ‘Mate of Honour’. Who’d have thought that the person I said a quick hello to at a class age 12, would be giving a speech about me on my wedding day!

I feel very fortunate to have found Karate, a passion that I have dedicated 26 years to, and I am so grateful that my hobby also brought me one of the greatest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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It’s been a big year for GKR Karate and we’d like to thank everyone who continues to make the club what it is today, students, families, instructors and management…everyone plays an integral role in the success of our amazing club.

The year started off strong and the last few months of 2024 has been no different with plenty of events, milestones and cause for celebration.

Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign

After a very successful Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign, we re-opened purple belt orders for the month of October in preparation for our second awareness month in February 2025. Thanks to everyone’s support we were able to donate $72,040 to RizeUp, $19,490 to Shine and £6,242 to Refuge. All Purple Belt orders placed in October will be mailed out mid-January 2025 in time for the next awareness month in February 2025.

National and State Champs

New Zealand and the United Kingdom recently held their National Championships with Australian State Championships also being held last month. It was a great way to wrap up what has been a big year on the tournament circuit. Congratulations to everyone who competed and thank you to the officials who ensured the tournaments ran smoothly. Now is a great time to speak with your instructor and start setting goals for 2025 and beyond!

Black Belt Camps

Black Belt Camps have wrapped up for the year with many higher grades enjoying a weekend of specialised karate training with GKR’s top instructors. These weekends are a valuable addition to regular weekly training and provide higher grades the opportunity to train with people they might not get the chance to otherwise. Keep an eye out next year for a Black Belt Camp near you.

Major Achievements

This year, GKR had the honour of assessing and progressing four longstanding and dedicated instructors to very special grade levels. Most recently, Bob McCracken from the United Kingdom and Mark Case from Australia were both graded to their 6th Dan and bestowed the title of Renshi Shihan by Kancho. They join Brett Vanderwiel and David Gugich, who were recognised in our September newsletter, as grading to 6th Dan and Renshi Shihan too. A very big congratulations to all of our Renshi’s on their outstanding achievement.

We also had a number of students grade to 4th Dan and 5th Dan during our end of year black belt grading. Click here to see GKR’s most recent Yondan’s and Godan’s. Congratulations to everyone on their new rank!

Christmas Message

By now, you will have received a Christmas email from Kancho- if you haven’t read this, please take the time to do so as it contains some noteworthy information. If you haven’t seen this email in your inbox, please check your spam folder or click here to read online. Best wishes to our GKR family for a Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.

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Hudson & Joanna Ireland, Australia

Karate has many benefits, from the physical to the mental and emotional. Joanna from Tasmania shares her and her son’s experience with GKR Stories and the positive impact karate has had on their lives.

Hudson started with GKR Karate in 2020, and despite having autism and suffering from major anxiety, he was welcomed into the dojo in Hobart like he was a regular kid. The instructors in class helped him with his confidence week in – week out, and it was heart-warming to see Hudson find an activity that he enjoyed and was good at.

After Hudson achieved his yellow belt grade, we moved up to Launceston where we found another great GKR dojo for him to train. He eventually progressed to his orange belt.

Soon after this however, Hudson suffered an anxiety setback which required me (his mum) to be there with him at the class. As a result, I joined GKR Karate as a student. To be honest, I expected to last about 10 days, or at least just long enough to help him over the hill of anxiety. I’m not very sports inclined or fitness oriented, and I was sure karate was not going to be for me. As it turned out, I loved karate just as much as Hudson did.

In September last year, Hudson and I took a break from karate due to surgeries and personal reasons. The good news is that in July this year we moved back down to Hobart and started training at the Mornington Prime full-time dojo. Once again, we were welcomed back, encouraged to train hard and pushed out of our comfort zones. The GKR instructors see us as people, and not as our disabilities or anxieties.

I’m pleased to say that Hudson and I just graded to our green belts; have started entering tournaments; and now train 3-4 nights a week. We have certainly found our way back to karate, through trials and tribulations, fears and anxieties on both our parts and GKR has helped us overcome them.

My lesson to anyone who has anxiety or a disability and is wanting to do karate is, just go for it! GKR is very accommodating and helpful to everyone. With the right mindset, environment, passion and grit, you can achieve anything you put your mind to and GKR certainly provides the optimal environment to thrive in.

I can’t wait to see where GKR takes us next on our journey. It truly is an incredible experience and has created a bond with my son that is indescribable.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Celebrating 40 years of GKR Karate

When Kancho Robert Sullivan said to his son Matthew “We’re going to be looking at this in years to come….” in a home video in 1983, could he have imagined that tens of thousands of people would one day see this footage, celebrating 40 years of GKR Karate.

A man with a vision, and a belief in that vision, Kancho began his Karate journey in 1964, obtaining the rank of black belt in Goju and Shotokan styles before starting GKR Karate in Adelaide in 1984. The first official dojo opened at Beefacres Hall, Windsor Gardens in February 1984, with Kancho’s son Matthew being the club’s first official student. Going from strength to strength, building from that first student to more than 38,000 students in 2024, GKR Karate has stood the test of time.

Initially called ‘Bob’s Karate School, Kancho changed the name to Go-Kan-Ryu Karate Do in June 1984 which roughly translates to ‘hard and complete system in the way of the empty hand’. With the skills and knowledge gained from Goju and Shotokan, Kancho created the GKR syllabus combining features from both styles. The first badge was designed by Kancho in July of 1984, and some 35 years later in July 2019, it was updated to the current design we see today.

At first, Kancho’s aim was to build a small club, sufficient in size to feed his family and ‘pay the bills’. Eight years later, GKR expanded into NSW, and to other states across Australia shortly after. New Zealand opened its first dojo in 1994 with the United Kingdom following suit in 1996. Classes in Houston, Texas then started in 2004. In the space of 12 years, a club that started in Kancho’s garage had successfully branched out on a truly international level.

The fundamentals of GKR have not changed since its inception, with the emphasis on discipline, good character and inclusivity being as strong as ever. Whether you are at a local class, regional tournament or a World Cup, you will find the same camaraderie, respect, humility and a sense of belonging. GKR truly is karate for everyone.

Pivoting during lockdowns to on-line zoom classes and seminars enabled students to continue training during this difficult period, which eventually paved the way for the launch of the GKR Online Karate and Fitness Academy in 2024.

As a family club that is renowned for not just its high standard of karate but also for the community it continues to build on a global scale through its Online Academy, people from all over the world are able to experience and enjoy all that GKR has to offer.

From the humble beginnings of our first small tournament in a school demountable classroom in 1985 to the recently held 11th World Cup in 2024 that hosted more than 1400 competitors and 4000 + spectators over 3 days….. GKR Karate has come a long way. Thank you to all students and instructors for being a part of this incredible story!

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Dear Students, Parents and Caregivers,

2024 has certainly been a big year for GKR Karate with some remarkable milestones achieved and plenty to celebrate. For starters, this year represented our club’s 40th anniversary! We’ve come a long way since our humble beginnings in 1984 and I am sincerely grateful to everyone who has contributed to the club’s success and growth over these years.

World Cup 2024

Aside from our 40th Anniversary, we also hosted our biggest ever World Cup in Sydney. It was amazing to watch more than 1400 students competing in the true spirit of karate-do over the 3-day event, and with 4000+ spectators in full voice over the weekend, the atmosphere was truly electric.

GKR Stories

The launch of our ‘GKR Stories’ platform has provided the opportunity for us to share some inspiring stories from within our karate community. From overcoming adversity, achieving personal goals, having the courage to leave unsafe situations and more, we are appreciative of everyone who has already shared their story and look forward to sharing more GKR Stories in 2025. You can view our GKR stories by clicking here.

Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign

This year also saw us initiate a partnership with 3 charities and debut our ‘Stop Domestic and Family Violence – Purple Belt Campaign’ raising much needed funds and awareness for an issue that affects countless Australians. The support received for this campaign has helped us donate more than:
$72,000 to RizeUp Australia
$19,000 to Shine New Zealand
£6,000 to Refuge United Kingdom
On behalf of everyone involved, I would like to thank you for your support. You can read about our Purple Belt Campaign and associated charities by clicking here.

Online Academy

If you haven’t already activated your 1-month free trial for the Online Academy, now is the time to do so. With a comprehensive library of tailored Karate and Pilates classes the Online Academy is the perfect supplement to your training – especially if you are going away and not able to attend classes in-person over the holiday period. Click here to start your one month free access (unless you’ve done so already).

December/January Class Timetables

Whilst our last regular public classes for 2024 will be on Friday 20th December, it is likely that we will still be running a reduced class timetable in your area over the Christmas/New Year period. Please speak with your Branch Instructor in December about this reduced class timetable. If you’re not going away over this period, we encourage you to keep up your karate routine during this time to maintain the training momentum you have built. Our regular public class timetables will resume in 2025 from Monday 6th January.

Training Fees

Your direct debit training fee rates are based on an annual fee divided by 52 equal weekly payments (or 26 or 12 depending on your payment frequency). As the formal Christmas break period forms part of this 52 week calculation, please note that your normal payments will continue during this time. Again, we encourage students to not only take advantage of our reduced Christmas/New Year timetable, but to also attend as many extra classes as they can during the January school holiday period.

THANK YOU!

I’d like to express my gratitude to all the students who have maintained a consistent approach to their karate training throughout 2024, as well as thank our dedicated branch and senior instructors. The incredible work they do each week is essential to making our wide range of locations and training days possible across the country. Their commitment to delivering high-quality classes this year has, as always, been exceptional.

Merry Christmas

On behalf of the entire senior instructor group, I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and we look forward to seeing you again in the New Year!

Best wishes,

Kancho Robert Sullivan
Founder & Chief Instructor

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Kahn Broughton-Kemp, Australia

We hear how karate has helped 15 year old Kahn with his schooling, confidence and so much more.

Kahn is 15 years old and has been in my care for 10 years now along with his 4 siblings. Kahn had previously tried many different activities, but due to his dyslexia and other disabilities, he was unable to effectively concentrate or follow directions. As a result, his coaches did not have the patience to work with him…… that is until he joined GKR Karate.

Since starting with GKR in February 2022, Kahn has come a long way. I can clearly see the excitement he experiences when learning new things and the sense of achievement he has with each new belt he grades to. Whilst there have certainly been some challenges along the way, Kahn has nonetheless been able to build positive relationships with his Sensei’s, who have persevered through his difficulties.

Kahn was recently offered an opportunity to take on a junior leadership role which was something we never thought would be possible for him. As a result, he has been assisting his Sensei with some of the younger beginners in class each week. It’s lovely to see him supporting and assisting others on their GKR journey and this has done wonders for his self-esteem.

Along with his mental focus, Kahn’s fitness has also improved significantly. He has entered numerous tournaments and earned a State Title for kata in his first year of joining GKR. He has received a student of the year and Junior Sempai of the year award in his region as well.

The benefits that Kahn has gained from karate are huge. He’s not only built some lovely friendships within the GKR community, but I have also had positive feedback from his school on how his Karate has helped him in many ways including showing more patience and self-control.

I can honestly say, as his mum / carer, that for a child whose start in life was pretty tough, he has grown in leaps and bounds to achieve what he has, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. Kahn finally found something that he can achieve for himself and he loves it.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Our October Purple Belt Month saw GKR students wear special purple belts to class in support of our Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign. With special seminars and events taking place in Dojo’s across the country, the GKR Community came together in aid of victim-survivors of domestic and family violence and our charity partners ‘RizeUp’, ‘Shine’ and ‘Refuge’.

RizeUp Australia – $72,040.67 raised!

RizeUp is a community-driven organisation dedicated to supporting those affected by domestic and family violence, working in the space of transformative recovery. They have created various networks and programs to connect victim-survivors to specialist services which includes access to therapeutic counselling, support programs for traumatised children, and logistical assistance for those fleeing a violent household. Their flagship program furnishes homes for victim-survivors and their families and helps them re-build their lives after escaping a violent environment.

Shine New Zealand – $19,490.66 raised!

Shine is a leading specialist family violence service provider in New Zealand dedicated to supporting those affected by domestic and family violence. Each year, they help thousands of adults and children who experience abuse to become safer through frontline services and programmes. Shine works hard to address all aspects of domestic and family violence issues, from safety and recovery to providing meaningful support and assistance to everyone.

Refuge United Kingdom – £6,242.50 raised!

Refuge is a registered charity and the country’s largest single provider of specialist support services for those who have experienced gender-based violence (domestic abuse, sexual violence, forced marriage, ‘honour’-based violence, stalking, trafficking, exploitation, female genital mutilation and modern slavery). Refuge supports thousands of women and their children every day, in our emergency accommodation, our community services, and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, which Refuge runs, and which is the gateway to support services across the country.

Thank you for your support in raising valuable funds and awareness with our Stop Domestic and Family Violence – Purple Belt Campaign. The funds we raised with our first round of belt orders will go a long way to helping those in need. We look forward to providing more support with our second Purple Belt Month in February 2025.

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Kellie, Australia

Kellie from Victoria, Australia, tells her story of leaving a domestic violence relationship and the role karate played in her recovery in this weeks GKR Stories.

**Content Warning – this story describes details of Kellie’s personal experience with domestic violence**

I began my training with GKR Karate around 6 months after my 10 year old son Heath had started.

Heath had been bullied at school and I loved watching him thrive at karate. I’d trained in martial arts before and was starting to feel the ‘itch’ coming back with each class I watched. Finally, in February 2017 after enough watching, I turned up in my gym clothes and said, “I’m joining in today Sensei. Is that ok?” and that is how my journey with GKR began.

Three months after starting karate, I gained the courage to ‘walk away’ from the children’s father and my relationship of 24 years and marriage of 17 years.

The weekend of my yellow belt grading the children and I were in refuge. My half-sister had taken us in and provided us with food, clean clothes, a warm place to sleep and an ear to listen. Sunday morning came and I summoned the courage to get in her car and leave my safe haven to go to grading.

I remember being so self-conscious of my shaking hands. I recall a Sensei walked past and said “It’s ok, relax. You’re doing great!” Little did he know that I wasn’t worried about getting the moves wrong, I was fighting a raging fear of whose face would appear in the crowd and what might happen if they showed.

I made it all the way through the grading with Heath on the sidelines cheering me on. With my yellow belt in my hand, it was like level one had been unlocked and I’d found the passion I’d forgotten about since I’d walked away from martial arts at age 13.

My younger daughter joined in eventually and karate became the glue that held us together, karate was our constant.

Sometimes, in the early days, I would take Heath to class but I wouldn’t train, as I’d spend my training fee money on food when the monthly Food Bank visit was too far away. Thankfully, the generosity of my GKR class mates allowed me to still train on many of these occasions and I will be forever grateful for their care and consideration. Most importantly, my friendship base was growing without any restrictions on who I was ‘allowed’ to speak with.

We moved to the northern suburbs a little before COVID hit. Then, fresh out of Covid an opportunity came up to teach a GKR Karate class 10 minutes down the road. The welcome we all received from the students and other instructors was amazing.

When I graded to Shodan Ho, most of my family were there to watch, along with almost every Karateka friend I had met along the way. The room was full and so was my heart. My hands no longer shook either. As time went on, the worries of what went on in our background would melt away with each class and my ability to trust slowly returned.

Fast forward to the present day and I am now the Dojo Manager of the Wallan Dojo in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. We have big goals for our dojo and all of our amazing students. With the support of Sensei Jason and Sensei Steve, I finally feel like I am running towards something, instead of running from it.

Simply put, GKR Karate saved our lives. I now support and sustain our family home myself, without any additional assistance. The future is bright for us and I’m excited for what’s next. We can’t thank Kancho enough for creating GKR for everyone.

Watch Kellie tell her story in the video below…

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Georgia (Grim) Brain, Australia

This week in GKR Stories, we speak with Georgia Brain from Victoria, Australia. Georgia shares with us the challenges she faced in class being deaf and how her instructors and the GKR community have helped her overcome and thrive in the class environment and beyond.

I joined GKR on a whim after meeting two Sensei’s at my local shopping centre. I needed to find a form of exercise that kept me interested and engaged, and having done extensive martial arts in my teenage years, it helped me remember how much I loved it. I signed up on the spot.

My fitness level at the time was non-existent. I was heavily reliant on a walking stick and I had no stamina. My brain remembered but my body thought I was crazy. My progress was slow but I took the opportunity to enjoy the journey. I remember the thrill of earning my orange belt and the sense of accomplishment that came with it.

I needed to take a year off due to health issues and moved from Melbourne to Ballarat. I was initially concerned about this disrupting my karate training but I quickly found my place in the GKR family again after discovering classes close by. I started to train 3 nights a week.

The biggest hurdle I have faced is that I am deaf with a lowercase ‘d’, meaning I have some hearing but essentially in class settings I become completely deaf. My Sensei made sure to show me what to do but I still felt isolated, often missing counts and instructions.

One of my Sensei’s, Sensei Mick, expressed a desire to learn Auslan (sign language) so he could ‘talk’ to me during class. I showed him a new sign or two each week and before long, other sensei’s wanted to learn too. My youngest daughter, Sensei Mick and I, set about creating a dictionary for the Sensei and Sempai to learn Auslan at their own pace so they could talk to me as well.

Not all Auslan signs translate to Karate terms so we had to adapt some signs and create others. The end result was a resource that was by far more comprehensive than I imagined, but it has been a life changer for me and I think for the instructors as well.

I love my GKR family, they have embraced my language and are making such a positive impact to my enjoyment of the art.

Watch Georgia tell her story in the video below…

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Wow!  What a month it’s been.  We have just held our biggest ever World Cup, including our 40^th Anniversary Celebration and Merch release; saw special new grades awarded to some of our most senior instructors; and completed our very first RizeUp ‘Homes’ project.  Here’s a quick recap for you.

World Cup

With our biggest ever World Cup taking place at Netball Central in the Sydney Olympic Park Precinct – it was great to see everyone competing in the true spirit of Karate-do.  With more than 1440 competitors, the stage was set for some epic showdowns.

We crowned new World Champions, broke competitor records and had an amazing time doing it. Click the button below for a full list of results from the weekend. We also had a fantastic crew of volunteer photographers taking photos at the event and suggest, if you haven’t already, check out the action shots from the World Cup by clicking the button below.

World Cup RESULTS  World Cup photography

Once again, we would like to thank all our officials and management team, and our sponsors; Dependable Strata; 5^th Avenue Jewellers; Sir Properties; Aviso Broking; and Conroy Removals, for their support in helping us make the 2024 World Cup the huge success that it was.

40^th Anniversary

More than 650 people danced the night away with the Party Anthem Band at our 40^th Anniversary Celebration and World Cup After Party.  There was plenty of entertainment for the kids (big and small) with arcade games from Arcade Machines Australia and a photobooth that was kept busy all night. In fact, we’re told that our celebration had the most amount of photos taken on that machine at an event ever…GKR folk are definitely not camera shy!  Complete with a birthday cake and sing-a-long, it was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the end of a very successful World Cup and 40 years of our amazing club.

Our 40^th Anniversary commemorative merchandise previewed at the World Cup and was the talk of the town.  With a sleek design that celebrates our 40 year history, we’re excited to let you know that we have opened orders for our 40^th Anniversary merchandise for a limited time only.  So, if you thought you’d missed out, fear not, we have your back, front and head (and wrist) covered with our limited edition 40^th Anniversary hoodies, tees, caps, beanies and watches! Orders close Sunday 6th October in Australia;  Sunday 13^th October in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and will be available to collect at class in November.  

Order Yours…

Australia click here ; New Zealand click here; United Kingdom click here.

Stop Domestic & Family Violence Campaign

In late July, Kyoshi Gavin and a small team of volunteers met with RizeUp CEO Nicolle Edwards and Business Lead Debbie Kennedy, to participate in a ‘Homes’ set-up.  It was a great insight into the valuable work that RizeUp does and an opportunity for GKR to offer practical support to our charity partner.  Click here to read about the set-up and see some photos from the day. If you are in Australia and would like to volunteer as part of our GKR team in any future Homes projects, then please email us at charities@gkrkarate.com

Purple Belt orders have closed for now and will be delivered to you mid-late September, in time for you to wear to class at the start of October.  We can’t wait to see photos of you in your purple belt shared on social media with the hashtag #GKRPurpleBeltCampaign #GKRCommunity

Okinawa Karate-Do Seminars In Australia & New Zealand

Kancho James Pankiewicz from Okinawa is visiting Australia (QLD, NSW and VIC) and New Zealand (Auckland and Wellington) in September/October to conduct seminars on Okinawan ‘Tomari-Tei’ techniques, kata self defence applications, principles of combat and much more.  For more information on seminar locations and dates, please click here.

Major Achievements

On Wednesday 14th August we conducted a special 5 hour seminar for our senior instructors and their karate leadership teams.  With more than 120 of these key people in attendance, we are proud to announce the progression of a number of these longstanding instructors to special grade levels.

In amongst these gradings were 2 very special recipients, both of whom graded to 6th Dan and were bestowed the title of Renshi Shihan by Kancho.

Special congratulations to our new Renshi’s – Brett Vanderwiel from Victoria and David Gugich from Christchurch (NZ).

Our other special grades were awarded to Daniel Zivanov (5th Dan); Sharon McGregor (5th Dan); Jenna Sinclair (4th Dan); Andrew Howell (4th Dan); Josh Saunders (4th Dan); Neil Boddington (4th Dan); Ray Bettridge (4th Dan). Congratulations to all!

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