Competition and Achievement

14. Have you competed in any karate tournaments? Tell us about your experience. I’ve lost track of how many I have been in over the years. I think my first tournament was around the age of 10. My first Nationals was the age of 12 because back then no one could represent the state in kumite before that age. I waited patiently till I was old enough. I then represented Australia at the age 13 in my first international held in Budapest Hungary. It was unforgettable experience with 96 competitors in my division. It was my biggest lesson in being adaptable. When we go there the rings were one metre smaller, the matches were shorted from 2 minutes to 1 minute 30 and they changed the scoring to 3 ippon’s (back then they were 2 points). I ended up with a bronze medal and I remember being disappointed at the time. From then on I travelled the world with the National team up until the age of 24. I had some fantastic experiences. My dad as National coach always made sure the team went on a holiday after the competitions so even if you didn’t do as well as you would have liked you made memories. Some of these included going to Florida Disney world, Universal studios, cruising the Greek Isles, going on Safari in South Africa.

15. What achievement are you most proud of? I have a few achievements I am proud of. Competitively getting a Bronze at the World Championships was an amazing experience. Australia hadn’t had a medalled in 8 years at that time so it was pretty exciting at the time and my team mates cheered me through 6 rounds. Also never losing my weight division at Nationals and Australian Open was pretty cool too now that I look back on it.

Since my competitive career ended I am now most proud of my dojo and the people who are now getting through the ranks. I’ve had a few black belts and now have several brown belts who are on the way. It’s pretty awesome watching students go all the way through the ranks as karate takes discipline and commitment and the students who can get all the way to that level male me very proud. It’s even more special when you see them giving back to others an passing there knowledge down through the club.

16. What challenges have you overcome through karate? I was pretty lucky to have my body hold up very well throughout my career however I was competing at a women’s World Cup in France and I took down my opponent down. As I attempted to score on her she booted her heel in my eye. I continued to fight even though I couldn’t see well. The score was 7-1 I was losing and after she hurt me the adrenaline kicked in and I managed to come back and win in 45 seconds. When I got back to Australia I later discovered I had a torn retina, luckily it heeled.

17. What are your current karate goals? As a coach I have several goals. They include growing my club, continuing to coach the state team with hope that one day I can coach the National Team. I’d also love one day to produce my own world champion student.

18. What are you working on improving right now? I am always working on how I teach and how I coach. Coaching/teaching is always about learning and adapting to different people and their needs. There is a lot of self reflection involved.