With apologies to David Swift, I have finally posted his “Karate Belt” video. David animated this himself as part of his grading requirements for Black Belt. This is excellent work that David should be very proud of.
Again, David, I apologise for taking so very long to post this.
It’s been a year since Sensei Ron died. I miss him.
It is with great sadness that I write of the passing of our beloved Sensei Ron Darlington. Sensei Ron was a great teacher, mentor, and friend. His experience, knowledge, skills, and patience brought so much to our Dojo. He will be missed.
I scanned the ROKC picture gallery and found two pictures that I think typify Ron.
The first shows Ron sporting that impish grin that many of us are familiar with. While he could be very serious, he also had fun. He made it fun for everybody around him. The second picture is an image often repeated: Ron discussing the nuances and finer points of a technique or Kata.
I think that Barb sums up how we feel:
Sensei Ron beamed whenever I entered the dojo…his smile was so welcoming and lovely, he would light up the room with that smile! I loved his gentle demeanor, kind voice and awesome karate advice! When he taught us, he was serious about what he was teaching (as he should be) but at the same time put fun into the things we were learning…he would often have us smiling or giggling at some point. He was so much fun in the ladies class (the couple I caught).
Sensei Ron was very dedicated to his martial arts and he taught us well. I will always remember how he helped me with my various katas and self defence – a very patient man!
Ron will forever be in our memories as a great person, friend and mentor, we loved him.
There are a great many things that I like about the ROKC. Last Thursday, I was reminded of one of my favourite things. It was very simple, “Hi, my name is Dan”. Sensei Dan Bailey is our highest and most experienced instructor next to Sensei Albert. With this statement, he introduced himself to a 12 year old student, not as “Sensei Dan”, but just “Dan”. This, of course, was just moments before he started to work with the student on a Kata; not just tell the student what to do, it was more of a peer-with-more-experience-to-peer sort of thing.
I love the total lack need to assert rank. This experience reminds me of something I overheard a couple of years ago: a then 16-year old Sensei Kate asked a student to stop calling her “Sensei” outside of the Dojo. We have some great people in our Dojo.
We haven’t compiled an official list of results yet, but the sense I got over the weekend was that the ROKC Kids Tournament was a grand success. We had participation by dozens of students (I’d estimate ~50) from a least three different clubs. We had students of all ranks from white to black belt (though there were relatively few black belts). For me, the best part was getting to “play” with the black belts from other clubs.
This series of tournaments is intended to be fun, and it was that. If anybody has any pictures, please forward them to me so that we can add them to the gallery.
Remember that the ROKC Fall Kids’ Tournament is this weekend, November 3. Registration starts at 9:00 am; the tournament starts at 10:00 am. There’ll be categories for katas, sparring, grappling, team katas, and weapons. There will be events for students of all ranks, including white belts. Students aged 15 years and younger are invited to attend.
We have been announcing the kids’ tournament at our club on Saturday November 3. This is a friendly intra-club tournament to give kids a bit of competition but it’s a lot of fun and gives the kids a chance to meet with other young martial artists.
Classes on November 3 will be replaced by the tournament.
In preparation for one of the categories for the tournament, we will be putting on a grappling (wrestling) seminar for the kids during the Jiu-Jitsu time on Saturday, October 27 – from 10 a.m. (after karate) to approx. 11:30 a.m. Sensei Albert, along with a couple of our experienced grappling students, will show the kids some good techniques for grappling. At past tournaments, our kids have always done well and it is a real crowd pleaser!
No experience is needed. Come out and give it a try, whether you are planning to participate in the tournament or not. For more details, feel free to speak to one of the Senseis or Laura. There is no cost for this seminar.
We hope all our students will participate in the tournament – we will even have a category for Te Waza if you are a brand new student!! The kids will receive medals for their efforts! Parents and family are welcome to watch and cheer the kids on! A canteen is provided as well for hotdogs and snacks.
If you’ve been watching our calendar, you’ve probably noticed the Kyoshi Jean Frenette Seminar scheduled for this weekend. This seminar has been moved to November 11/2007.
Howdy folks. Just a quick reminder that we’re changing the start time for Jiu Jitsu tonight from the usual 6:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Tonight we’re starting a weapon’s seminar series with Sensei Mike Sywyk. The seminar runs from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Rideau Osgoode Karate Club.
Greetings folks and welcome to the ROKC blog. This is a forum that we’ll use (likely sporadically) to discuss issues concerning the Rideau Osgoode Karate Club.
