Last time I began a newsletter, I started by saying “Term 1 is finished and I still think it’s summertime in January”…
Term 2 is now finished, and while it’s not summer any more, we are now closer to next summer than last summer – which means Christmas is closer too… How about that?
I’d like to welcome our new members and friends in class – if this is your first newsletter, we hope you enjoy it and please refer to the information at the bottom of the page for details about our fees, bank account, uniforms and training equipment.
First, some thanks for your patience
For those who may not know, since our last newsletter my family and I have been very busy both finding, and moving into, a new house. This has meant that I have had much (much!) less time to spend working on the needs of the class, so if I have missed anything, taken too long to complete anything, or simply just not done as much as I usually do, please forgive me as a lot of my time and resources has been stretched very thin.
As we are now moved in and (mostly) settled, I will try to write more newsletters and ensure that we have more equipment in classes again.
For those that need a good laugh, the main reason we have had very little gear in class was that my car got stuck in the mud at the bottom of my new property, and it took a month to get it out – that’s my own stupid fault though.
Big thank to Sensei Bron and her husband Noel for pulling my car out.
Organisation Update
For those who don’t know, Ryukyu Kempo is the name of our martial art. Ryukenkan Dojo is the name of our school, but we fall under a larger umbrella which is called Community Martial Arts.
Community Martial Arts NZ Inc is a non-profit incorporated society which allows us to offer donations-based classes.
Donations have been steady for 2025 and our bank account is sitting around the $3000 mark. We are making all our rent payments on time and all of this is good news.
In the future, we would like to look at expanding our equipment and eventually having our own building, to do this, we need more people and more donations.
If you can help in any way, please let us know. If you’re already making donations – thank you very much, you are helping us provide these classes.
If you’re new and you want to donate, you can find the banking information at the bottom of this newsletter.

Membership Information
As part of our Incorporated Society status, we are required to keep membership information for everyone who trains with us. This info is also important if we need to contact people in the event that we have to cancel a class, or if there is an injury in class.
Can we ask everyone to pop over to this webpage and complete the online membership form please?
If you are 100% sure that you have already done this, you can skip this step, but if any info may have changed, please complete another form so we can keep track.
Grade Testing
We didn’t squeeze a test in at the end of Term 2. Mostly because of my commitments and lack of spare time and resources to help students prepare to test.
We will spend Term 3 focusing on getting those people who didn’t test at the end of Term 1 through their tests.
One of the biggest problems we have faced has been the lack of Bo in classes – I only have 3 or 4 bo spare at the moment, and we have many more people who need to learn.
As we have lost so much weapons training time because I could not get the gear to class, we will exempt people from their bo requirements for the next test. You will need to make up the short fall before your can test again after that, but for now, let’s keep things moving.
Belt Knots
Sensei Paul has declared War!
Yes, Sensei Paul has declared war one belts that aren’t tied properly.
As many will know from recent classes, Sensei Paul has been closely monitoring how belts are tied. Sensei has said that he will not approve grade testing for anyone who can’t tie a belt properly.
Here is a link to a short video showing how to tie your belt.
Please take the time to learn how to tie your belt. If you have been training with us for more than 6 months and you can’t tie your belt, YOU need to fix this.
Uniforms
Are you allowed to play other sports if you’re not in your correct uniform?
We have a number of graded students who are attending class either with no uniform, or with part uniforms.
The most common excuse we hear is “I forgot to bring it…”
Are you allowed to say that at basketball? soccer? rugby?
Karate is no different – please make an effort. The class looks incredible when everyone is in uniform, in their correct place in the line up and all looking sharp.
Remember, the minimum uniform is black track pants and a black or white T-Shirt – both of these can be brought from The Warehouse for under $10.
Please make an effort – when new members begin with us and they see a bunch of people in school clothes, other sports uniforms or with uniforms covered in grass stains, it makes us all look a little sad.
Student Equipment – Bo (long staff)
Although we have a few weapons to lend, students are expected to purchase their own equipment as they progress. If you’re past Yellow belt, you should own your own bo.
We can do a group order if people are interested. At the very bottom of this newsletter are links to buy bo from Auckland Martial Arts. If you would like to purchase a student quality bo that will last for many years, please let me know and we will place a group order which will save on courier costs.
If you’re looking for a cheaper option for the short term, Mitre10 or Bunnings offer 22mm or 25mm dowel 1.8m long – these are ideal for teens and adults and 1.5m long for younger students.
Behaviour Points Update
At the start of this year we implemented Behaviour Points to help people focus on what is important at home and in class.
We want to celebrate positive improvement, so I want to call out that we didn’t have to use the Behaviour Point system at all in Term 2!
That being said, please remember that Behaviour Points celebrate good behaviour too
If you know of someone who needs to be celebrated for their successes at home, in school, at work or in class, please let us know so we can share the news.
Since our last newsletter, one big celebration we can share is how Sensei Ian was recognised at work for a project he helped build and implement across the whole country. I’m not going to spoil the surprise, but you can find more information here and a Facebook video here.
Even though as Instructors, we’re not eligible for collecting Behaviour Points, it is our job to stand up and stand out as we make a difference.
Make sure you celebrate Sensei Ian’s efforts when you see him next in class!
Please Leave a Review
We have a new class page on the Active Activities website and we need reviews from students, parents and friends of the class.
We collected a number of incredible reviews from our last efforts – thanks to everyone who took the time.
If you can find the time to leave a review here we would greatly appreciate it as it helps us get noticed and helps other people find out about all the great things we are doing and can help people achieve

School Achievements – Checking before testing
Because I got it wrong for the last tests, we didn’t include School Achievements in the last tests.
I will get it right this time – parents, we will ask you to tell us if our students are making the right kind of effort at school. That doesn’t always mean high test scores or winning all the time, but it does mean effort and behaving in ways that we expect from good people and young adults who will grow up and be the new generation of New Zealand leaders.
Please keep an eye out and remember, if you’re testing, we will check your performance at school.

Preparing for Testing
As you prepare for testing, if you need a refresher of what you need to learn, remember to check the curriculum pages.

Home Practice
Martial Arts is like any other sport, hobby or subject you wish to learn. You can only do so much in class. If you’re not putting in 1-2 hours per week at home, you will only go so far.
For new students up to Orange belt, 1 x 90 minute class per week is probably enough, but 2 classes is better.
For Purple belt and Blue belt, 2 x 90 minute classes per week is essential, and 1-2 hours of home practice is essential.
Once you get to Green belt, 2 x 2 hour classes per week and 3-4 hours of home practice is a must.
Students who reach Brown belt will need to attend more than 90% of 2 hour classes during the year and invest more than an hour per day of practice at home.
As more students reach Green and Brown belts, we will also start weekend sessions. These are usually on a Sunday afternoon and last 1 to 2 hours. They have traditionally been taught from my home where I have more training equipment available. We will begin to look at this as people progress.
The message here is:
If you’re not practicing at home, you won’t improve and you won’t progress.
The responsibility lies with you.

One of the really, really cool things about my new home is that we have lots and lots of space, We have bush, paddocks, gardens, hills and lots of space on the grass.
I’m still working out how to make it happen, but I would like to think we can host a “Ryukyu Kempo day camp” when the weather improves and host everyone here for a full day of training and activity. Watch this space and I’ll see what we can make happen.
Student Drive for 2025

Big thanks and warm welcome to our new members!
If you know anyone who might be interested, please invite them to try our classes – remember the first 10 classes are free.
Helping out in 2025
Yes, I said we would have an Annual General Meeting in April. yes, I am still trying to make it happen. No, there is still not enough of me to go around!
We need help with:
- Recruitment – getting new faces
- Social Media – telling our story
- Fundraising – applying for grants and funding
- “General Ideas” – if you’ve got thoughts about how things can be improved – we’re listening!

Banking Information
For any new students who need the details, our class bank account is:
Bank: Kiwibank
Acct Name: RYUKYU KEMPO KARATE
Acct Number: 38-9012-0728171-00
Suggested Donations are:
Kids / Students: $30 per school term
Adults: $60 per school term
Again, we would also like to shout out thanks to those people who have donated beyond the suggested amounts – it means a lot and we are very grateful.
If you’re a new member and have been attending for 10 classes or more, please consider adding your donation to the account. Feel free to chat with us if you have any questions or concerns.
Social Media Links:
You can find more information and learning material on these links:
General Information:
(We’ll keep this here for people to refer to)
Uniforms:
A few people have been asking where to get uniforms, so let’s look at what the options are:
- Trackies and T’s
Plain black track pants and a plain black or white TShirt are perfectly fine for training – this is the cheapest option. I haven’t checked lately, but if I’m still correct, The Warehouse have budget brand trackies and tees for about $10ea. This is perfectly fine, and for students who aren’t sure they want to invest in a full uniform, this is the best option.
- Dojo TShirt
From time to time we will place orders for dojo tshirts. These will be well publicised and cost around $45 per shirt. The colours available are:

White

Grey

Green

Blue

Pink

Coral
T-shirt prints have the dojo kanji on the front, and big logo on the rear:
- Karate Uniforms
If you wish to have a full uniform, you have the choice of either an all-white or all-black uniform. Check out the links below for places to purchase:
Belts:
Following the donations-based approach, we have a few options for belts
- Belt Library
We would like to establish a “belt library”. The idea is simple. Unless you wish to keep each and every belt you earn, when you’re done with a belt, you donate it to the library and we can recycle it back to another student in the future. At the moment, we only have a few belts of a few colours, so this will take time to build up a stock.
If you’ve got belts you would like to donate to the library, please drop them to us in class.
- Borrowed/Gifted
If you’d like to lend or gift one of your belts to a fellow student, feel free to make those arrangements with the instructors. For example, if ‘Bob’ is an orange belt, and ‘Bill’ is a yellow belt, ‘Bob” can gift “bill” his Orange belt when ‘Bob’ grades to purple. ‘Bill’ still has to test, but he gets to wear ‘Bob’s’ gifted belt when ‘Bill’ passes the test.
- New Belts
If you prefer new, we can order new belts or provide links for you to order them yourselves. Sizing belts can be a tricky affair – it’s really easy to get confused and order the wrong size. We’re happy to help and in time, I hope to buy a set of “test belts” for people to try on for size.
Training Equipment:
The biggest expense for people is always the gear. Remember, we aim to keep this as affordable as possible.
The following gear is needed as students progress:
Beginners:
Mouthguard and gloves – any sports mouthguard is fine. Consult a dentist for further information if you have braces or dental problems. For gloves, we use Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) gloves – these are lightly padded, fingerless gloves and are (unfortunately) one of the most expensive pieces of equipment. Until students have both, and wear them in class, we have to restrict some levels of training for safety reasons.
Bo Staff:
The first weapons people need will be a 1.8m staff. The cheapest and easiest way to buy one is at Mitre 10 or Bunnings (link for Bunnings) – dowel is about half the price of a hardwood staff, however they do break. If you can afford a full bo/staff, please consider purchasing one as it will be cheaper in the long run.
Students under 1.5m tall: Youth Bo
Above 1.5m tall: Regular Tapered Bo