Hey everyone! We hope that you had a great weekend, as we sure did!

This past Saturday was our annual Karate Kids Skills Competition, Tournament, BBQ, Fundraiser, and Black Belt Test day!

We started the morning at Cataraqui Woods Elementary School where over 100 students, instructors, assistants, and family members joined together to test their physical Karate skills through various events in the morning. We held a fundraiser for the Kingston Food Bank, raising over $600 and also donating a bin full of food to help out the organization. We can’t thank you enough for your help with the event.

Our day then continued onwards to Lions Civic Gardens Park where we started our Annual Black Belt Test. Three Karate and Three Kung-Fu students were testing for their 1st Degree Black Belt ranking, as well as many other students for some other ranks.

The event had a wonderful, yet solemn moment, where we unveiled the memorial bench for past student and lifetime dojo member, Renshi Chelsea Tobin. The memorial bench will be permanently installed in the park alongside the beautiful Kuwahara Cherry Tree Promenade at the park that was donated to the City of Kingston back in the summer of 2011 when we had a world gathering event for the DNBK here in Kingston.

The test completed around 9 PM that evening with many successful students earning their new ranks in their respected disciplines. Below is the list of successful students, congratulations on your hard work!

Karate:

Andrew Doucet – Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt)

Matthew Peever – Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt)

Hunter Young – Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt)

Michael Brodie – Nidan (2nd Degree Black Belt)

Derek Broekhoven – Nidan (2nd Degree Black Belt)

Stephen Petsikas – Nidan (2nd Degree Black Belt)

Charlie Ecclestone – Nidan (2nd Degree Black Belt)

Chris Ecclestone – Sandan (3rd Degree Black Belt)

Corey Young – Yondan (4th Degree Black Belt)

Many other students also received ranking in their intermediate belts:

Daphne Callaghan (Purple-Black), Dana Richard (Blue-Black), Daniel Smith (Brown), Hannah Darling (Brown), Noah Dupere (Brown), Stuart Logan (Brown), Robyn Clayfield (Blue), Wayne McCormac (Blue), Doni Hunt (Brown), Thane Poore (Brown), and last but not least, Jim Reid (Brown).

Kung-Fu:

Gabe Lee – Jr. Black Sash

Spencer Brown – 1st Degree Black Sash

Hassan Mahmud – 1st Degree Black Sash

Duncan McLean – 1st Degree Black Sash

Tiffanie Bankosky – Brown Sash

Eugene Filch – Yellow Sash

Congratulations once again!!