Karate Photos for 2019
2019 was a great year for our dojo as you can see from our karate photos. We got back to representing traditional martial arts in the community by doing some demonstrations. We trained hard, improved our fitness and learned a lot. Here are our successes of the year in pictures.
Our Little Dragons early childhood karate program grew in numbers. These three, four and five-year-olds grew in discipline and respect. Not to mention, they all memorized all of the Dojo Kun! And we don’t even require that they know it by heart at that age.
Our dojo hosts Karate Spring Camp annually on the first full weekend of March. In 2019, we learned a lot, met new friends, and built our teamwork. All students learned a little bit of traditional Okinawan weaponry. Our bokken group (above) showed a great deal of self control and discipline with their kata demonstration.
We all advanced in our knowledge and experience. A vast majority of students showed that by advancing in belt rank. But those who didn’t receive a new belt still improved their speed, agility, strength, fitness, defense skills and smarts, as long as they trained regularly.
Demonstration Karate Photos
In March, Gauger Renshi and I celebrated a milestone of 20 years of karate. We had a party for our dojo and kicked it off with a demonstration.
My first children’s karate picture book came out on May 1st. I was honored to have my family, my dojo family, and lots of friends and associates come to my Book Launch Party. We had guests come from as far as Phoenix, Apache Junction and Sacaton Arizona, as well as Southern California. We also kicked off this fun event with a demonstration.
Several of us represented our dojo at Allan Amor Kaicho’s URKA Summer Camp. We trained, met new karateka and reconnected with our Alliance brothers and sisters.
We had another highlight in our summer. Our demo team was invited to the Broadway Mesa Village Good Times Club. We showed our kata and weapons. The attendees wanted to see a little more after a friendly discussion.
In the autumn of 2019, our demo team branched out even more into the community. We demonstrated at a Kids Safety Event at Old Navy. Afterwards, we had a basic self defense class for anyone who wanted to expand their skills.
Overview of 2019 and Karate Photos
Above all, we kept on training in karate, both together and independently. And we represented our dojo family by using our Dojo Kun both in and outside the school. Our dojo, East Valley Martial Arts was a place to come together and do our best. Sometimes we fell down. But it was a safe place to try our best, fall on our faces, and get back up to see caring and helpful dojo mates – both higher ranks and younger ones. It was a place that we could come and learn and know that we had positive people supporting us. 2019 was a great karate year. We already have a running start on 2020, here’s to another year of striving and learning.
-Jenifer Tull-Gauger