As usual lots has been happening at Tai Shi Kai over the last few months and there are no signs of things slowing down as the year progresses.

In June Sempai’s Luke, Scott, Ben and Genevieve successfully attempted their Nidan (2nd degree) Black Belt gradings. The grading took about 2 and half hours and culminated in each of the Sempai’s doing a ten man kumite (10 minutes of sparring against a fresh opponent every minute). A few “windings” and minor bruises were the only injuries anyone suffered despite 40 minutes of combat! This is a testament to the level of control that was on display. After the final grading all the seniors from Tai Shi Kai went out for a celebratory dinner which was enjoyed by all.

Also in June Sempai Genevieve celebrated her 30th Birthday. In a change from the normal parties that she has had for her birthdays, Sempai Genevieve decided to have a fancy dress party. The theme was “Heroes and Villains.” All the seniors from Tai Shi Kai attended and went well beyond Sempai’s expectations when it came to dressing up. For proof of this see the photo below!

In July Sempai Evan attempted his Sandan (3rd degree) Black Belt grading. To prepare for this he had been put through his paces throughout the year by Sensei Linda and Shihan. They must have done an excellent job with Sempai Evan because his grading was done at a high standard. Sempai Evan has now earned the title Sensei. Congratulations Sensei Evan!

We have recently had an email from our Finnish friend Jenni to say that she is hoping to come to Melbourne to study a course at RMIT next year. This means that we may soon see her smiling face back in the Mitcham dojo. We welcome her return.

Coming up later this year we have our bi-annual camp at Anglesea (in October). This should be a weekend of fun, vigorous training and socialising.

Sempai Robert will also be opening the Perth dojo before the end of the year.

In other news this website has been given another overhaul – we have new photos on our photo and kihon kumite pages. New essays from the Nidan and Sandan gradings (see the weapons and instructor pages) have also been added, our dojo list has been updated and our instructor profiles have also been added to. So there is lots of new stuff to see.