The 16year old Dee Why champion fighter took up martial arts in 2007, encouraged by her mum, who said “every girl should have self defence up their sleeve”. But then she soon discovered she had the talent to get more out of the sport than first expected.

Zaunders won the under 18 (full contact colts division) at the Australia Martial Arts Championships (AMAC) last year. She will head to Japan in October to represent Australia in the World Martial Arts Championships.

Coached by Tim Reilly at Zen Chi Ryu Brookvale, Zaunders will be joined by her fellow dojo members Julius Togia and Dailey King in Japan.

The path to success is a little different for Togia and King. The good mates joined the dojo to train full-time one year ago to improve their rugby fitness.

Reilly said Togia and King were getting themselves into a bit of trouble, prompting him to give them a golden opportunity. “I found out they were having a bit of trouble both inside and outside of school,” he said.

“I gave them the keys to the gym and they had the chance to decide between the gym and the streets…they chose the gym.”

Last year Togia, 17, was runner-up at the national championships for the under 18 (full contact colts division) heavyweight title.

The 114kg athlete, who packs a mean right hand, is looking forward to Japan.

King is also keen, having reeled off five straight wins after losing his first fight.

Written by Bryn Kay – published in the Manly Daily 23/02/2012

Message from Renshi Debbie:

Well 2012 is here and what a big year it is going to be. With new fulltime dojos opening, students numbers growing quickly, BIG demonstrations and records to be made and broken, training camps, gradings, Warrior Way, tournaments, cage/ MMA fights and Australian titles to win and defend.. Wow it’s going to be huge. We also have old friends joining back with us, enhancing an already wonderful martial art discipline we are a part of. So I hope that everyone is ready to put their all in this year, some have already started, as it is going to be a great and memorable year!! See everyone soon, train hard, focus and enjoy. Conceive. Believe. Achieve…… Renshi Debbie

Conceive. Believe. Achieve

Shihan Tim

]]> http://www.zenchiryu.com/news/warrior-camp-2011-2/feed/ 0 http://www.zenchiryu.com/news/warrior-camp-2011-%e2%80%93-kempsey-dojo/ http://www.zenchiryu.com/news/warrior-camp-2011-%e2%80%93-kempsey-dojo/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:59:58 +0000 admin http://www.zenchiryu.com/?p=1082 On the weekend of the 28^th to the 31^st of October, 110 students from Zen Chi Ryu Australia converged on Yarrahapinni, a small coastal town on the Mid North Coast of NSW, for their annual Warrior Way Black Belt Camp. The ZCR martial arts schools that were involved in this camp were the Northern Beaches dojo from Sydney, Penrith dojo, Cambridge Park dojo, Kempsey dojo, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast dojo from Queensland.

The Kempsey branch of Zen Chi Ryu, were the hosts for this awe inspiring grading camp for this year. The Warrior Way for all the Instructors and students of Zen Chi Ryu Kempsey is the pinnacle of what we are about, what we believe and what we want to be. It is a chance to come together with the other dojos around the country to renew and develop friendships, learn new skills, demonstrate our strengths, meet and conquer our challenges and to make memories that will last for each of us for the rest of our lives.

The Kempsey dojo trains hard in preparation for the physical and mental aspects of the camp for many months in advance. We are aware of the toughness, the determination and the focus that is needed for such a camp. Hosting the Warrior Way in 2011 was a highlight for our dojo, as we were able to showcase our home to the other ZCR dojos, the beautiful area of the Mid North Coast of NSW, which for the perspective of tourism for the area had a major impact as all the surrounding holiday parks were booked, due to accommodating family members of the students of Zen Chi Ryu.

Having all students being an active participant of such an event has left all of the Kempsey students inspired, eager and has encouraged the development of the confidence in their own abilities and self concept. The junior students from Zen Chi Ryu Kempsey joined the Warrior Way on the Saturday to grade for their coloured belts. These students, their families and friends were able to witness and be a part of the true determination and amazing feats that were demonstrated over the course of the day, leaving all students believing that they can achieve anything that they want to achieve in their life. It also reveals to the families what their children and family members are truly capable for example of this are a 15 year old boy breaking 7 bricks with an elbow strike, a 7 year old boy breaking his first brick with a palm strike, a 45 year old woman completing 1000 push ups or a 38 year old man completing his 100 man kumite. It just shows what you are capable of and what you can achieve when you have the correct training that Zen Chi Ryu offers to all of its students and family.

Debbie Swanson

After checking into the accommodation we headed to the main auditorium were we had a quick warm up and stretch then were split up into groups for the start of the nights program. First we did 1000 sit ups and 1000 push ups all the time people in the group taking turns to count each one and also supporting the weaker members of the group to finish the exercise before the allotted time ran out or face a further 500 ea of the push ups and sit ups. We then split up into teams of 2 alternating between hold and counting while the other did 4000 front kicks from this we all then formed 2 start lines and counted down while doing 5000 punches to the bag. As the clock passed the witching hour we were lined up by Shihan Tim Reilly who ordered us into a horse riding stance which we held for 45 minutes finally getting to bed at about 1.30am.

Saturday saw us up early, still sore from Friday nights work out; to loosen us up we were sent on a 7kms run along the beautiful Yarraphinni beach, where we saw whales breaching in the ocean off shore. Then into our gees for the official bow in after the ceremony it was back to camp to start the day’s program. We toiled under the hot sun till midday doing Kata work, repeating each Kata many times first slow then building up in speed and power until Shihan Shane Hinton believed we had them right. After lunch we competed in brick breaking with many of our younger females competing for the first time and surprising themselves on their ability. The afternoon saw us compete in individual katas and weapon katas and sparring with all adults and secondaries judge on style and effort with all points tallied towards the overall champions in their age and disciplines.

The sparing consisted of punishing 2 minute rounds of full contact fighting on which tested not only our physical fitness but also our mental endurance. One of our fighters was attempting his 1^st Dan and another, his 2^nd Dan so had to fight continuous 40 and 100 rounds both were able to complete the task and both were spent afterwards.

Sunday we again started with a 3 km run on the beach followed by demonstration in the finer art of wrestling, weapon katas and individual katas. The competition for the individual trophies was so close between the competitors that some were asked to perform them again or were asked to do an impromptu kata so a winner could be decided. After this those who had achieved and done their best were awarded their new belts and trophies then it was time for the bow out and our goodbyes.

The warrior camp is a true test for ones physical fitness and endurance it is also a test of mental stamina to continue on when the body is suffering from the pain and exhaustion that the weekend puts you through and to be able to say you have survived a warrior camp is awesome.

By Simon Covey

Zen Chi Ryu

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Big day tomorrow for Zen Chi Ryu – we have over 120 students doing their grading. Good luck everyone and have fun!

2011 Australian Champion in U18′s Female Colts Full Contact Division: Tina Zaunders

2011 Australian Champion in U18′s Male Colts Full Contact Division: Dailey King

2011 Australian Runner Up in Male Heavyweight Open Full Contact Division: Eddie Vuki

What a fantastic result for these young fighters. We look forward to seeing you all defend your Australian titles next year.

Yours in Zen Chi Ryu,

Shihan Tim Reilly

The Saturday saw all of Zen Chi Ryu Kempsey’s coloured belts join in with the Black Belt grading, which raised the total of students in attendance to over 100. Students travelled to Yarrahappinni from the Brisbane, Cambridge Park, Leonay, Northern Beaches and the Sunshine Coast Dojos to attend Warrior Way 2011. The Kempsey Dojo had their largest contingent of black belts ever grading for their perspective belts – this is an excellent achievement for this branch of ZCR!

A few personal highlights for me were: to bear witness to Peter Attard’s 100 man kumite – which he completed successfully and with style and was promoted to his 3rd Dan. Another highlight was the amount of skill and determination applied to the brick breaking section this year. The criteria was different, as it wasn’t the amount of bricks that were broken but rather if the bricks were broken correctly with good technique. The student’s force shone through this section and everyone was successful! Way to go – even some of the little kids had a go and how excited are they now!!

The ZCR tournament was very closely contested and using a point system, it allowed for fairness and consistency throughout the competition. The weapon katas displayed in the competition were fantastic. Big congratulations to one and all!

The winners and runner-ups for this tournament were:

PRIMARY:
Winner: Connor Deane (Northern Beaches)
Runner Up: Luke Burns (Kempsey)

SECONDARY MALE:
Winner: Jack Wheeldon (Kempsey)
Runner up: Zack Ristovski (Brisbane)

SECONDARY FEMALE:
Winner: Sabrina Covey (Northern Beaches)
Runner Up: Madeline Downey (Cambridge Park)

ADULT MALE:
Winner: Peter Attard (Leonay)
Runner Up: Scott Black (Northern Beaches)

ADULT FEMALE:
Winner: Katrina Steedman (Northern Beaches)
Runner Up: Sara Miguel (Kempsey)

It was also great to see Shihan Shane and Shihan Claire receive their ZCR medals for 30 years and 25 years respectively, in recognition of their dedication to ZCR. I am also a bit humbled in receiving a ZCR medal for my dedication to my students. It was lovely to be recognised but my students make it easy, we have a great group up here in Kempsey.

On a more personal aspect for me, a memorable highlight was to see my little student Cameron Wiseman, come out to train with us on the Saturday. Cameron is the little boy that we fundraised for at the beginning of the year as he was severely burnt to most parts of his body, through a gas bottle accident. It is so heart-warming to see him out there with his peers, training under Zen Chi Ryu with his little suit and mask on and what courage he displays. The Wiseman’s are a fantastic family and after everything they have gone through this year, they are getting their lives back on track and Zen Chi Ryu is a part of it!!

So overall, a fantastic weekend where challenges were faced and conquered, memories made, friendships and family connections were renewed and established, and personal achievements and goals were met. Thank you to everyone who travelled to Yarrahappinni to make this year’s Warrior Way camp, one of the best to date.

I look forward to catching up with everyone soon and if not before, see you at Warrior Way 2012 at Narrabeen.

Conceive. Believe. Achieve.

Yours in Zen Chi Ryu

Renshi Debbie
Kempsey dojo

1^st place in Full Contact (no gloves) Boys 80kgs Division: Daley.
2^nd Place in Girls U18 Division: Tina Zaunders.
4^th place in Weapons Kata Demonstration: Sabrina Covey

5^th place in U18 Point Sparing: Peter

3^rd place in Adults Full Contact (no gloves) Division: Eddie
He could not get a fight in the under 17yrs Division so excellent effort.

Congratulations and well done to all.

Shihan Tim Reilly