The team who flew the Ormond Kyokushin Karate flag high at the Kyokushin nationals are, back row: coach Zak Proudfoot (left), Chantelle Brown, Tom Schroder, Nathan Crosby, Myles Schroder and Catherine Moles (coach); front: Ryder Symon, Sam Hiko jnr and Watson Hiko. Absent: Wyllie Hiko.
The team who flew the Ormond Kyokushin Karate flag high at the Kyokushin nationals are, back row: coach Zak Proudfoot (left), Chantelle Brown, Tom Schroder, Nathan Crosby, Myles Schroder and Catherine Moles (coach); front: Ryder Symon, Sam Hiko jnr and Watson Hiko. Absent: Wyllie Hiko.
Out at Ormond they have a little martial arts club that is quietly making itself heard.
Ormond Kyokushin Karate (OKK) started in January 2020 and two months later had to withstand Covid lockdown restrictions just as it was getting established.
The club survived and now flourishes. Last weekend marked the third year in a row it was represented at its parent organisation’s national tournament.
Eight members of the club competed at the IKO (International Karate Organisation) New Zealand Kyokushin Karate Nationals in Napier last Saturday.
One member, Nathan Crosby, won gold in the senior mid-grade kata (patterns) and silver in the men’s novice under-75kg kumite (fighting).
Two other members – Myles Schroder in the colts (16/17-year-old) u75kg grade and Watson Hiko in the 7/8yo boys u35kg grade – won silver in kumite.
Four other students were third in their grade, but no bronze medals were awarded at the tournament.
Club founder Zak Proudfoot said over 200 competitors took part, so he did not think lack of numbers would have been a factor in bronze medals not being awarded.
The club’s third placings were all in kumite. They were achieved by Ryder Symon in the 8/9yo boys u35kg grade, Sam Hiko (Watson’s elder brother) in the 10/11yo boys 40-to-50kg, Tom Schroder (twin brother of Myles) in the 16/17yo over-75kg, and Wyllie Hiko (elder brother of Watson and Sam) in the colts lightweight (u65kg).
Chantelle Brown was on the tournament floor for the first time, competing in the senior high-grade kata. She was unplaced.
Proudfoot said he was “extremely proud” of the team.
“We had a young, inexperienced team on a large floor [of competitors], and all performed above the odds ... they all showed heart,” he said.
“This was the biggest team we have taken away. It was meant to be nine. Our assistant coach, Catherine Moles, was going to compete but was sidelined with a knee injury.”
Ormond Kyokushin Karate members Nathan Crosby (left), Watson Hiko and Myles Schroder led the club's efforts at the IKO New Zealand Kyokushin Karate Nationals in Napier.
Moles and Proudfoot are the club’s only black belts.
Kumite bouts at the nationals were limited to three minutes, or two minutes for elimination bouts, with the possibility of two minutes for any extension rounds required.
Bouts were full-contact, although up to and including the colts grade, fighters wore headgear and had their chests, hands and feet padded. Mouth and groin guards were compulsory for all grades.
A bout would be stopped for a clean knockdown or a blow that left an opponent unable to continue. That would constitute a full-point victory.
If an opponent was able to continue, the striker would be awarded a half-point and the bout would continue to the end of the round, during which time the opponent could score his own half or full point.
Where a bout could not be decided on points scored, the decision was left to four corner judges and the referee.
“Nathan [Crosby] lost a split decision,” Proudfoot said. “He lost it on the judges’ call, 3-1.”
Kata, or patterns, entails a solo performance of a set form of 20 to 30 moves. Male and female competitors take part in the same division and are assessed on technique and form.
Proudfoot has trained in karate for 25 years. His decision to form his own club came about in part because he wanted to make personal progress and spread his wings.
Another factor was that he lives with his family in Whitmore Rd at Ormond, and he felt teaching karate would be a way of embedding into the local community and contributing to it.
The club has 35 to 40 members and gets 18 to 24 at club nights in the Ormond Community Hall.
“We also get people from outside Ormond,” Proudfoot said.
Sales manager for Sheds4U at Makaraka when not teaching karate, Proudfoot says anyone interested in joining the club can get in touch with him by way of the contact details on the Ormond Kyokushin Karate Facebook page.
