Karate Canberra: Kodokan Cummings Karate Dojo

One thing I often say to our students is: burst your bubble.

If we only ever train within our own dojo, with the same people, instructors, and perspectives, how do we truly understand the value of our training? Getting out and training with other clubs, styles, and instructors broadens our understanding and helps us grow.

That's why we encourage our students to attend seminars, visit other dojos, and connect with the wider martial arts community. We've also been fortunate to welcome instructors from other clubs into our dojo, and every time we do, everyone benefits.

The more we share knowledge, support one another, and work together, the stronger traditional karate and kobudo become. It elevates our community, creates more opportunities for students, and encourages greater participation across all ages.

At the end of the day, the time and money we invest in training are our own. We should never stop exploring the martial arts we love, learning from others, and expanding our horizons.

Keep training, keep learning... burst your bubble.

Our monthly Yudanshakai [Black Belt] sessions are always a highlight. A few members unfortunately sidelined as flu season starts to make its presence felt.

We started with Kobudo. The focus was Koryu no Kon, a unique kata within our Oshiroha Yamaneryu Kobudo. Two hours were spent exploring the finer details, body mechanics, and principles that bring this kata to life.

Next was our Karate session, where we broke down kihon and individual techniques to deepen understanding and improve ex*****on, with a particular focus on generating power in short-range kicking techniques in Matsubayashiryu. From there, we moved into nagewaza, refining throws and breakfalls.

Finally, the day finished with our Black Belt candidates, covering both nagewaza [throws] and newaza [groundwork].

A full nine hours of training, learning, and refinement—proof that the training continues long after black belt!

Reece-kancho received a beautiful calligraphy gift from a colleague, drawn by Osensei Shoshin Nagamine for his 85th Birthday Celebrations in 1991.

The inscription, 寿康両全 (Ju Koh Ryo Zen), is a wish for both long life (寿) and good health (康)—to be blessed with and master both together.

It is now framed, and hung in the dojo as a thoughtful message and a reminder of what truly matters.

🏆🎊 Pranav, one of our Junior Matsubayashiryu students, has been diligently competing. After much success last year, he made it into the 2026 Australian Squad.

Over the weekend he attended the 2026 AMAC World Titles in Japan. His category (11-12) was combined with the age up (13-15), but as always, he put forward his best efforts!

🥇 1st Place Kobudo Kata with Shiromatsu no Kon
👍 Strong performance in Karate Kata

Great work, Pranav!

During Reece-kancho's trip to China, he was able to return to the Tonghe Wushu Guan (同和武术馆) under Master Zidi Wang (馆长:王资迪), where he teaches Wudang Quanfa (武当拳法), for the third year.

Class structure begins by conducting warm-ups with a focus on flexibility and mobility in the legs and hips, then into some strength training, and basics. This usually goes for about 30minutes.

Then, students often head outside for individual practice [it's a great outside venue in a complex on the 6F!] where Master Wang provides guidance to each student depending on what they are working on. Reece-kancho continued studying Wudang Jiben Quan/Wudang Boxing Foundational Form (武当基本拳), which continues the lessons from 2025.

It's been a real unexpected pleasure to find a local karate dojo here in Wuhan, Hubei, China.

After training with Wang-sensei earlier in the week for the first time, Reece-kancho was invited back to attend a regular class, where we worked through Sh*toryu kihon, and then students prepared for their upcoming grading. Reece-kancho was also honoured to share some Matsubayashiryu concepts in a mini-seminar, covering the unique whipping mechanics of the tsuki, the tsumasaki geri (toe kick), and close-range applications from Rohai.

The seminar concluded with Wang-sensei and Reece-kancho performing their respective versions of Rohai simultaneously.

What stood out most was the spirit of friendship and openness. Despite only recently meeting, Wang-sensei warmly welcomed Reece-kancho not only to train, but also to share. He greatly enjoyed learning more about Sh*toryu, meeting the students, and sharing a barbecue dinner afterwards.

A sincere thank you to Wang-sensei and all the students for their hospitality and generosity, and of course, the delicious Chinese BBQ!

We're looking forward to hosting two Chief Instructors Seminars over the next few months.

The first will be with Kyoshi John Carlyle, Chief Instructor of Matsubayashiryu (MKAA) Australia, for our 18th Annual Karate Seminar on 24-26 July.

Then, on 14-16 August, we'll host Kyoshi Bill Johansen, Chief Instructor of Yamaneryu Kobudo (IRKRS) Australia, for our 6th Annual Kobudo Seminar.

We can't wait!

Reece-kancho is currently in China [for non-karate reasons!]... but it was great to find the opportunity to train karate locally at possibly the only karate dojo in the region, which practises Sh*toryu.

Training was led by Wang-sensei (Shihan, 5th Dan), founder of the Wuhan International Karate Society (WKS), established in 2018. We spent time comparing Chatan Yara Kusanku in both form and application, while also exploring the unique power generation methods within each style.

Wang-sensei was incredibly welcoming, friendly, and deeply knowledgeable of kata and its applications, with excellent karate and a genuine passion for sharing it. Experiences like this remind me how martial arts create connections across cultures and languages.

Very much looking forward to training together!

Reece-kancho and Minh-senpai are currently in Cairns enjoying not only the weather, but the great teaching from the Asato Dojo 安里道場 and Kizuna 2026 team, including sensei(s): Toshihiko Tamashiro, Dan Antonsen, Tuari Dawson, Tatsuya Tamaki, James Pankiewicz, Andrea Klementisova.

A great first day of a three day seminar as part of the Kizuna 2026, presented by Asato Dojo 安里道場.

Reece-kancho and Minh-senpai are looking forward to the next two days!

So Kizuna 2026 Cairns session one is done and dusted ✅

The overall theme for the session was
Shu ha ri & we don’t train to fight another martial artist.

We adhered to Karate’s original intent, dealing with non-consensual violence.

To this end we broke the session up into three components

- Practical karate
- Karate and the law
- 5 waza theory

Thank you to everyone who joined in and participated with an open mind. It was incredible to see beginners right through to highly experienced yudansha using mae geri in ground work, a straight punch to escape a rear naked choke and age uke as a throw.

From all of our members thank you to everyone for giving us an opportunity to share the way we train 🙇.

Bring on day 2 🥋❤️.