Archived News - August to December 2010
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14th December 2010
(Albany crew)
(Happy crew from Rockingham)
(Rockingham black belts)
(Kelmscott crew)
(Beechboro crew)
10th December 2010
Oceania Championship Results
(Head coach Mr. Rawlins and trainer Chris Perkins with our proud and victorious team members)
Congratulations and well done to our Rawlins members that represented Australia in the Oceania Championships in New Caledonia, a true benchmark event for the World Taekwondo Federation, on the 4th-5th December 2010. This was the best result ever for not only for our Academy but for the whole Australian Team.
At the end of the 2 days of sparring the Australian team ended up with 11 Golds medals and what was more amazing was that the members from our Academy won 6 off the 11 Golds.
30th November 2010
Black Belt Grading
Congratulations to the following students that passed their Black Belt grading this Saturday the 27th November 2010.
Kyle Odlin, Jamie Strickland, Alan Ince, Abdullah Mohamed Ali, Aidan Hordov, Allie Waideman, Elyse Rowe and Natalie Hordov for all passing their 1st Dan Black Belt, and also to Reggie Carson for passing her 2nd Black Belt.
(A proud Mr. Rawlins with his newest Black Belts)
Parents and spectators attended the grading were entertained and astonished by the fantastic and amazing feats of board breaking, tile smashing, self defence, patterns, weapons demonstration and the incredible right of passage that they had to do in the free sparring (those who have seen it know what we are talking about) to pass their Black Belt.
Congratulations to all and welcome to the Rawlins Black Belt Family.
(Some of the Rawlins Black Belts after the grading)
Novice Tournament Wrap Up
Well for all those students that have waited so patiently for the report on our Novice Comp that we had on the 18th of September, wait no longer. Click on picture to read more.
It was a well received tournament which saw over 120 fighters, from all ages, participating, for most of them, in their first tournament. The aim of the tournament was to provide an alternative venue for the colour belts ranging from yellow to red belts at the junior and seniors to showcase their new found sparring skills, without taking on the big guns in their first fight. At the end of the day, some juniors have impressed the experienced black belts by showing their skills and determination. It was a great day of fun and it also produced some unexpected champions. Some photo highlights from the day and more here. Thanks to all parents, officials, canteen, and volunteers for your help. We hope to see you in March for the next novice tournament.
(Big boys getting ready and the aftermath)
(Kids and their parents enjoying the day. Justine demonstrating her creative poomsae she performed at the States)
(Happy competitors and a fight in progress)
26th October 2010
Chad and Simon Cross on SportsFM on 17th October 2010
Listen to what Chad and Simon said about the Academy and our fearless leader on SportsFM.
Welcome to the Rawlins Family Keti Hristoska
By Keti Hristoska
Hi my name’s Keti Hristoska. I’ve been training Taekwondo for 11 years now. I trained with many different clubs due to moving states a lot growing up. I began training traditional Taekwondo when I was 12 only because I loved the discipline side of it and the idea of seeing how an instructor could push you to your limits. Sometimes you never know what your own self is capable of. I then began to admire the sport side of it, and started competing. I’ve had my highs and lows which everyone goes through. Coming from a European background where it’s believed only boys should do sports, makes having people not believe in you the hardest of them all. Since training with Mr Rawlins, I’ve now learnt that yeah it really helps when your family believe in you, but even more when your coach believes in you. But something that Mr Rawlins has kept saying to me that I’ve only really now come to realise is, “You’ve got the skill, you’ve got me here to train you and push you all the way, but it’s up to you, you have to believe in yourself”.
I’ve started training with Mr Rawlins only this year and just had my first competition away with the team. This was for the Oceania and Commonwealth Taekwondo Selection Championships in Melbourne. I really only had a good six weeks of training with the team prior to this event, and doubted whether I was physically or mentally ready yet. But it only took one training session and me telling Mr Rawlins what I wanted to achieve for him to make me believe I could do it. I was being told what I was good at, what I had to work on to get better, and was just being pushed real hard. That drives me so far to want to be the best that I can be. That’s all a fighter could ask for from their coach.
(Keti in action during a training session at the Selections)
I was real exited to go away with my team mates for the first time, because it just felt like a real team environment. Everyone supports one another. I really came to realise what a team Rawlins Taekwondo were when we were away in Melbourne. I had a few hurdles with straining my lower back the day before we left, as well as being 3kg over my weight. I can’t believe how supporting everyone was though. I don’t think mentally I could have gotten though it without the team or Mr Rawlins and the other coaches. Two days prior to weigh-in, Sinead kept advising me of what I could and couldn’t eat or drink cos of my weight (even though it was torture, thanks Sinead). Emily kept giving me massages throughout the day to try get my back as good as possible (Thanks too Emily). But the hardest was probably during the last training session on Friday before weigh-in, where I hadn’t eaten properly for days prior or drank or ate at all that day. I had to train with a sweat jacket, and could barely even stand.
(Keti with the Rawlins girls)
After every round of sparring Mr Rawlins had to keep pushing me to do, everyone just kept encouraging me...and then I’d be so thankful the round was over, feeling like passing out on the ground, when Mr Rawlins just kept calling me up. All I heard from everyone was “Come on Keti, you’re doing good, you can do it!” I had no physical energy left at all, but the team kept encouraging me to see me through. Then I just remember barely being able to stand as we were about to bow out of the class, and got dizzy dropping to the ground. I think it was the girls next to me, they held me up so we could all bow together, and then got me water. That was just the training session and not even the comp yet. That’s a team. It was then straight off to the sauna with Mr Rawlins, where Kalis and me pushed each other with boxing drills and running in the sauna to lose more weight. It was so mentally tough. Emily then came and sat with me for the last ten minutes I think, listening to me saying I cant do this any more, but she just kept telling me I could and more. Support from the team definitely helped me stay focused.
(Keti and Emily having a blast)
I didn’t perform at all my best on the comp day, feeling like I had led bags tied to my legs, but I tried my hardest and managed a bronze. I was real disappointed but again everyone just kept encouraging me. I probably did my best against my hardest opponent, which keeps my hopes up for next time that with better preparation, I will be the best in my division. I am so glad to be apart of the team at Rawlins Taekwondo. I now really want to make my self and my coach proud with showing that I can get the results we are preparing for. I also want to thank Mr Rawlins, the other coaches, and my team mates for continuous encouragement to keep training, keep fighting, and be the best there is out there. Mr Rawlins has really motivated me and given me self belief and the desire to achieve those goals I’ve set for myself. I finally now believe I can do it.
(This is not your regular team chant. It's the Rawlins'chat!)
4th October 2010
Selection Results
Great results was once again achieved by our members at the Oceania and Commonwealth Taekwondo Selection Championships on the 25th September in Melbourne. We had 14 of our best junior and senior fighters from WA & QLD compete at these selections in the hope that at the end of the day after some hard and tough competition they would emerge as champions and be part of the Australian Team that would represent our country at these 2 major Championships.
Our Team Rawlins did not let us down, with Renae Perkins, Nadine Venter, Emily O'Sullivan, Mustaffa Olomi, Jess Jordan, Jasmine Cross and Chad Cross all winning gold, and Tiaana Dicicco, Jacob White, Kalis Vandiappan and Sinead Smyth winning silver, and Hayley Brandon, Ondrej Venter and Keti Hristoska all winning bronze.
We should have had a couple more gold medals had it not been for some not so fair decisions that didn't go our way but that is the nature of our sport and we will go on with it (we don't have to be happy, but we will go on with it ). There were some good stories from these comp, which will be detailed in our full report (coming soon, so watch this space).
Till then, congratulations to all our team members who once again dominated the Selection Comp.
New Pictures!
Pictures from the Rawlins WA Novice tournament, WATC States, Selections, Queensland, Albany grading and the knife seminar are now available on Facebook! No login required! Tag away if you know people in the pictures. They are not in any order at the moment and won't be anytime soon. Just enjoy them :) If you have any from your collection, feel free to share.
26th September 2010
Grand Opening of Queensland Full Time Centre
(The chief and his black belts in Queensland)
6th of September and Mr Rawlins was in Queensland for the grand opening of the first Rawlins full time Taekwondo centre in Australia, operated and owned by Queensland Instructor Mr. Haris Olomi. The centre is located in Underwood and it is situated in a fantastic location of the main road where traffic is always busy and everyone can see the signage. We wish Haris all the best with his full time centre and know it will be a great success.
Fantastic Knife Seminar
No sooner had we finished with the State Open Championships on the 29th August, the next weekend we were hosting a seminar by Heikki Martikainein on unarmed combat, stick and knife defence and attacks (Kali Slkaran). It was definitely a busy month for all our members and not many of our black belts could attend this fantastic seminar but all who were there thoroughly enjoyed the seminar.
(Dennis and Ondrej doing some Kali drills)
(Nat and Aidan going through some trapping and locking drills)
With the ever increasing attacks on our street with cowards using brick, glasses and anything they can find, it has become apparent that we need to learn as much as we can from all forms of the martial arts and pass it on to all our members. That is why the concept of the mixed martial arts which we practice at our academy is becoming very popular, and the different ways of disarming and attacks that Guri Heikki showed us was very useful and everyone went away from the seminar a lot more wiser and knowledgeable.
(Simon learning some points on disarming an knife attack)
(The Chief with Guro Heikki and Guro Mike)
12th September 2010
WATC State Championship Report
Fantastic results were once again achieved by our members at the State Taekwondo Championships last weekend.
In the sparring component we entered 30 divisions and won 25 Gold and 4 Silvers, only one member didn't place and in the poomsae component, we entered 15 divisions and won 9 Gold, 7 Silvers and 3 Bronzes. For many that won the silver it was because they lost the Gold to their fellow team members in the finals.
Well done to all coaches that help on the day and to our supporter that were their for most of the day, full story to follow soon.
(Some of the Juniors winners from the Sparring group)
(Some of the Junior & Senior winners from the Poomsae group. Rockingham instructor Chris, looks very happy)
With the political bum fight currently happening with Taekwondo in Australia, and both STA (Sports Taekwondo Australia) & TA (Taekwondo Australia) causing a split in all States across Australia.
WATC (Western Australia Taekwondo Council) who is not supporting either parties decided to host a State Taekwondo Championships and invited every Taekwondo club in WA regardless of what association they belong to or supported. The aim was to come together in friendship, forget about all the politics and think only of their members and the whole Taekwondo community and to enter a championship that had no political agenda other than to see who had the best students in states.
(Natalie Hordov, showing her winning form that won her Gold in the female open red belt division)
(Jordan Prince-Wright, narrowly missing out on the Gold medal in his black belt division)
Both STA and TA ran a state comp in WA calling it a State Championship which attracted less than 90 entries, a sad turn out indeed not just for the competitors but for Taekwondo in general so the WATC decided to have another comp and call it the State Open Championships, which had more than 200 participants, still a significantly small number compared to other years. The sole purpose of this event was to try and unify the state of WA, and the hope that all clubs andiInstructors would forget about egos and personal agendas. However not everyone could see the light through the forrest. The WATC State Championships still went ahead with the state's top fighters & poomsae competitors competiting and it was a fantastic day for all.
(Ryan easily outclassing his opponent to win the Gold)
(Justine in her outfit for the creative poomsae division another Gold medal performance)
It was great to see everyone give 100% and all their hard training paying off. Well done to all the Rawlins clubs coaches, referees and members who participated and thanks to all our families and friends for their support. At the end of the day, we walked away with our heads held high, with 42 Gold medal, 12 Silver medals and 3 bronze from 45 of our best competitors that we entered in the 2010 State Open Championship.
(Sinead having a joke with Nikata before her Gold medal win - a joke before your match is always a good way to relax)
(Friendly rivalry, Gold & Silver for Albany and Rockingham. Chris and Kristy looked pleased)
Currently the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognise STA as their National Member Body (NMB) and the only way our elite competitors can gain entry into benchmark events such as World Championship, World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers is through STA Selection events. Anyone or clubs can enter all the others Open events that are held in various parts of the world but to call themselves an Australian Team when they are only a club team is something to be questioned. Anyway enough of politics, enjoy the rest of the photos.
(Two more happy coaches and even happier members)
(Jason telling Chad that he loves him and Ondrej looking shocked! The Chief telling some of his juniors how proud he is of them)
(The Chief giving out instructions to Sinead before her fight and her delivering with a nice kick that won her the match)
24th August 2010
One-Off Knife Defense Seminar by Guro Heikki Martikainen
In keeping up with the mixed martial art concept (especially Arnis and Knife Fighting), Rawlins Taekwondo is proud to host a seminar by Katulong Guro Heikki Martikainen from Kali Sikaran International, which is one of the fastest growing form of self defence system in the world today.
The training concept is based on Panantukan (Filipino boxing),stick fighting, daga (knife fighting), Kadena De Mano (close quarter combat), Silat Kuntaw (Filipino Pencak Silat) and Dumog (Grappling). Guro Heikki who is from Sweden will be arriving in Perth in September to conduct some workshops/seminars for Guro Mike Waite and his AMAF club, and thanks to Guro Mike who has agreed to do a once off seminar for our club and anyone else in Martial Arts that want to learn more about this style.
The seminar will be conducted on the 4th September at the Alexander Heights Community Centre (Linto Way, Alexander Heights) 8:00am - 12:00pm and everyone, regardless of what style of Martial Arts you practice, is welcome. Call Mr Rawlins for more information - 0410695183. Booking is essential!
UK Rawlins Grading
Congratulations to the students of Abronhill High School in Scotland our Rawlins branch in the UK on their first grading, and well done to club instructor, Robert Robertson on getting the students up and ready for their grading.
Highest Fundraiser Goes To..
Congratulations to Alan Ince who sold well over 18 boxes of chocolates to gain the title of club's highest fundraiser. Thanks also to everyone else that helped in our annual fundraising. The money will be spent on a club camp early new year, and some will be spent on our members that will be competiting at the STA Commonwealth and Oceania Selection Competition which will be held in Melbourne in September.
(Some of our Beechboro club winners from recent Rawlins Challenge)
13th August 2010
First Rawlins Full Time Centre Now Open in Queensland
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