Archived News - November/December 2008
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30th December 2008
Most Improved Colour Belt Female - Roslyn Luyt
Most Improved Colour Belt Male - Ricky Trapp
Most Improved Black Belt - Jacob White
Most Dedicated Student of the Year - Jahan Olomi
Colour Belt of the Year - Zulaikha Deen
Student of the Year - Mustafaa Olomi
We also like to thank Pamela and Cedric Luyt for their sponsorship of the trophies and Larry and Lesley White for their hard work during the year 2008.
(Cedric with Haris)
(Larry with Haris)
Our Australian Team members have returned from another important international tournament in New Zealand with fantastic results with 3 gold medals and 2 silver medals and a wealth of experience and knowledge to pass on to fellow team mates, particularly in the use of Electronic Chest Protectors which were used for the first time at the Oceania Championships.
Congratulations to Jessica Jordan, Jasmine Cross and Chad Cross who all won hold medals in their respective divisions and to Garrick Blinman and Paul Otago on their silver medal performances. Both were very unfortunate not to win the gold.
(Mr. Rawlins telling the boys a joke before their finals)
(Our champion junior team after a hard day at the office!! Wake up Justin)
The competition was run over 2 days with the Poomsae and Juniors competiting on day 1 and the seniors on the following day. It was also the first time any of our guys got a taste of the Electronic Chest Guards and how they worked.
Basically you have to hit the correct area on the chest guards (hogu) with the proper technique and power to register a score. Each weight division had a certain pound of pressure they had to kick with in order to get a score on the screen. At first it took a bit of getting use to but our guys quickly adjusted and were well on their way through their elimation round and were focusing for their finals. Unfortunately both Brett and Chantelle could not adjust fast enough and were out of the competition.
(Jasmine on the winner's podium)
(Jess on the winning podium)
(Our golden girls)
( Our happy senior team)
The members from our academy did themselves, our club and Australia proud with their fantastic results and both Mr. Rawlins and Justin were extremely proud of their achievements. They have all trained hard, sacrifice much and have endured many injuries to achieve their goals but now it was time for them to party and enjoy the rest of the trip as we were staying on in New Zealand as guest of Mr. Kesi O'Neil (Head Instructor) of Tauranga Taekwondo NZ for another 5 days while the rest of the Australian team returned home.
(Senior members dressed for dinner)
(View from Sky City Restaurant, where we had our celebration dinner)
After a bit of partying and celebration at the Sky City Restaurant(NZ tallest building ) and Casino (where we walked away again win a big win), it was time to pack our bags and head out of Auckland to Tauranga for some more R & R, but not before our daredevils Jess and Brett decided that they wanted to jump off the tallest building in Auckland. The Sky Towers which is some 198 metres above ground and free falling at 83km per hr. It took them 11 seconds to drop 198 metres (some people are just absolutely insanely crazy).
(Our two daredevils)
(Brett not quite getting the landing right)
After Sky Jumping and Bungee falling in Auckland it was time to head to Tauranga as guest of Master Kesi O'Neil (a long time friend of Mr. Rawlins) and experience some New Zealand hospitality (Samoan style). We stayed at a beautiful beach resort opposite the beach and near the Bay of Plenty. While there, the gang saw many beautiful sights and looked around at the local tourist stuff and did most of the tourist things. One of the most relaxing and enjoyable things we did do was to soak in the natural hot springs out in the wilderness away from the city, at a place only the locals knew about and it was free.
(Enjoying ourselves at the hot springs)
(Are you jealous yet?)
(If you're jealous yet, you better be now!)
(The boys trying to do the Haka)
We did many other exciting and thrill seeking things and another one of these things ;was to sit in a large ball and try to stay upright while it rolled down a hill and gathered speed. Once again some of us were crazy enough to brave the cold (as it was raining) and try it.
(Garrick & Paul rolling down the hill)
(Oh what a feeling)
(Chad with a couple of locals)
(Jess with the locals she poached from Chad)
As guests of Mr. O'Neil, we trained at his Bay of Plenty club which has a produced lot of National and International champions, we were welcome to his dojang with the traditional Maori Haka. It was another thing that our members really enjoyed and embraced. After the welcome ceremonies we were treated with respect and friendship, we were made to feel as part of their club. Mr. Rawlins and Justin even ran a few seminars that were well attended and enjoyed by all.
Both Mr. Rawlins & Mr. O'Neil are good friends from way back in the 80s when they use to compete for their countries (NZ & AUS ) at International Championships and it was great to see their friendships still remained strong.
On our last day in New Zealand we were treated to a Maori/Samoa farewell at the Bay of Plenty club. We sat as special guests and watched various performances arranged by several members of the community. One of the highlights was when Mr. O'Neil himself, demonstrated how to break coconuts with a powerful strike from his hands.
(Samoan dance group that welcome our members)
(Mr. Kesi O'Neil showing us how to open coconuts, Samoan style)
After the demonstrations were over Mr. O'Neil thanked our team members for training with his club and for sharing our knowledge and experiences with them. He then presented us all with a separate gift each, omething our members were not expecting.
Mr. Rawlins then responded by thanking Mr. O'Neil and his club for making us all feel welcome and for showing us a great time. He then presented Mr. O'Neil with a flag, signed by all our team members as well as a plaque and an Australian Team T-Shirt. We were assured that Mr. O'Neil would find a nice spot on his dojang wall and take pride of it. We were then treated to one last farewell Haka to which our boys joined in on before tucking in the fine food their put on forvus.
We celebrated on into the night said our farewells and left New Zealand with a smile on our faces and look forward to catching up with Tran-Tasman friends in the new year.
(Old friends exchanging gifts)
(Do you reckon Mr. O'Neil is giving Mr. Rawlins the evil look for giving him the Aussie flag?)
(The Aussie T- Shirt that signed by the Team)
(Friendship, something more valuable than Gold, Silver or Bronze)
Broome End of Year Grading
Members from the Rawlins Broome club turned out in force for their last grading of the year to show the 'Chief' how hard they have been training and to end the year on a positive note in the hope of passing their last grading.
It was great to see the standard getting better and better every year, thanks to the tireless work of Broome instructor Tony Familari and his team of assistant instructors who have got the students to a high level in taekwondo. It was great to see many of the members coming from the same family, siblings and their parents all training together.
It was a extra special night for Sue Luketina and Geoff Howard, who sat their Black Belt grading and passed with honour and were presented their Black Belts by the Chief.
(Mr Rawlins, Sue and Geoff after their grading)
In keeping with the mixed martial arts approach and in continuing with the Escrima and Arnis training, it was also a great honour to have 6 members from our Broome club receive the rank of 1st Dan black belt in the Doces Pares System of stick fighting under the leadership of Grandmaster Cacoy Caneete from the Philippines.
(Mr Rawlins, Tony Familari and the new black belts from the Doces Pares Stick Fighting Style)
Awards were also given out on the night for the most improved, most dedicated and most promising members as well as other awards, but one award that has special meaning to Mr Rawlins was when he was presented with the tribal shield of the Bardi tribe by Michael Carter one of the highest ranking Indigenous person in Taekwondo. This shield is not something you buy in the souvenir shop but something that is blessed and made especially by someone from the tribe. Mr Rawlins was proud and honoured to receive this as was Mr Familari when he was presented with a Christmas present from the club.
It was a great ending to a fantastic year for the Broome club.
Well done guys have a Merry Christmas and let's look forward to a even greater New Year.
6th December 2008
We had our central club grading at Alexander Heights on the Saturday 29th November. It also acted as black belt grading and trophy presentation. The turn out was great as we had the blacks from 9am - 10:30am, the whites and yellows from 10:30 - 12:30pm then the blues and reds from 12:30 - 2:00pm. Members were allowed to leave when their sessions were over but most chose to stay, support and watch their fellow members grade.
However we think that most hung around to see if they we one of the lucky one that received a trophy for Most Improved, Most Dedicated or Most Promising Student for 2008.
(Some of the students after receiving their awards)
Congratulations to the following members for winning the Academy's top awards:
Most Improved Student - Annie Milburn, Ashley Borromei, Ingrid Waters, Caitlyn Harvey, Jared Bryce, Dennis Rawlins, Emily O'Sullivan
Most Dedicated Student - Jake Arnold, Mark Pinkerton, Ashleigh McGorlick, Tayloh McGorlick, Lorraine Rossan, Peter Cook, Sinead Smyth.
Most Promising Student - Shane Davey, Nikita D'Souza, Rebecca Coop, Owen Milburn, Jason Rocca.
The Top Black Belt Award was won by Clare Francis, with the Top Colour Belt Award going to Hayley Brandon and the Club Person Award going to Justin Blinman.
We also had 5 of our juniors attempted and passed their provincial black belt. They will now be put on probation for a year or even more if they don't met the clubs strict guide lines and rules, then and only then will they be awarded their 1st Dan Black Belt and all the privileges that comes with being a Rawlins Black Belt.
Congratulations and well done to Alexander Jayasuria, Kristen Jayasuria, Prem Aghera, Mansi Aghera and Iman Hoglin on passing your first stage of your black belt. Your journey is just beginning.
(The happy graduates)
Lastly we had a had a farewell and good luck presentation to our Australian Team members that will be competiting at the 3rd Oceania Championships in New Zealand. They were all presented with their Australian Tracksuit and an envelope with some cash in it from our Fundraising Committee to enjoy and spend over there. We wish them all good luck and know that they will do us proud.
(Our Australian Team members pose with Australian Coaches Justin Blinman & Mr Rawlins)
by Reggie Carson
Rawlins Albany has had the pleasure of inviting visiting Koreans, who work in the local industries, to come train with us. Kristy took a step further when she invited Michael Byung Jin Choi to teach us some sparring techniques on Friday, 28th November.
(Lynette and the Korean boys)
We started the session with a some stretching then relay races between 3 groups. Kristy, Lufti, Faizal, Yasir, Michaela in Group 1, Paul, Lynette, Amin, one Korean in Group 2, and O'Shea (new addition to the club), 2 Korean boys, David Knock, me in group 3. It is sad to say that Group 2 lost the most races and as their punishment they had to do 10 push ups after the first race, then increased to 20 when lost the second and third races and when they lost the fourth race, they had to do 20 sit ups. Group 3 lost 2 races while Group 1 was the best group without losing any races.
(Michael correcting techniques)
During the race, O'Shea even had time to tease Paul in trying to beat him for 2nd place! We learnt how to do the split front kicks, improve the power of our turning and front kicks, and timing our kicks when we are on our toes. It goes like this... bounce, bounce, bounce, KICK! Bounce, bounce, bounce, KICK! You get the idea. It was good for us to be reminded of the basics. Then we sparred 3 min rounds which seemed like 10 mins!
(Michael watching two of our young fighters, David and Amin, spar. On the right, Yasir and Amin, dancing?! Back to sparring boys!)
At the end of training we said did a bit of massage which was good and thanked Michael for teaching us. Part of his role as guest instructor, he had to give out the cards to the members with the help of Kristy, of course, in pronouncing names.
(Nice massage...ahhh....)
23rd November 2008
Fighters Taking Top Queensland State Awards
(Jacob, Mustafaa and Renae with their awards)
Congratulations to Mustafaa Olomi on winning the Queensland Taekwondo 2008 Junior Athlete of the year award, Renae Perkins for the Outstanding Athlete Achievement award and Jacob White for Athlete Achievement award.
These awards are presented by Taekwondo Australia Queensland Division to its top members (athletes) in recognitions of their hard work, dedication, sacrifice and hours of training as well as competiting in various club, state, national and international competitions.
Each athlete is given points on their various achievements through out the yea, and at the end of the year all the points are tallied up to find the overall winner, similar to our trophy and awards presentation (now if only our state could follow the same fashion).
Well done guys, the whole Academy is proud of you.
18th November 2008
More From Master Rodel's Visit
Congratulations to Cameron Hubbard on passing and being awarded his 1st Dan black belt (Lakan) in Modern Arnis by Master Rodel Dagooc from the Arnis Association International Inc. This was a big honour for Cameron and our club as Master Rodel is one of the world most experts in knife and stick fighting. Mr Rawlins and Cameron had the privilege to train one on one with this living legend and inventor of the smoking sticks technique.
(Cameron with Master Rodel)
After 2 intensive days of seminar that was conducted by Master Rodel & Guro Ceberano, and while attendees of the seminar had time to relax and take in what they had learnt, Mr Rawlins, Cameron and a few selected instructors were put through more days of grueling drills and techniques. Just when they thought it was over, it was more drills and techniques.
The training was good, hard and rewarding however it took Mr Rawlins a while to get use to it especially when you have had to get up in the early morning and train for 2 to 3 hours (not a good time for him as he likes his sleep).
(Mr Rawlins and AMAF Instructor Mr Mike Waite going through some drill)
It was great to train with someone of Master Rodel's class. The knowledge, ideas and training methods that he has, both with the sticks, knife as well as empty hand combat will greatly improve and strenghten our club in the areas of mixed martial arts. With Mr Rawlins' close links with him and other great master instructors in various styles, we can only get better.
(Cameron doing some disarming with Master Rodel)
Before returning to the Philipines Master Rodel was presented with a plaque, a kicking kangaroo, a club t-shirt and an Accubra outback hat in appreciation for all his help and teaching and we will be looking forward to his return next year.
(Master Rodel receiving his gifts)
(Part of the Australian team for the Oceania Championships 2008)
Welcome to Jasmine and Chad Cross who will now be training at our very elite centres. They along with Paul Otago, Garrick Blinman, Chantelle Wallace, Jess Jordan, Brett Kendall and coaches Justin Blinman and Mr Rawlins will make a total of 9 strong from our club that will be representing us and Australia in the 3rd Oceania Championships. We wish them all the best in their training as they prepare for this benchmark competition and endeavor to bring home the gold.
(New Rawlins members, Jasmine & Chad Cross)
Unfortunately due to the cost involved in the trip and the state Taekwondo is in currently in Australia, we could not fund our other club members that were chosen to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Championships in Canada. So to Clare Francis, Nadine Venter, Emily O'Sullivan, Jacob White & Brandon Cooper we are sorry that you had to miss out but no one can take away your rights to represent Australia. We are very proud of you and what you have achieved to qualify.
However we would like to wish our Queensland member Renae Perkins who will be competiting and flying the Aussie colours on behalf of our club in Canada, and to Chris & Karen Perkins (Team Manager & Chaperone) the best of luck at the Commonwealth Championships.
13th November 2008
Oceania Team Coaches
Congratulations and well done to our chief Mr Rawlins and his second in command Justin Blinman on being chosen as coaches for the Australian Taekwondo Team that will be competiting in New Zealand in December at the Oceania Championships. We now have 9 that will be representing our club and Australia.
New Addition To The Olomi's
(Queensland Instructor Haris Olomi with his beautiful daughter)
Our newest and youngest Rawlins Queensland member, baby Ibtihaaj Olomi. Congratulations and best wishes to Parveen & Haris Olomi on the birth of their beautiful baby girl, the latest addition to the Olomi clan.
Queensland Tournament Wrap Up
(Qld Instructor Haris Olomi & assistant coach Larry White with their champions after the Yun Hap Tournament)
Our Queensland club finished the 2008 competition year of on a high after the Yun Hap Tournament where the walked away with 9 gold medals from 8 competitors. Mustafaa fought in two divisions, winning both.
The club has answered all challenges put in front of them and entered in as many competitions as possible in Queensland, Australia and overseas with fantastic results thanks to the tireless dedication and passion of their instructor, Haris Olomi.
Even though still in its developing stage, the club finished the year with a total of 73 medals of which 57 were gold, 13 silver and 3 bronze and from that total, 3 were international medals. Well done guys.
1st November 2008
Uni Games Champion
Jason Rocca returned recently from the Uni Games with 3 awards to add to his list.
The first was for winning the gold medal in the -78kg sparring division. The second medal was the "Green & Gold Medal" which is given to the top athlete at the games who showed sportsmanship, high level of athleticism and overall sporting ability.
He was also given the ECU's Player of the Games Award. This was the first time that ECU has given out this award and Jason was the inaugural winner from 186 athletes attending the Uni Games.
Well done Jason. We are all proud of you and we know that if you had gone with the rest of our team to Canberra for the Selection Event, you would have been on the Oceania Team as well.
Queensland Victorious Yet Again
We took 8 fighters to the 10th Wide Bay Championship in Bundaberg Qld last weekend and got 8 gold medals. All of the students fought very well especially our first time fighter Richard Trapp who was exceptional and made us proud. Well done Richard. The rest of the winners are Mustafaa Olomi, Jacob White, Jahan Olomi, Khaaled Olomi, Bilal Deen, Abdullah Houadchia and Mousaab Houadchia.
We had lots of fun in Bundaberg. Our next tournament is this weekend which we will take 9 fighters at Yun Hup Challenge.
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