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ALL ABOUT ME...

Hello, my name is Ben. I am 29 years old, and live in Brisbane, Australia. I started training with GKR in early '97 and have been teaching at Algester Dojo since Jan 2001.

I graduated from high school in '95 and after deciding not to pursue a scholarship offer from the Australian Defence Force Academy, I started studying Mathematics at the Queensland University of Technology. In 1996, after being reasonably involved with sport at school, I was keen to continue an active lifestyle. Initially, I got involved with Tennis, as I had played junior tennis for about 10 years. However, in late '96 I got a knock on the door and it wasn't long before I started training and then soon after it was several nights a week.

Rochedale and Springwood were my first dojos. I am very lucky to have had three excellent instructors in my first year or so, as without them, I may not have continued training. To Sensei Dale especially, I am most grateful. Each offered a very different class: one about learning and detail, one was simply good hard work, and the other was fun and exciting.

In early '98 I began training with the instructors at "senior training" at Kingston dojo, which means I was up to 4 lessons a week. This training was different again, with my RM, Sensei Paul, making a heavy emphasis on discipline.  Bruises were common after class (not just from kumite), and as all three dojos had cement floors, blisters were also regular. However, in time both the feet and the rest of the body strengthened and adapted. In '98 Region 10 got a new RM - Sensei Tyrone Coates. He is a fantastic instructor and he made the biggest influence on my training from 5th kyu to shodan.

In those days there was no STP and after several months of training with the instructors I was asked to take a class. I was very keen to get involved and so I was given the keys to Marsden Dojo where I taught on Friday nights for a little over a year.

I also joined the  Queensland State Team in 1998 and began competing in NAS tournaments. Sensei Andrew Bruggy was my first coach. This training was different again, and focused on fitness, attention to detail and the competitive aspects to karate.

It was around that time that I started training with a few of my peers who were around the same level. A good friend of mine, known as "Pumpkin" for those who may know, transferred from Corinda to another dojo and I decided to offer to take the Monday night classes there, which I did. It wasn't long before I found that teaching two nights a week was a little bit taxing and I decided to just continue teaching on Mondays. It was at Corinda one night, that a young boy named Vu, for those who know him, started training. Due to construction, Corinda dojo moved to became Graceville dojo and I continued to teach there for about another year. I completed my Mathematics degree at the end of 1999.

Those who've studied at post-graduate level will be able to relate to the workload and I decided to take a break from teaching karate to concentrate on both my university studies and my own karate training. It was around this time that I started occasionally training at Algester with a good friend, Kev. I made a number of good friends there and started to sempai regularly.

I continued to train regularly at both senior training and state team training. This paid off and towards the end of 2000, Senior Sensei Stacey Karetsian graded me to black-belt. It was both an exciting and humbling experience. I can remember the nerves beforehand and being knocked to ground several times by Sensei Ty's awesome kicks.

At the start of 2001, I started teaching karate again at Algester, on Wednesday nights. Sometime, later that year, I swapped to the Friday class, which I continue to teach now. I finished my post-graduate studies at the end of 2001 and began full-time work in 2002. It was around this time that I also started teaching at the new Brisbane Honbu dojo and my week was again full of karate. I taught Cardio karate on Saturdays for about two years, creating two new advanced formats in that time.

In 2003 Region 10 again got a new RM - Sensei Andrew Cook. As with all my previous instructors, his classes are unique and as RM and the new tournament team coach, he has been my instructor for the last two and a half years.

In 2005, I decided to stop training with the tournament team. I was fortunate enough to have had some wonderful experiences over the years - including winning several GKR state titles in kata, kumite, and team events, and a few NAS titles as well. I've also been lucky enough to make a number of good friends from my years on the team and am grateful for that.

For the past two years, I've been focusing on my teaching and the progress of my students. In 2007 four of my students and close friends graded to black belt. I'm hopeful 2008 will be the year for a few more. I've also decided to increase my own training routine a bit this year.