Annabelle Bridger,

This week in GKR Stories, we hear from Annabelle and her Mum about why she started karate and the benefits of training with GKR.  Read Annabelle’s story here…

My daughter Annabelle started Karate in October 2022,

We wanted to find an activity for her where she would learn a life skill, and something that would help her confidence and strength.  Annabelle found it very hard to meet new people and stick to activities as our family moved around a lot due to work.

The difference that GKR karate has made for Annabelle and the whole family has been fantastic. We chose GKR Karate as it is supportive of people of all abilities, and families training together.

Annabelle has learnt so much in her time and now she has achieved her 3rd Kyu. It’s been great for her focus, strength and concentration, with her biggest achievement so far attending the World Cup 2024 in Australia. She has a passion for karate and doesn’t miss any events or seminars.

My son has also started karate now. Before he began, he had difficulty with learning, but we’ve seen a remarkable improvement since then. It’s wonderful to see both kids learning together and sharing a common goal.

Annabelle’s Story:

GKR Karate has changed my life and made me more confident.

I started with GKR when I was 11 years old and had just moved to a new area. My dad tried many different clubs to help me, but once I started with GKR I knew that this was the right place for me.

I didn’t have a lot of confidence, but with help from my instructors and making new friends at class, I have come out of my shell over the last few years, and achieved many things.

Once I started, I wanted to try everything that GKR had to offer such as seminars, tournaments and special events. I never thought I was good enough but my instructors, who I look at as role models, encouraged me to go along and give everything a go.

I have now achieved my brown belt, competed in my 3rd UK Nationals where I received a Gold Medal, and the highlight of my GKR Karate journey so far – attending the World Cup in Australia which was a fantastic opportunity not to mention a life changing event.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Ravi Ratnam, Australia

This week in GKR Stories, we hear from Ravi Ratnam from Australia.  Ravi lives with a disability and highlights the many benefits consistent karate training has given him. Read Ravi’s story here…

I joined GKR Karate in May 2023, when I was living in Guildford West. I saw students training in the church hall across the road from me, so I decided to give Karate a go.

I live with a disability and Karate has helped me stay healthy and fit while keeping me busy, I do swimming as well. My mind feels fresh and clean and I have developed a good routine by attending classes twice a week and occasionally on the weekend. Like most people, I wish I had started karate earlier.

I have made many friends at GKR and it’s become like a family to me. I believe, and am proof, that a disability can’t stop you in achieving something you want to do.

I have learned Karate moves and Kata’s along my journey and am now a Red Belt. I have a better relationship with family members and friends too. Karate has taught me respect and peace and it has also assisted me in managing my behavioural problems. I am more mature and understanding now than I was before I started with GKR.

I would like to thank my Sensei, Sensei David, for his guidance, willingness, patience and understanding while teaching me and helping me on my journey.

GKR is a great club to join, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn Karate.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Jane, United Kingdom

After leaving a violent relationship, Jane from the UK found her confidence grow since starting with GKR Karate.

**Content Warning – this story describes details of Jane’s personal experience with domestic violence**

I was mentally and physically abused by my first husband for 5 years from 1993-1998. My son and I suffered in silence from his bullying, belittling and physical violence. He isolated me from my friends and family and the only people we could socialize with were his friends.

Thankfully, I had good neighbours who would call the police on the bad days, but I wasn’t strong enough to stand up and admit to the police what was happening. I was lonely and not in a good space.

I then found support in a new neighbour who helped me to see my worth and build my confidence. Within 6-12 months I was able to change the locks and kick him out but then the phone calls started at all hours of the night threatening me and my family.

I made it through that period in my life with support from my friends, but it wasn’t until I very reluctantly joined GKR Karate that I found my confidence grow exponentially.

With the support of my peers, I worked hard and progressed through the early grade levels and am now a Brown Belt! I never imagined I’d have the self-confidence to face sparring/kumite and potentially get hit again (although I do still struggle with this at times but I’m getting there). I have competed in tournaments and won a Gold medal in kumite which is something I am proud to have achieved after overcoming my fears.

There are so many things that I never thought would be possible without the support from my Sensei’s and friendships that I continue to enjoy today.

Thank you GKR and everyone I have met along the way. Your support has been greatly appreciated.

‘Smiling not Crying’

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic and family violence and needs to talk with someone call 1800-RESPECT (1800 737 732) in Australia, 0508 744 633 Shine Helpline in New Zealand or 0808 2000 247 for the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline in the United Kingdom.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger call 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand or 999 in the United Kingdom.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Ashlyn Hunt, Australia

Ashlyn Hunt tells how training with GKR gave her purpose and a supportive community to keep her going through her hardest days.

For most of my school years, I was bullied, mainly for my weight, but also just for being different. It crushed my confidence. I avoided speaking up, never saw myself as strong, and honestly didn’t believe I had much to offer.

I started GKR Karate to get moving and feel healthier, but it quickly became so much more than that. In the middle of my karate journey, I was diagnosed with a medical condition called a prolactinoma, which is a type of pituitary tumour. The medication I was put on made me feel terrible, constantly tired, foggy, and emotionally drained. It would have been easy to give up, but karate kept me grounded. It gave me a routine, a purpose, and a supportive community to keep me going through the hardest days.

Training helped me gain physical strength, but even more importantly, it gave me back my confidence, and the bullies became nothing. Their words no longer had power over me. I realised how far I’d come, mentally and physically.

Now I can lead classes with over 30 students and deliver speeches in front of crowds, something the old me would have never imagined. I’ve become stronger, healthier, and proud of who I am.

To anyone struggling: get angry, be frustrated, be upset, it’s okay to feel that way. But channel those emotions into your training. The progress will be better than you can imagine, and you’ll feel better after every session. Yes, it’s hard right now, but it does get better. Don’t give up. Believe in yourself and your instructors—GKR has your back.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Mike Minshall, United Kingdom

Living with chronic health conditions and mobility issues, Mike decided to give karate a go and hasn’t looked back. Read Mike’s GKR Story here.

After watching my son Tyler for 2 or 3 karate classes I was encouraged to give it a try by Sensei Carol and even though I had some mobility issues I thought “Why not?”

I saw karate as possibly another form of physiotherapy to help me to stretch and move more but was concerned about the impact it would have on my long term conditions. I live with hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, anxiety and depression and used a walking stick to provide support and stability around the house and outside.

Since starting my karate journey almost 3 years ago, I have reduced my reliance on walking aids and improved my mobility, strength and endurance while gaining the confidence to join the Senior Class.

The friends that I have made and the discipline required in my karate has really enabled me to tackle issues with a more positive state of mind and of course, with better physical health to help fight the ongoing chronic conditions that I live with.

Thank you to my Sensei’s for their words of encouragement and support and the whole of Region 22 who have contributed to my improvement both physically and mentally.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Online Academy – Philippines

The GKR Online Karate and Fitness Academy allows students from across the globe to learn karate. This week in GKR Stories we hear about a dedicated group of students from the Philippines who are achieving great things training with the Online Academy.

It’s just before 5pm on a Thursday afternoon in Alfonso, Cavite in the Philippines, and a small group of dedicated students are warming up in their local church in preparation for their weekly online GKR Karate class.

These students have been turning up for months to be taught Karate by Sensei Edwin Delos Reyes who lives in Australia and takes the GKR Online Karate and Fitness Academy Thursday online class.

“I’m excited to teach every Thursday because of the kids I’m training…..they are focused and willing to learn new things,” Edwin says of the students in the Philippines.

In casual clothes, the kids bow-in and start their warm-up, their location may be remote but just like the many thousands of other GKR students around the world, they are helping Kancho Robert Sullivan realise his dream of ‘Karate for everyone’.

It all started in October 2023, Renshi Jan Lopez and his family visited the Philippines for a holiday. Jan’s Aunty is the Pastor of a church there, so Renshi Jan and his family organised a free class for the church kids and adults. Since then, there has been continued interest in the community and a real hunger to learn karate.

Just like students that attend in-person classes, our students in the Philippines learn the basics of karate and can progress to their next grade level. With online gradings recently taking place, this group of students in the Philippines were the first to train and grade exclusively online with the Online Academy.

Every week, the students enjoy learning new skills and the benefit of increased strength, agility and focus that karate offers.

International Senior Instructor for the Online Academy, Renshi Jan Lopez, recently decided to donate some of his gently worn belts, uniforms and protective equipment to the students in the Philippines. In true karate fashion, when Jan’s students heard about this, they followed his lead and chipped in to help support their fellow karate-ka in another country.

“I was sending them a bunch of my old mitts, gloves and pads. At the same time, I thought there might be others in Region 4 in the same boat who’d want to donate their old karate gear too – we’re now sending two boxes of karate equipment over,” Renshi Jan said.

The students in the Philippines are a great example of how our online karate training options can break down traditional barriers to access, spreading the benefits of karate where it might otherwise be inaccessible, passing knowledge on, and building a truly global GKR community.

It’s also allowed our club to reach students in parts of the world where we don’t currently have physical classes.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Marg Jarvis, Australia

Marg Jarvis started with GKR at 64 years of age, 17 years and countless accomplishments later, Marg shares her story in this week’s GKR Stories here.

I started karate with GKR in 2008 without any prior martial arts experience. I had been living on 10 acres of bush with my husband doing a lot of manual labour, and when we moved into town all of the exercise stopped.

I’m not one for going to the gym, and one day there was a knock on the door. It was Sensei Naomi asking if anybody would be interested in learning karate. I thought learning self defence might be a good idea and it might give me some exercise at the same time. So that’s how I joined GKR Karate at the age of 64.

I have gained so many benefits from doing karate, physical strength being one. Although I have lost quite a bit of my strength in the last couple of years due to health problems, my strength gained through karate has allowed me to do many tasks I would not have previously been able to do.

I had a doctor say to me once, “Oh my goodness, they’re not the arms of a 70 year-old woman” – well, that’s karate for you.

Aside from the physical side of things, the mental stimulation and friendships have also been beneficial for me.

My first instructor Cindy introduced me to the State Team. A couple of us started going on a Sunday afternoon and kept it up for many years, and I always worked hard doing all of the activities. These days, I do push ups against the wall because I have so much trouble with my neck and legs. Cindy and I still catch up as she lives close by.

When I moved to Geelong two years ago, one of the things that made it easier was the fact that I was moving close to friends from my days of training in the State Team. I have stayed in touch with instructors from Ballarat too and still count them as very close friends.

There are many highlights from my journey. I won gold at a World Cup as an orange belt, participated in the Guiness Book or Records board breaking, and getting my black belt at age 74 and Shodan at 78 were all exciting. Another highlight was a young lad at class who struggled with joining in. I worked with him a lot, and when I left Ballarat to come to Geelong he gave me a lovely card and a keyring that he chose and bought himself. It just said ‘grateful’ – that makes me cry even now just thinking about it.

I am not sure how much longer I will be able to keep up with classes as I have arthritis in my back that is pressing on nerves. I want to continue, not just for the exercise or the challenge but for the friendships, and to continue helping in the kids’ classes.

I’m nearly 82, so physically I can’t do what everyone else is doing all the time, yet they are all so understanding and accommodating. There’s been occasions over the years where I’ve attended class sitting on a chair doing punches.

My advice for others is to give it a go. Success doesn’t necessarily mean winning medals, I’m very proud of my medals, but that’s not what it’s about, and it’s not all about getting the next belt. Karate is about your personal development and your own sense of achievement.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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Callum Baker, United Kingdom

This week in GKR Stories, we hear how starting karate has been life changing for Callum Baker……from having difficulties with focus to now having aspirations to be an instructor, Callum’s Mum Anne, shares his journey so far.

My son Callum has autism, ADHD and a few other conditions. He has been homeschooled for just over four years due to social anxiety and difficulties with sensory input. He is very active and was having difficulty with his focus which made me quite nervous when I called GKR to organise classes for him.

The Sensei I spoke with was incredible and extremely supportive. During Callum’s trial class, the Sensei was equally amazing—patient and encouraging every step of the way.

Callum has made great progress with his karate thanks to the continuous support of his Sensei and was invited to senior class due to his continued effort and skill level. I remember crying with happiness when they called me over to invite him. Everyone has so much faith in Callum and he has always felt accepted by his peers and instructors at class.

Callum loves karate, especially the katas. In his spare time, he practices Kata and the improvement we have seen in his focus has been tremendous.This new found focus and confidence has extended past the dojo and into other aspects of Callum’s life.

Without the support and dedication of the instructors at GKR I don’t know where I or Callum would be. Callum has been training for three and a half years and is now a brown belt who hopes to follow in the footsteps of his Sensei and become an instructor one day. GKR Karate is a shining example of how people with disabilities who have the right support can achieve anything.

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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With our next Stop Domestic and Family Violence Campaign about to launch, Nationals Dates announced and our upcoming Okinawa Experience less than 2 months away, we wanted to share some important dates and announcements with you.

STOP DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE CAMPAIGN

GKR Karate is proud to announce that we will once again be raising funds in support of our chosen domestic violence charities this year.

As a community over the past 12 months, GKR has raised more than $80,000 for RizeUp Australia, almost $21,000 for Shine NZ and around £8,000 for Refuge in the UK to assist with the vital work these charities do on a regular basis.

This year, students and families will have the opportunity to purchase special GKR ‘Stop Domestic and Family Violence’ merchandise with the profits from the sale of the items being donated directly to our chosen charities. All items will be available as pre-order only – keep an eye out for more information via email and on our socials.
For more information on our Stop Domestic and Family Violence campaign, click here.

NATIONAL TITLES DATES

We are excited to announce the following dates and venues for the GKR Karate National Champs 2025. Keep training hard and you could be the 2025 National Champion – entries open online soon.

NEW ZEALAND: Sunday 19th October 2025
Cowles Stadium – 170 Pages Road, Aranui, Christchurch 8062
8:30am

AUSTRALIA: Saturday 22nd November 2025
Westgate Indoor Sports – 61 Dohertys Road, Altona North VIC 3025
8.30am

UNITED KINGDOM: Saturday, 29th November 2025
Ponds Forge, International Sports Centre – Sheaf St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BP
7:00am

OKINAWA 2025 EXPERIENCE

Get ready for a Karate experience like no other. We have a record number of people signed up for the GKR Okinawa 2025 Experience.

Taking place from August 18th – 22nd, we have 3 full days of specialist karate seminars to be conducted by some of the best Karate Masters in Okinawa. Aside from this, there are organized day trips and an afterparty planned for the non-training days. The great news is, it’s not too late to join the fun!

Click here to find out more, or our online store to purchase seminar training passes and Okinawa 2025 merch.

NEW SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES – AUSTRALIA

GKR Karate is introducing a new sponsorship program that has the potential to create significant advertising opportunities for small or large businesses in their local area and beyond.
People’s willingness to do business with others who share a common affiliation is well known, and our new sponsorship programs give those within our club the opportunity to access potential customers from our vast and like-minded membership network.
With Regional, State and National packages available, please contact Mark McConnell mmcconnell@gkrkarate.com or speak directly with your Branch Instructor about how your business could benefit from our sponsorship options.

GKR STORIES

As we look forward to sharing more of our GKR Stories with you this year, we’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to this initiative so far. We are really enjoying being able to share some amazing stories, which, if you haven’t already seen can be found here.
If you have a personal story of inspiration, transformation, or courage, about how joining GKR Karate has positively impacted your life, we’d love to hear from you. Tell your story here.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

On Thursday the 15th May at our National Leadership conference, we conducted a special 5 hour karate seminar for our most senior instructors. With more than 40 of these key people in attendance, we are proud to announce the progression of several longstanding instructors to special grade levels.

In amongst these gradings were 2 extra special recipients: Jason Knight from Victoria and Kelvin Trembath from Queensland. Both of these exceptional karate-ka graded to 6th Dan Black Belt and were bestowed the title of Renshi Shihan by Kancho.

Our other special grades were awarded to Jacob Horne (5th Dan) and Edde Nio (3rd Dan).
Congratulations to all!

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Helen Naughtin, Australia

Helen Naughtin from Queensland shares through ‘GKR Stories’ how a poster in a Fish and Chip shop changed the direction of her life and gave her the courage and resilience to fight for her life.

Eleven years ago, I was working as a night shift Nurse stuck in the work-home rut, I felt the need to learn self-defence.

I started searching for a self-defence class nearby and there happened to be a poster on the window of the local fish and chip shop next to a poster for dance. I called them both and the guy from Karate called me back first so after a quick conversation with him I decided to join.

I did 2 classes then didn’t train again for the next 6 months.

When I returned, I started training 1 class a week, then 2 and then 3, it wasn’t long before I was training 6 days a week.

I started competing in tournaments, joined the QLD State team and went to the UK in 2015 for the World Cup and started working for the club 18 months later.

Karate training and the people I have met through it has taken me on the most incredible journey of my life. It’s been a journey of ups and downs, with the biggest benefits being the relationships and personal growth which have both been phenomenal.

Before I started karate, I was very insecure and timid. My training has made me bold, confident, driven, and self-aware. It’s given me the courage and resilience to handle the fight of my life, the fight against breast cancer. With the help of the wonderful staff at Gold Coast University and Robina Hospitals and ICON Radiology, I am proud to say that I kicked breast cancer to the curb!

For anyone who is in the same boat and not sure, just do it. The journey will make you, not break you and there is always the support there that you need, so go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The best part is: It will change your life!

We want to hear your story

We’re inviting members to reach out to us and share how joining GKR Karate has been instrumental in crafting their personal tales of inspiration, transformation, or courage.

If you wish to share your story or that of a friend or family member, please click here.

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