Seido Thornbury

This weekend saw two of our shodan (1st degree black belt) students, Senpai Csilla and Senpai Matthew, promote to nidan (2nd degree black belt).

Both students did an outstanding job representing their dojo, demonstrating strong knowledge of their syllabus and, most importantly, strong spirit and determination in what was a very physically gruelling grading. They made us very proud!

A big congratulations to Senpai Csilla and Senpai Matt, and to all of the other students from around Victoria who promoted. Osu!

🥋 Black Belt Promotions at Richmond Dojo! 🥋

A huge congratulations to Senpai Rhian on earning his Shodan (1st-degree black belt) and to Senpai Josh on his promotion to Nidan (2nd-degree black belt)! 🎉

Over the weekend, they took on an incredibly tough grading at the Richmond dojo—a true test of their skill, endurance, and determination. Both showed incredible resilience, pushing themselves to the limit and proving why they deserve their new ranks.

We are so proud of the way they represented the Thornbury dojo—showing commitment, perseverance, and the spirit of Seido Karate. Achieving a black belt isn’t just about skill or physical fitness; it’s about discipline, growth, and dedication over many years.

For Senpai Josh, this promotion is particularly special—he started his training 17 years ago. What a journey!

A huge congratulations also to David, Finn, and Liam from other dojos who graded alongside them—an amazing effort by all!

Well done, everyone! 👏👏👏

We had an end-of-year promotion this week: Luca, Cedric, Damien, Betty, Matilda, and Innes all earned new colour belts. All graders did a terrific job and showed strong spirit.

After the grading, we all cleaned the floor by hand (soji). Wiping the dojo floor is about showing that we're proud of our dojo, and responsible for the mess we make; it's about being humble, showing respect, and is a core part of learning and growing as a person.

A big congratulations to everyone who promoted. Osu!

What an incredible, unique, beautiful work of art.

Last week we unveiled the new shinzen at Seido Karate Thornbury. A shinzen is the *heart* of the dojo, and the place that we bow to at the start and end of every training. Hand-crafted over a period of six months, without using any nails or screws, this remarkable wooden cabinet was constructed from the wood of pews that previously lived in the church hall where we train, so it is forged from materials in the surrounds where students have trained for 22 years. The design is inspired by the temples and castles of Okinawa, which is the original birthplace of karate.

Sensei Kevin Torney from Seido Karate Geelong is the master craftsman who brought this vision to life, and we're so grateful for all of the time and effort he put into it. It's such a special addition to our dojo, and we love it! Please come and visit us at Seido Karate Thornbury to inspect our beautiful shinzen. Perhaps it will inspire you to train hard!

Osu!

We were a bit slack sending out a Term 1 email newsletter, which means that our Term 2 newsletter is even more chock full of karate goodness than usual! Enjoy...

2025 Camp, October Karate Tournament, Beach Training, and more... Osu everyone! We’re well into 2024 but we’ve been a bit slack with our email communications about Thornbury dojo, so let’s get you all caught up, shall we?

A huge congratulations to Claire Dowling who her completed her promotion to 2nd dan black belt on Saturday. Senpai Claire put in a huge effort and we're all very proud of her! Inspirational stuff. You can enjoy a hard-earned rest now Senpai! Osu! 👊🏻

We're gearing up to resume regular classes at the dojo next week! 👊🏻 We have some new signage up and a bunch of new content on the website to support our students in their training.

Take a look and get in touch to line up a trial class (kids or adults) on Mondays or Wednesdays.

https://seidokaratethornbury.com

It's been a big few months. We have lots of news to share from the dojo, with plenty of pics too. It's all captured in our email newsletter. Take a look! https://mailchi.mp/6a429008b0de/new-black-belts-camp-update-nz-visitors-more?e=815fc9782c

We're looking forward to this in November! Hopefully we'll see you all there?