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!
