Cream of the chop

By Lachlan Ellis

Local karate students have shown off their skills at two international events, with podium finishes galore from the Moorabool academy.

Competitors from Shindo Karate Academy Bacchus Marsh & Melton took part in this year’s Oceania Championships and NZ Open, performing strongly while representing both Australia and the club.

Sensei Wayne Noble, who runs the Bacchus Marsh dojo with wife Annie, said he was beyond proud of the effort his students had shown.

“We had my son Max win a silver medal in the Senior Oceania and a gold medal in the team event. Alexei Phillipou got a gold medal in the Under 21 division, he’s from just near Ballan. We also had a number of juniors take part in the New Zealand Open, James Simone won a gold and a silver medal, Justin Robins won a gold medal, they’re both from Bacchus Marsh. Aidan McDougall won two bronze medals. Those three boys were basically the Australian team for that age group, they won a gold medal in the Cadet boys which is for competitors who are 14 and 15 years old,” Mr Noble told the Moorabool News.

“Jason Pogkas from Hopetoun Park won a bronze medal as well. I’m always proud of our students. Our club is the top club in the country at the moment, we have been for a number of years. We’ve got a very strong program, we’ve got a lot of young kids coming through…it’s nice to see them now starting to transition to an international level and see that success.”

Preparing for the international events was no easy feat for the medal-winners, with frequent weekly training in the lead-up.

There’s an elite class twice weekly, additional conditioning classes done regularly, and separate programs for strength and conditioning. Each competitor does kumite training at least three times a week, Mr Noble said.

“They also have all of the support stuff around them, because it’s quite high impact…you can’t train every day because you’d just get injured. They do their strength and conditioning programs around that as well,” he said.