The New Zealand National karate team arrived back from the bi-annual Commonwealth Karate Championships in Sydney on Monday evening having achieved outstanding results at the Commonwealth Championships with teams from 8 countries, including rivals Australia and South Africa. For the first time in Commonwealth Karate Championship history a visiting team proudly topped the gold medal table, with the New Zealand team winning 33 gold medals. Australia won 26 gold medals and South Africa 7.

The New Zealand national team, though the largest ever selected, had 73 participants at the Commonwealth Karate champs, as opposed to around 300 from Australia and 140 from South Africa. The team receives no funding, down to having to pay for their own New Zealand national team badges, and on top of maintaining a rigorous and demanding training schedule, many team members had to work to all hours of the morning to earn money to pay for their travel to Sydney.

National coach Sensei Duane Monk said after the competition, “Karate in New Zealand karate has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, and we are very excited about the future prospects of the sport.” Many of New Zealand's medals were won in the Kata divisions which made the team’s stunning success even sweeter by the fact that the national coaches were told at the 1994 Oceania Karate Championships, where the team only won two gold and one bronze medal, that while they may win the odd medal in Kumite (sparring) they were unlikely to win any further Kata medals in future competitions because of the low standard of performance and basics. The New Zealand team’s notable victory at the Commonwealth Karate Champs is testament to the dedication, commitment and hard work of the coaches, students and tournament officials of the sport who have made this success possible.

Famous American tennis player Billy Jean King once said “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” That is certainly true of the New Zealand national karate team.

Fushin Ryu Karate Students made their mark with some great performances and although not all were rewarded with medals the improvement shown on such a big stage was outstanding and should provide a strong platform for future growth. All the Fushin Ryu Instructors are very proud of the effort shown leadingup to the Championships and hope that it will continue into the future.

Fushin Ryu Karate National Team Members