Raider Karate 2012

Osu!

The CCHS Karate Club will begin its 2011-2012 season on Tuesday January 3rd, 2012 at 5:30pm in the Baroni Multipurpose room located on the second floor of CCHS. I am especially excited about this year's classes because we are at an all time high in regards to our student enrollment! We had 50 applicants and we hope that all 50 student/athletes will be in attendance on 1-3-2012!

One new item that we are offering our students this year is a Varsity Club Jacket...Once you have earned your varsity letter, be proud of your accomplishment and show off your Raider pride sporting this ultimate challenge athletic jacket.

This and many more items can be found on the CCHS Karate Club Order Form that is posted on http://www.centralcatholic.net/ .

More updates will follow.

Osu!

Sensei

Sensei Award 2011

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Once again, it's time to recognize two students who are true budo karate-ka! Each year, a certain number of students are awarded for the dedication, hard work, and spirit that they have demonstrated in the CCHS Karate Club. These students are overachievers and stop at nothing when it comes to the true budo spirit that one and all should have when training in Kyokushin karate.

Amy Whitney Perry and Brendan Stolarz have trained at the CCHS Karate Club for three years now and are the epitome of what a great student should be. They try as hard as they can each and every class, compete in all tournaments and special training sessions, and bring a great attitude to each class. Brendan and Amy started training in 2008 when the club was first organized and have been a big part of its success over the past four years!

I am so proud to recognize Amy and Brendan, and in essence, to put them among the greatest karate-ka that CCHS has ever seen! They now join David Daniels, Daniel Blackwell, and Shannon Bradish as the only "Sensei" award winners in the history of the CCHS Karate Club. I couldn't ask for better students when it comes to karate and I wish them all the best in the future! I know that they will continue to stop by to train or help teach in the future because once your spirit has been touched by the martial arts, you are a part of something special for the rest of your life.

Congratulations Amy and Brendan!

Osu!

Sensei

CCHS Karate Beach Training 2011

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Our 3rd annual beach training and family outing was an incredible success! Once again the Methuen Karate Association, under Hanshi Larry Giordano, was extremely generous in having our club participate with over 150 other karate students from Methuen, Haverhill, and Lawrence. I had hoped that each year, our number of participants would increase and it has! In the last three years, we've gone from 8 students, to 16 students, to a whopping 25 students this year! 

The training session itself included a 2km run, kihon, relay races, a tug of war, and of course training in the icy Atlantic Ocean! I'm excited to report that this year, a selection of 5 CCHS students beat three other karate schools to capture the Giordano Family Annual Beach Training Trophy! It's really wonderful to see the CCHS students compete with so much passion and in the end, be rewarded in such a grand way!

After the training session, we were able to interact with karate-ka from the Giordano Family Methuen Karate Association, the 5 Dragons Karate Dojo, and the Greater Lawrence Vocational Karate School. Along with great conversation, we enjoyed a awesome arrangement of food and beverages. At the end of the outing, the CCHS Karate Club students were awarded their Varsity and JV letters with an unbelievable ovation from the other students present.

I am extremely proud of all of my karate students and feel that this year has brought the CCHS Karate Club into the forefront of competitive sports at CCHS and has given the students involved an unwavering sense of self confidence and humility.

Osu!

Sensei

Sempai Riane Goddard Instructs at CCHS Karate 2011

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I am excited to say that yet again this year, Sempai Goddard took time out of her busy schedule to teach at CCHS. We are very lucky to have Sempai assist in class at CCHS, she brings a great attitude to everything she does! It's also nice to bring in an assitant instructor who is a female blackbelt. Sempai Riane was promoted to shodan (first degree black belt) a few years ago and has represented Methuen Karate very well.

Since about half of our club is female, I want it to be very evident that anyone can achieve the rank of shodan. I hope that within the next two or three years, at least one of my students will be promoted to shodan through Hanshi Giordano's black belt review/test held annually at the MKA dojo.

I am very proud of all of my students for their hard work and dedication to the art. Recently, freshman Greg Walsh tested for his Hachi-kyu or blue belt and was successful in his test. I am pleased with the movitvation that he shows in and out of class. He offers something that not all of my students have and that is experience in the martial arts. He had attained his brown belt in another style of karate and is now hoping to possibly attain black belt in Kyokushin Karate over the next few years. I'm sure that he will be able to accomplish this goal if he continues working as hard as he has in the past.

Lastly, a special thanks goes out to Sensei John Goddard who was also on hand during Sempai Riane's class. he is always very helpful in promoting our club and offering his knowledge of Jiu Jitsu on a regular basis. As always, we are very grateful to all of the MKA black belts who come in as special guest instructors at CCHS. They all offer something special that in the end, will make each one of my students better martial artists.

Osu!

Sensei

CCHS Karate Hosts the Second Annual All Valley Karate Tournament

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Last Saturday, May 14th, the CCHS Karate Club hosted it's second annual "teen" tournament. The day was an incredible success. This year we had karate students from not only CCHS and Methuen Karate, but also from the new karate club formed by Hanshi Giordano and Sensei Ken Field at the Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational and Technical High School. This means that our tournament is truly becoming the premier high school karate tournament in Massachusetts if not all of New England.

Over 50 competitors from different high schools around the Merrimack Valley competed vigorously in fighting, forms, and weapons divisions from beginner to advanced status.At the end of the day, we had several students place within the top three of their respective divisions of forms, fighting, and weapons. Cherie Lemay, Amanda Meli, Nicole Kebler, and Natalie Macdonald all brought home first place medals in their respective divisions. While Amy Whitney Perry and Lauren Krugh placed in the top three of their divisions. In the men's division, Neal Drapeau, David Mosto, and Greg Walsh took home first place honors while Brendan Stolarz, Andy Lin, and Dillon McGuinness all placed in the top 3 of their divisions. Jessie Alfonso was selected as the most spirited fighter competing in the advanced fighting division, taking home 3rd place overall.

As always, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Hanshi Larry Giordano, without his constant support and guidance, the CCHS Karate Club would not have opportunities like we did this past Saturday. I'd also like to thank Senseis Mike DiPietro, Kevin Bihl, Bill Sherry, Ken Field, John Goddard and Sempais Steve Hamel, Greg Hamel, and Riane Goddard for their help and support in making this tournament such an overwhelming success.

Lastly, I'd like to say how proud I am of all of my students at CCHS. They all work so hard to improve day to day in not only karate, but all aspects of their lives. It's a blessing to work with such outstanding individuals who train together as a family in our dojo at CCHS!

Up next, our annual beach training and family outing scheduled for June 5th. More information will follow...

Osu!

Sensei

Tameshiwari 2011 (Board Breaking) at CCHS Karate

This week's board breaking class was a spectacular event that every student embraced as a time to test their skills. We broke over 100 pine boards last night! Whenever we hold a breaking class, the students always surprise themselves. It's amazing to see what the human body is capable of when properly trained. We were lucky enough to have another guest instructor this week. Sensei Mike DiPietro of the Methuen Karate Association was in attendance and gave the CCHS students an opportunity to learn kata and breaking techniques from the highest ranking black belt at MKA under Hanshi Giordano. Sensei brings a great deal of knowledge and experience to class and we really appreciate his time and generosity.



I decided to change things up this week by starting class off with a few videos of Kyokushin at its best. The first video was of Sosai Oyama and his incredible feats of strength in creating what we know now as the "Strongest Karate". Another video depicted various tameshiwari from Kyokushin legends such as Kenji Midori (former world champion), Shokei Matsui (former world champion and victor of the 100 man kumite), as well as other well known Kyokushin practitioners. These inspiring videos gave way to a spirited breaking class.



After our tameshiwari, we broke into groups to work on our kata. Sensei DiPietro worked with our more advanced students, while our Jr. Grade Black Belt Amanda Meli worked with our new students. We are very fortunate to have students in the CCHS Karate Club who are advanced ranks such as Amanda. She is a good role model for other students and will hopefully be our first Sempai at CCHS Karate. Our next big event will be the Second Annual All Valley Karate Tournament on May 14 at CCHS. This tournament will give our students the chance to compete against other high school age martial artists.



More information will follow!

Osu!

Sensei

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at CCHS Karate 2011

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This past Tuesday, the CCHS Karate Club was very excited to welcome Sensei John Goddard of the Methuen Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club and the Giordano Family Methuen Karate Association. Sensei Goddard took time out of his very busy schedule to instruct us on the basics of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We had the opportunity to learn sweeps, submissions, and some important concepts of grappling. Sensei Goddard has been a long time student of Goru Jim Marino (Methuen Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club) and Hanshi Larry Giordano (MKA).



I can say without any doubt that my students learned an array of skills that might one day help them to get out of a life threatening situation. I am always very grateful to any guest instructor that comes to CCHS, but I am especially thankful to Sensei Goddard because he has been coming to CCHS on a regular basis for the past three years. He has been a big part of the foundation of mixed martial arts that are taught here at the CCHS Karate Club.



David Daniels, one of my original CCHS Karate students also came to this Jiu Jitsu class. He is now ranked as shi-kyu in Kyokushin Karate and holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. David has been one of the most dedicated students that I have had over the past few years. He is actually the first CCHS student ever to receive the "Sensei Award" back in the 2008-2009 season. I am very grateful to David for the amount of hours he has put in at CCHS helping new students to have a desire to improve as he does. David is going to participate in a promotion next month and will hopefully be the first of my original students to be promoted to brown belt or ni-kyu. David currently trains at Hanshi Giordano's MKA dojo as I have for many years now. I am extremely proud of him and he truly represents what karate is all about.

Last, but certainly not least, Nicole Kebler was promoted to Hachi Kyu. This is an important step here at CCHS Karate. Most students don't realize the significance of that first promotion within the Kyokushin system. Nicole has proven her dedication to the art and has shown her desire to improve herself physically, mentally, and spiritually. We at the CCHS Karate Club congratulate her on this promotion and look forward to more in the future!



Next week we will hold our annual board breaking class...check back soon for pictures!

Osu!

Sensei

True Fighting Spirit - Sensei Chris Augeri of the Tiger Karate Dojo

Osu!

Yet again, we at the CCHS Karate Club are incredibly fortunate to have had an outstanding Kyokushin Karate instructor share time and knowledge with us. Sensei Chris Augeri of the Tiger Karate Dojo and the Methuen Karate Association brought an action packed karate lesson to CCHS on Tuesday, March 15th. Sensei Chris is well known as an incredible technician and brings a tremendous passion to his training and teaching.



Sensei Augeri was one of my primary instructors when I was growing up and I can't even begin to describe the amount of valuable lessons I have learned from him over the past years. He brought a number of long range vs. short range fighting techniques, spoke of breathing and controlling one's body while fighting, and of course the budo spirit of karate! Finally, at the end of class, it was my pleasure to promote a few of my students to Hachi Kyu (blue belt). I wanted Sensei to be there during this promotion, because in a way, my students development are a product of my instructors lessons to me. Obviously, Hanshi Giordano has affected me in the biggest way, but Sensei Chris Augeri as well as Sensei Kevin Bihl who visited CCHS a few weeks ago hold a special place in my past. (Below is a picture of Sensei Augeri and I during our Winter Beach Training in Hull, Ma)



Two of the students who were promoted are Neal Drapeau and Victoria Lambert. Each of these students have worked extremely hard to improve their skills and tested very well in terms of their spirit, focus, and determination. Neal has a background in Uechi Ryu karate which is very similar to Kyokushin which helps with his understanding of Budo. While Victoria did not have experience prior to Kyokushin. No prior experience didn't matter when it came to how much effort Victoria put in to make this promotion a reality. Congratulations!







Next week we will have a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class with Sensei John Goddard of the Methuen Jiu Jitsu Club and MKA!

Osu!

Sensei

CCHS Karate Club is honored by Hanshi Giordano

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Last month the CCHS Karate Club was honored by having one of the most prestigious black belts in the world attend and teach classes. Hanshi Larry Giordano, a 9th degree black belt, graced us with his presence during a well attended class at CCHS. Approximately 25 CCHS students had the wonderful opportunity to learn from a very experienced and knowledgeable master of Kyokushin karate. Hanshi is now in his 48th year of karate and has had great success with his dojo located in Methuen for the past 43 years.

I feel that I have been lucky learn from such a highly qualified instructor for over 25 years and luckily, my students can now say the same thing. Hanshi took us through a solid 60 minutes of kihon, bag work, contact drills, and kumite. At the end of the class, every student had felt the effects of a challenging workout, but also felt compelled to tell me that they learned a great deal from Hanshi.

We look forward to another visit from our master, hopefully in the near future. I can't end this post without thanking Hanshi Giordano for the support and generosity that he has so selflessly contributed to the forming of our club and sustaining a balance that will push us all to the next level of karate training.

Osu!

Sensei

CCHS Karate Wins Gold at Almeida's Invitational

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I am proud to post that 5 of our karate students brought home 8 trophies from a recent trip to Hanshi John Almeida's Karate Tournament! Four out of the five students placed 1st in either fighting or forms! This kind of outcome can only mean that our students are pushing themselves to the limit to improve on a daily basis.

Seniors Brendan Stolarz and Amy Whitney Perry have been a part of the club for three years now and have really come into their own this year. They have been leaders and strong competitors! Brendan recorded a first place trophy in forms and a fourth place position in the teen advanced fighting division. Amy competed in the 18+ women's division and held her own against much more experienced competition. Jeff Duchesne and Junellie Leon were our junior year level competitors and really made an impact in their divisions. Junellie earned first place in both kata and kumite while Jeff scored a first place victory in forms and battled for a third place finish in a tough teen advanced kumite division. Jeff, a blue belt in Kyokushin Karate almost beat a brown belt of the same style.

Lastly, Amanda Meli of freshman year, competed ferociously in the teen advanced black belt division. She earned a first place position in fighting and a third place in forms.

The difference between the black belt divisions and the kyu ranks divisions was the type of kumite...Black belts fought in a continuos setting, 1-2 minute rounds instead of point fighting with stoppages.

Congratulations to these competitors and their incredible dedication to the martial arts!

Osu!

Sensei

Sensei Kevin Bihl Teaches at CCHS Karate!!!

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This year has started off incredibly well. We have between 25 and 30 students each class and about 40 students who have participated in the karate club since November. I feel like the CCHS Karate Club is a well recognized part of the CCHS community and is an exciting venue for students who have never tried the martial arts, but also for students who have!

Last week we were lucky enough to have Sensei Kevin Bihl of the Methuen Karate Association as a guest instructor. I am honored to have Sensei Bihl teach at our karate club since he was one of my primary instructors back in the 80's and early 90's. He taught me a great deal about humility, respect, and dedication. I have a feeling that even though Sensei Bihl was only here for one class, he still bestowed quite a few lessons to my students.

Some exciting news...

After teaching at the CCHS Karate Club, Sensei Kevin Bihl was awarded his 5th degree black belt from Hanshi Larry Giordano at the black belt training session held at MKA later that same night. Congratulations to Sensei Bihl as he has been promoted to a master's rank in kyokushin karate!

Osu!

Sensei