RMA LEAVES MARK AT NMAC EVENT

RMA LEAVES MARK AT NMAC EVENT

RMA Karate Centres had 6 students take part in the National Martial Arts Circuit (NMAC) tournament and 2012 Awards Presentation in Toronto this past weekend (Feb 9^th).  The day was a complete success with RMA competing among other martial artists from as far as North Bay, Ottawa, London and Windsor.   It was the first competition of the year for the RMA group and they represented their karate school well.

Blue belt Liam N placed 1st in sparring, 2nd in weapons, 2nd in forms and 2nd in musical open.  Liam was also awarded 1st place winner overall in his age group and 1st place winner overall for all under belts in the 2012 NMAC season, his first year in major competitions.

Blue belt Sale B placed 1^st in musical open, 4^th in weapons, 5^th in forms and 2^nd sparring.  Sale was also awarded 2nd place winner overall 7-8 year old girls in the 2012 NMAC season, her first year in major competitions. 

Red belt Isabelle R placed 4^th in musical open, 3^rd  in weapons and 5^th  in forms.  Isabelle was also awarded 4^th place winner overall 7-8 year old girls 2012 NMAC season, her first year competing in that circuit.

Advanced brown belt Tyler M-Z placed 1^st in weapons and 1^st in forms.   Brooke Z placed 3^rd in Korean forms, 5^th in weapons and 5^th in forms and younger sister Ella Z placed 3^rd in sparring, 4^th in weapons and 5^th in forms.

“It was a great start to the 2013 competition year and a great way to prepare for the upcoming Ontario Open in Hamilton on February 23^rd”, RMA head instructor Craig Ridout stated.

NEW BELTS FOR LARGEST KARATE TESTING

RMA Karate Centres continues to grow in numbers, not by traditional advertising methods, but by word of mouth and in-house referrals.   An indication of the karate school’s continued success is their latest belt testing for its students.

47 students from RMA Karate Centres tested and passed a belt grading in January.   The largest belt grading to date for RMA, testing times ranged from 30 minutes for the younger ages of 3 to 5, to anywhere between 1 to 4 hours for ages 6 years to adult.   

Receiving their new belt level and advancing closer to black belt are:

White with Yellow Stripe Belt: Bain J, Kai I & Thomas L

White with Orange Stripe Belt: Johan P, Dylan R, Eva D, Alice R, Alixandra R & Gideon M

White with Green Stripe Belt: Madden B

Half White and Half Yellow Belt: James G

Half White and Half Orange Belt: Tobin S

Half Yellow and Half Green Belt: Austin N and Margaret B

Yellow with White Stripe Belt: Peyton R

Yellow with Black  Stripe Belt: Parker R and Lucas B

Yellow Belt: Kodin B, Gwyneth C, Keegan O-G, Ryan H, Elliot G, Jacob S, Charley A-H, Esabella A-H, James W, Brian T & Brian F

Orange Belt: Ari W, Rachel W, Ben P, Jasmine H, Shamus B & Mike N

Red Belt: Samuel S, Jacob A, Noah D & Rory C

Green Belt: Madeleine C, Joshua F & Devan F

Blue Belt: Liam N & Sale B

Purple Belt: Margaret D & Daniel D

Shodan- Ho Belt: Brooke Z & Tara G

2013 COMPETITION TEAM ANNOUNCED

RMA Karate Centres of Barrie began weekly training with their 2013 competition team, The Northern Dragons, in January.  The well established competition team is ready for 2013 with the team members already training in dedicated sessions twice weekly. 


Head instructor Craig Ridout began the tournament team over 7 years ago with the purpose to provide a forum in which students could experience first-hand, the benefits of teamwork while accomplishing personal goals. “We believe that when children feel as though they are an important part of something positive with their peers, it helps to keep them on the right path to a successful future.  Meeting other martial artists their own age, competing alongside them and establishing friendships helps build their confidence and self-esteem”, stated Ridout.



The tournament team will be traveling across Canada and the United States performing their forms, weapons and sparring skills alongside other martial artists their own age and similar skill set.  Team members attend an average of 9 tournaments or more each year improving their skills, making friends and building a close bond with their fellow team mates.


2013 Northern Dragons team members include second degree black belt Tressa Y, first degree black belt Tara K, first degree black belt Samantha M, green belt Liam N, green belt Sale B, red belt Isabelle Rayner and red belt Katie B.
 
2013 team members will have their tournament results updated and posted on the RMA website at www.rmakarate.com.

2012 STUDENT AWARDS

Every student at RMA has improved and achieved personal goals they should
be proud of. Our students train very hard and we are very proud of them.

For the efforts of all our students we want to say

“Thank You And We Are Proud To Be Your Senseis”.  

Every year RMA presents awards to students for standing out in several areas. These awards are handed out at the annual Christmas party. The 2012 award recipients are:    


Assistant Instructor/STORM of The Yea r - Samantha M

Outstanding Little Dragon of The Yea r - Lucas B

Most Improved Student of The Year - Brooke Z

RMA Spirit Award – Noah D

Male Competitor of The Year –Liam N

Female Competitor of The Year – Sale B

Soke Kwan Memorial Award – Tara K


Congratulations to everyone and keep up the good work!

RMA KARATE BRINGS HOME HARDWARE FROM TORONTO

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RMA KARATE BRINGS HOME HARDWARE FROM TORONTO

Six martial artists from Barrie’s RMA Karate Centres participated in the 2012 Toronto Tournament of Martial Arts Champions over the weekend (Nov 16 & 17) bringing home plenty of hardware.

Second degree black belt and RMA instructor Tressa Young proved she was ready to give her best winning first in traditional kata, traditional weapons, musical forms, elite forms and second in women’s sparring.

First degree black belt and RMA instructor Samantha MacDonald won second in Korean forms and third in the traditional weapons, kata and sparring divisions.

First degree black belt Tara Krale won first in traditional kata and third in the Chinese forms division and sparring.

Green belt Sale Berube won first in sparring, second in weapons, third in musical forms and was a finalist in kata.

Green belt Liam North won first in intermediate sparring, second in musical forms, second in kata, third in weapons and was a finalist in advance sparring.

Red belt Isabelle Rayner placed as a finalist in the weapons, kata and musical forms.

 

The RMA martial arts students will be taking a competition break until the new year.  December and January will be spent with extra dedicated training sessions to help prepare them for 2013.  

 

STUDENTS MOVE UP NEXT LEVEL

STUDENTS MOVE UP NEXT LEVEL

16 students from RMA Karate Centres received their new belt rank at a traditional tea ceremony on
Friday November 9^th, 2012.   The students ranging in age from 3 years old to adult earned their belts
after taking part in a rigorous testing last month that included demonstrating basics, kata, weapons forms,
sparring and self-defense skills.

Receiving their new belt rank were:

White with yellow stripe belt: Johan P, Alixandra R, Alice R, Dylan R & Eva D

Yellow Belt: Jack P, Ben P, Shamus B and Mike N

Orange Belt: Sam W and Sheyon P

Red Belt: Paul M, Alex M and Liam C

Green Belt: Robbie L

Blue Belt: Kassandra C

YOUNG FINISHES JUNIORS WORLD CHAMPION

Three martial artists from RMA Karate Centres in Barrie attended the 2012 WKC World Karate &
Kickboxing championships in Montreal this past week as part of the 350 member Canadian national
karate team.  Brooke Z and Liam N performed well against top-notch competitors from other countries
but did not advance after being eliminated in the first round.

With 2012 being the last year for RMA black belt instructor Tressa Young to compete as a junior
member, she was eager to leave her mark and did just that.  Young received honourable mention for
her accomplishments as a junior competitor through the years at the world competitions in Ireland,
Portugal and Spain.  The second degree black belt and 8 time national team member not only advanced
in all 8 of her divisions this year she was asked to be part of the 16/17 year girls continuous and point
fighting teams.

The girls Canadian point fighting team had 3 matches and after 2 fights team England and team Canada
were tied.  It was all up to Tressa Young's match and it was such a close one with points being scored back
and forth . At the end of the match Young won her match 6-4 putting team Canada in the finals against
team Ireland where they won gold for Canada.

After defeating the Irish in the preliminary round Canada advanced to the finals for 16/17 girls continuous
team fighting.  Canada needed to win 2 out of 3 matches for gold.  The first fight Canada lost to England,
Young won her fight but the final match Canada was defeated giving England the gold and Canada the silver.

At the end of the 2012 world competition Young left her mark winning 4 silver and 6  gold bringing her junior
medals for Canada to a total of  49, 23 of which are gold.