Ryukenkan Dojo - Tauranga New Zealand
"Karate in Paradise" - It's a rough task, but someone has to do it!
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Ryukenkan Dojo - Tauranga New Zealand "Karate in Paradise" - It's a rough task, but someone has to do it!
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Regular Classes
Ryukenkan Regular Classes Students who attend our regular classes have the benefit of training in a Family Environment with other students of similar rank and ability. Classes run for up to 2 hours and are taught by a fully qualified Instructor. Key Benefits
Class Timetable As at the 7th of December 2006, the Class Timetable is as follows:
Venue Greenpark School Hall, Cameron Road, Tauranga. Click Here for a Map.
Frequently Asked Questions What is taught in each class? Instructors will do their best to ensure that class is interesting and challenging to the student,while ensuring that the curriculum content is covered in order to ensure students are ready to test for grade ranks as the opportunity arises. How much does it cost? Your first two classes are FREE - there is no risk and no obligation to stay with us once you've come along. Most people love the environment and choose to stay, but if what we offer is not for you, then we'll be happy to help you find what you're looking for. If you choose to stay, class fees are $20 per month for regular students. We offer a Family Discount of $35 per month for all members of a family living under one roof. What should I wear? For your first few classes, we recommend loose fitting clothes - a T-shirt and track pants is ideal. Should you choose to stay with us (and we hope you do) you'll need to purchase a uniform. Check our Training Equipment page for details. How many people are in each class? Our usual class numbers run between 15 and 25 per class, depending on season - we find that around Christmas and New Years our class number drop away with people returning once Public Schools return. Are there separate Adult & Children's classes? Not at the moment. As we encourage a family environment we feel it's important to have all family members training together. This gives all of our students the chance to interact with people of all ages and offers our younger students a chance to make friendships with adults who they may meet in daily life. As an example, some of our adult students work in environments where they are constantly visible to the public (Mall & Hospital Security). Our younger students have come to develop good relationships with these adults and know that they are able to approach them at any time for help or just to say "Hi!". By the same token, the adult Security Staff have developed rapport with the younger students which they find helpful in their place of work. What's up with all the bowing? Bowing is an integral part of Okinawan and Japanese culture. It shows respect between people. At the Ryukenkan, we realise that bowing is not a part of New Zealand culture, so we look at it in a different way. At the start of class, several bows are performed. Firstly, everyone bows toward the front of the class. This bow is to show respect to the predecessors in our art. We also look at it as a way to "shake hands" with all our Alliance friends around the world. Being part of an international organisation means we have friends and family all over the world. When we bow towards the front of class, we recognise and respect the lineage of instructors that have given us our art, and we recognise of friends around the world. The next bow performed is between all the Students and the Instructor. This bow shows respect and acknowledges that we all learn from each other. We also view this bow as an efficient way to move around each student individually, shake their hand and ask how their day was. During class, we bow to our Instructors and to each other regularly as a sign of respect. Another aspect of the bow is to assist us in separating our time in class from our daily life. We aim to be more respectful through our studies (refer to Dojo Kun 4) and this helps us to reinforce the fact. Discussions among students often reveal funny incidents where we bow as we enter each others houses for example - these little things give us something to laugh about, but also are proof that we do are achieving our goal of being more respectful towards one another. Do I have to buy a whole bunch of equipment? We work on the approach that you buy it when you can afford it. We also offer a time payment plan to approved students. Generally ,we have equipment to borrow, or we find ways to work around any equipment shortages we may have. Do I have to buy the equipment from you? Not at all. There are several good suppliers of Martial Arts equipment in New Zealand. The Ryukenkan Dojo offers equipment available through The PDT Company and through Ronin Outfitters Supply Company (NZ). The only items which are not available through other suppliers are our training T-Shirts and embroidered patches. Quality and safety are big issues when it comes to training weapons. While we do allow students to make their own weapons, we reserve the right to prohibit the use of unsafe equipment in our classes. Our investigations and product tests have found that there are no weapons available through suppliers in New Zealand which, when used for heavy contact training, meet our strict requirements for quality and safety. We recommend that students purchase weapons used for heavy contact training through Ronin Outfitters Supply Company (NZ) or a similarly recognised producer of Kobudo equipment capable of producing personalised custom made equipment. |
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