ALEXANDRIA: Every Tuesday afternoon inside the town hall at Alexandria, a group of five to 15-year-olds take off their shoes, bow to each other and set to learning traditional Japanese self-defence skills.
Their classes are run by Karate 4 Inner City Kids (KICK), a non-profit organisation that aims to teach self-defence to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The president of KICK, Gayle Borg, says the organisation was created to support less fortunate children in the community. “We started it in Sydney only a year ago, because friends of ours already have KICK in Los Angeles and South Africa to look after people from low socioeconomic areas. A community group, school principal or counsellor might recommend a child that hasn’t got the same advantages as somebody else and we will teach them traditional Japanese style karate, which is very disciplined and structured.”
She says karate not only teaches children self-defence, but also helps to give them confidence, self-discipline and self-respect. “A perfect example is one of the boys we teach. He’s about ten, he no longer has parents in his life, he lives with a family member, and he came to us because the principal suggested it, he didn’t want to be there.”
“He came in, hoodie on, hands in his pockets, he didn’t look at us and we gave him a uniform and initially he didn’t want to wear it. But after about two months he wore his uniform proudly and now he looks at us eye to eye and talks to us and he’s a really good student,” she says.
KICK sensei Mario Borg believes children who learn karate gain more confidence because they feel better equipped to stand up for themselves. “If a young person was confronted by an aggressor or someone violent, or even a friend stirring them up, karate might give them that confidence to work their way out of the situation.”
And it’s clear the students in Alexandria are excelling at these self-defence techniques. At the recent Japan Karate Federation National Championships held in Kirribilli, where 120 of the best competitors from across Australia and New Zealand vied for the chance to attend the world tournament in Japan, three young Alexandria students were awarded top prizes!
In the under 8 girls fighting division, Jasmine Alexiou achieved first place and her sister Liliana Alexiou claimed second. In the under 8 boys fighting division Joseph Vaka achieved third place. “We are extremely proud of their achievements,” Gayle Borge says. “Now that they have come back with trophies everyone wants to compete. One of the kids asked when the next tournament was, so we’re going to have our own in October,” she says.
KICK will run the tournament on October 19 for students from Sydney and Brisbane and expect over 130 competitors. “It will be a gathering of a network of friends with clubs that practice different styles of karate,” Gayle Borg says. “We expect it to be a big event this year after the success we had at the national championships, because everyone wants that trophy.”
But Gayle Borg emphasises that it’s not all about winning. “I always say to the kids that it doesn’t matter what colour your belt is – they all hold up your pants. You shouldn’t chase colours, as long as you put in your best effort, you enjoy it and every time you improve a little bit, that’s all that matters.”
