OK, I confess, I am somewhat biased. I am a long time member of this organisation, although I started in NZ many years ago when the earth was young. When I migrated here in 2000 I didn't join the local club for a lot of reasons, but the main one is because I lived so far away at the time. I came back recently after a 10 year absence, having toyed with a number of other martial arts over the intervening years, and I was struck immediately by how friendly, caring and competent every senior member of this club is to newcomers, even returning old broken down folks like me. Head Instructor Ino Macquaring, title Jun-Shihan, is a 6th degree black belt, and his wife Leigh, a Sensei of 4th degree (at the time of writing) are such lovely folks and dedicated karateka that this club has a total family atmosphere. Jun-Shihan can name practically every member of the club by first name, quite an achievement given the size of the organisation. The very large number of families that are members and the large number of juniors is testament to the heart of the club. The style is very traditional Japanese karate, with it's roots in Kyokoshinkai, from which it split in the mid 1970's. It has approximately 20 kata to learn for shodan and generally will take between 4 and 5 years of consistent training to achieve a 1st degree black belt. A key difference to many other Japanese karate styles is the attitude to sparring, or kumite. Safety gear is a must, and it is all about the experience, not about knocking out your opponent - although that may happen! This is born from the US HQ where, like Australia, liability and insurance is a bugger. If you are considering a martial art, look no further - that is unless you have dreams of UFC, in which case walk on by. read more