Author: GH

2025/26 Training Begins

by GH

We’re back!

Our first training session for the 2025/26 season begins on Monday, September 8th, at 7PM upstairs at High River Fitness.

Fees are $60 per month per person (cash, check or e-transfer only).

We will be welcoming all new and returning members, ages 8 years and older.

Classes:

7PM – 8PM: White/Yellow/Orange, ages 8-12 years

7PM – 8:30PM: Green and above, 13 years and above

We are changing things up a little bit this year, with classes running from 7-8PM for White/Yellow/Orange belts and 8-12 year-olds, and 7-8:30PM for everyone else. By making this change, we are hoping to:

  • help keep our younger members more engaged through the full class time, and
  • give our more senior belts more of a chance to practice their kata and kumite skills

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. As always, we will be evaluating how this change is working out for everyone, and we are open to feedback on what is or isn’t working well.

Contact:

Sensei Gillian Hurst – 403-336-0909 – hurst.gillian@gmail.com

Sensei Travis Gauvreau – 403-336-9974 – travis_gauvreau@hotmail.com

Summer Break, Tournament, and Gradings

by GH

Congratulations to all of the High River Karate Club athletes who participated in the Karate Alberta Spring 2025 Tournament in Calgary on May 31st!

For full results from the tournament, please visit the Kihapp website here and click on the High River Karate Club: https://www.kihapp.com/tournaments/19351-karate-alberta-provincial-tournament-spring-2025/results

We are so proud of all of you for a tremendous effort at the tournament – you all did amazing!

Congratulations to all of our Karate students who successfully graded for their next belt through the last 2 months!

Yellow Belt – Owen, Rawson, and Lena

Green Belt – Scarlet, Mark, and Jaden

Blue Belt – JoAnna, Zach L, Trey, Ivy, and Zach P

We finished our last training session for the 2024/25 season on Thursday, June 26th, and we will be off for a well-earned break until September – stay tuned for a start date announcement later in August.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER HOLIDAY!!

Karate Alberta Tournament

by GH

The Spring 2025 Karate Alberta Tournament is coming up on Saturday, May 31st 2025.

Who: Any interested High River Karate Club members (Yellow belts and above only)

What: Karate Alberta Spring 2025 Tournament

When: Saturday, May 31, 2025 – 9AM Start

Where: Joseph Kryczka Arena (Southland Leisure Centre)

2000 Southland Dr SW, Calgary, AB

Cost:

$50.00/person Single Event – Kata or Kumite

$20.00/person, For Second Events Kata or Kumite

$21.00 per Team, Team Kata

Ex. If you wish to compete in both kata and kumite, you would pay $70.00. If just kata, or just kumite, it would be only $50.

Please make all checks payable to the High River Karate Club directly, or e-transfer to hurst.gillian@gmail.com, or bring cash to class
PLEASE CONFIRM DESIRE TO COMPETE BY THURSDAY, MAY 22nd AT THE LATEST

Training Update:

We will be training on Monday, May 19th for anyone available to come to class over the long weekend

Have a great long weekend, and see you all next week!

Tournament Recap and Easter

by GH

Congratulations to all of the karate ka (students) who participated in the Seiwa Kai invitational Robert Robinson Memorial tournament on April 13th, 2025!

You all did amazing, and Sensei Robert would have been very proud of each and every one of you, whether you performed your kata once, or placed in your division. The important thing is, you came and participated, and performed your kata in front of an audience, and as Sensei Doug said, this is preparing you for grading, and the Karate Alberta tournament at the end of May.

Thank you also to all of the family and friends who came out to support our athletes!

Below are a few photos from the tournament. If anyone has additional photos they would like to add, please feel free to forward to hurst.gillian@gmail.com.

EASTER HOLIDAY

We will be taking a break for Easter – NO CLASS on Monday, April 21st. We will resume training on Thursday, April 24th.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Seiwa Kai Karate Tournament

by GH

On Sunday, April 13th, we will be attending the Sensei Rob Robinson Memorial Tournament hosted by the Calgary Seiwa Kai Goju Ryu Karate Club at the Guardian Angel School in South West Calgary.

Please see link to the tournament here for details!

This tournament is a chance for students to demonstrate their kata in front of an audience and practice for grading (if applicable) and the Karate Alberta tournament later this spring. There is no kumite (sparring) at this event. It is all in good fun and great practice, and a chance to see another style of karate from our own Shotokan style.

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who brought their forms in! We look forward to seeing you this Sunday, April 13th at the Guardian Angel School, 20 Aspen Hills Drive S W, Calgary, AB.

NOTES FOR COMPETITORS

  • Bring a water bottle and snacks
  • Plan to arrive by 9:30AM – competition will begin at 10AM
  • Plan to stay until early afternoon – bring a lunch, or plan to take a short lunch break:
    • Team Kata event has been after lunch at past events
    • If you win your individual kata division, you will be asked to stay for the finals after lunch, where winners from each division compete for the tournament trophy
  • Remember to have fun!

Tournament Recap

by GH

Thank you to all of the competitors, spectators, judges and special guests who came to support the High River and Vulcan Tekka Karate Clubs at our first annual Sensei Robert Robinson Memorial Tournament!

At the tournament on March 2, 2025 – 20 competitors from the Vulcan Tekka and High River Karate clubs competed in individual and team kata. All of our participants demonstrated great physical ability, spirit (kime) and supportiveness for each other.

Thank you to Sensei Roberts family for attending as our special guests – it was wonderful to have you with us for the event.

Thank you Sensei Sue and Senpai Travis for the dedication to Sensei Robert which opened our event. Thank you to all of our black belt judges, including Senpai Serge and Sensei’s Lyle, Dot, and Sensei Blaine, who managed the tournament draws and supported our judges with competition protocol. It was an honor to present awards in recognition for dedication to the sport of Karate on behalf of Sensei Robert to Senpai Serge, Sensei Lyle, and Sensei Dorothy, for their many years of service in the High River Karate Club.

Thank you to all of our spectators who cheered on our competitors. We have collected a few photos from the event below. Please forward any you would like to add to Senpai Gillian at hurst.gillian@gmail.com

March 2nd Tournament

by GH

The first annual Sensei Robert Robinson Memorial invitational karate tournament will take place this weekend!

Date: Sunday, March 2, 2025

Time: 10AM Start (est. 2.5h duration)

Location: 187 Foothills Air Cadet Hanger at the High River Airport

Cost: No cost to participants or spectators

This tournament is open to all members of the High River Karate Club and the Tekka Karate Club of Vulcan. Family and friends are welcome to come cheer on our participants!

This tournament is an opportunity to see what our members have been learning in class, and for participants to practice performing their kata in front of an audience. Sensei Robert started organizing the tournament a few years ago, as it helps participants prepare for grading and other upcoming tournaments as well.

Participants are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before the event to warm up and get used to moving around the concrete floor. Please bring a water bottle. We will have bottled water onsite as well, just in case.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday!

To Members and Families

by GH

Following Sensei Robert’s passing, and in keeping with his legacy and wishes for the clubs to continue to grow and thrive in High River and Vulcan, the clubs will be continuing regular training sessions and planned events for this karate season.

Senpai Gillian and Senpai Travis will be stepping up to take on leadership of the High River Karate Club going forward. Sensei Robert’s family has been extremely supportive of this transition, and have provided all of the supporting documentation and resources required to continue with the club. (A huge thank you to Sensei Robert’s family for your support!)

Karate Alberta has been notified, and they have confirmed that the clubs are in good standing, and have offered support for us to complete the necessary requirements as we work through this transition over the next few months.

We know that there will be challenges to work through in the next few weeks and months, but we hope that as students, and as their families, you will have patience and bear with us as we move forward together.

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to training this last Thursday night – we know that it took great courage to come to class again after Sensei’s passing – it was a truly moving experience, with students demonstrating skills learned from, and sharing memories of, Sensei Robert. We also appreciate that it was not possible for everyone to attend, and we look forward to seeing you all again at our normal training times and location going forward, with our next class on Monday, February 24th, 2025.

We will be going forward with the High River and Tekka Karate Club Invitational Karate Tournament this coming March 2, 2025 as planned. This is an event that Sensei Robert organized for the last several years, as an opportunity for students to practice demonstrating their kata in front of family and friends in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. The tournament will begin at 10AM on Sunday, March 2nd, at the 187 Foothills Air Cadets Hanger at the High River Airport.

Following the tournament March 2nd, we will be preparing for the April 13th Seiwa Kai Invitational Kata Tournament in Calgary, and will be working towards preparing students to compete in the Karate Alberta Tournament at the end of May 2025 (more details to follow).

Senpai Gillian, Senpai Travis, and Senpai Laurie, are committed to continuing to develop club members skills and grade students to their next belt level when they have completed the necessary number of classes, and demonstrated consistently the skills required for their level. All necessary syllabus and attendance information has been passed on to support this.

As a club, we will be giving flowers and a card to Sensei Robert’s family at the Celebration of Life on Sunday, February 23rd. The Celebration of Life runs from 1PM-4PM at the High River Heritage Inn. If you would like to sign the card, or visit together at the gathering, we plan to be there from 2PM.

Sensei Robert’s teaching will live on, within each of our students and instructors.

Domo Arigato Gozaimasu

For any questions at this time, please contact either of the following:

Senpai Gillian / 403-336-0909 / hurst.gillian@gmail.com

Senpai Travis / 403-336-9974 / travis_gauvreau@hotmail.com

Sensei Robert

by GH

It is with great sadness that we announce that Sensei Robert Robinson, Head Instructor and Sensei for the High River and Vulcan Tekka Karate Clubs died on Saturday, February 15th, 2025.

The loss of Sensei Robert has left a large hole in our club and our hearts.

We will miss Sensei Robert’s insistence that we ‘get it right’, and his determination to make us the very best versions of ourselves through the art of Karate.

We will miss his goofy sense of humor, his demonstration of technique and practical application of karate, and his drive to make us ‘push ourselves’ to improve our skills, each and every class.

Sensei Robert was a force for excellence in all of our lives, and has touched so many over his lifetime of achievements in training and teaching Karate.

Sensei Robert embodied the principles we strive for, as written in the Dojo Kun, and recited at the end of every training session.

Dojo Kun:

The ultimate aim, in the art of Karate, lies not in victory, nor in defeat, but in the perfection, of the character, of it’s participants.

A link to Sensei Robert’s obituary is below:

Sensei Robert Robinson Obituary