Tournament Recap

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

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

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

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

We’re Back!

The 2024/2025 High River Karate Club season starts September 9th, 2024 at the High River Fitness location at 143 8 Ave SE, High River, AB.

Classes run from 7-8:30PM, Monday and Thursday nights each week (excluding some holidays) and are open to everyone ages 8 years and older.

Fees are $60 per month for all ages. Kidsport is an option for anyone needing assistance with fees. Prospective members are welcome to come try out their first one to two classes free of charge.

Please contact Sensei Robert for more information.

We look forward to welcoming new and returning members!

Final Grading and Summer Break

It was our final class of the 2023/2024 season this past Thursday, May 30th, and we are now on a well-deserved break from training for the summer.

Our tentative return to training date is Monday, September 9th, 2024; however, check back with us closer to September as we finalize the first class of our 2024/2025 season.

Congratulations to our 2 new Yellow belts, Jack and Stratton, and our 3 new Orange belts, Jaden, Mark, and Scarlet! It’s always great to see how far everyone has progressed when it’s time to complete grading for the next level – you all did amazing!

To every one of our students, your hard work and dedication this year show in improvements in so many ways. Keep training and we look forward to seeing you again in September!

Have a great summer!

Monday Night Grading

Congratulations to our three brand new Green belt! Ivy, Trey, and Zack all successfully completed their Green belt grading this week during our class on Monday night – well done everyone!

Our final training session of the season will be this Thursday, May 29th, 2024 as we take a well-deserved summer break.

Look out for another post following our last class and an update over the summer for timing on when our first class back in September will be!

Karate Alberta Tournament Results

The High River and Vulcan Tekka Karate clubs represented at the recent Karate Alberta Tournament in Calgary on Sunday, April 28th. Congratulations to all of the students who participated, many of whom were first time competitors at a tournament of this size!

Official Results for the High River Karate Club competitors can be found here on Kihapp – https://www.kihapp.com/tournaments/14340-karate-alberta-provincial-tournament-spring-2024/clubs/53150-high-river-karate-club/results

Congratulations to the following:

JoAnna – 1st, Senior 18+ Kata

Mark B – 1st, U14 Kata; 3rd, U14 Kumite

Travis G – 2nd, Masters 35+ Kumite; 5th Advanced Kata

Jaden – 2nd U12 Kumite Novice; 5th U12 Novice Kata

Scarlet – 2nd U14 Novice Kata; 3rd U14 Novice Kumite

Zachary P – 5th U14 Novice Kata and Kumite

Trey – 5th U14 Novice Kumite

Zack L – 5th Novice/Int U18 Kata

Gillian – 5th, Masters 35+ Kata

Really well done to everyone who competed this year! Photos from the event are below.