Thursday, 15 October 2026

• Karakia to open. It gave thanks for being able to meet as the Seishin Ryu Niwa committee for our mokopuna, and remembered whānau who couldn't attend.
• Some members joined online.
• Previous minutes: there were no written minutes from the last hui.

Progress

• About 9–10 weeks into training. There are four sessions a week, compared with twice a week when the first dojo started, so students have progressed faster.
• Training has stuck strictly to the SRN syllabus. That makes it clear what each student knows and what they still have to learn.
• Most white belts have already gone past the white-to-blue syllabus, and blue-belt syllabus teaching has started.
• The girls have shown the biggest growth, especially in kata and basics. The boys are coming along too, and some of them are also ready to grade.
• Basics are drilled every session to build muscle memory. Students are expected to know the Japanese terms.

Grading

• Most students are ready to grade, mostly white belts going to blue and some blues going to orange. The instructor expects everyone invited to grade to pass. A handful won't be grading.
• Grading is Sunday and Monday this coming weekend. Kapa haka finishes at 11am on Sunday. Some tamariki are in both, and kapa haka comes first. Whānau are asked to get their tamariki to grading whenever they can.
• Action: the lead instructor needs every grading student's full name so certificates can be written for the weekend.
• The final decision on grading belongs to the black-belt instructor.
• SRN won't lower its grading standard, because the aim is for our tamariki, especially our girls, to be able to look after themselves.

Sparring

• There has been a request for the children to spar at grading. They haven't sparred yet because sparring isn't in the syllabus at this level.
• It will be light contact only, with no punching to the head. Students who can't control their kicks must pull them.
• Action: students to bring mouth guards next week, if they have them. Some basic sparring will be taught so they don't go into the weekend undercooked.

Other notes

• Students sometimes forget their gī. A gī that's clean but still damp is fine. Students are being encouraged to take responsibility for their own gear and not rely on whānau.
• Wednesday training was split by belt level because a lot of blue belts didn't turn up. It will get easier once most students are blue belts.
• Feedback from whānau was positive, for example that their tamaiti loves it and that training has a good environment.

• The goal is to confirm who is travelling, so the committee has a firm fundraising target and isn't guessing.
• Numbers: there were 28, but some whānau have pulled out, leaving 23. There's roughly a $1,000 difference per person between tamariki and pakeke.
• The working estimate is about $7,000 per person, and the earlier estimate came in a little higher than actual costs.
• The travel agent's payment dates:
  • $100 deposit per person, due Friday 11 December
  • $700 per person, non-refundable, due Friday 22 January
  • Final flight payment due in February
• These are flights only. Accommodation and other costs are still to come, and are being chased with the travel agent.
• Account details are being set up so whānau can start paying in. The committee will share them with whānau directly.
• Action: build one page with all the current trip information and give everyone logins, so it becomes the single source of truth.

• SRN now has bank accounts and is set up as a charitable trust. An application for charity registration has gone in, and the response could take 12–15 weeks.
• Funding applications: several are being worked on, each shaped to that funder's priorities. Targets include equipment, gī and uniforms, and eventually a dojo or building ("shoot for the stars").
• As far as anyone knows, SRN may be the first kura in Te Tai Tokerau with its own karate club.

• The club currently has only one black-belt instructor. If they're unavailable, classes can't run, and that's a risk.
• The search is on for other black belts or senior grades to help, with no success so far. One possible helper has been identified.

• Some whānau have already paid their grading fees.
• Fees are due by the end of October. Whānau having trouble paying should reach out.
• The fee amounts were mentioned as $50 and $30 for the year. The committee was asked whether it wants any changes, and no changes were raised.
• Registration also registers each student in Japan, not only in New Zealand.

• Some whānau are already fundraising with their own small ventures.
• Proposal: every confirmed tamaiti runs a 1–70 sponsorship board, which raises about $2,485 if fully sold.
• Action: produce a photo of each tamaiti in their gī for an official SRN-branded board and promotion, using existing photos where possible.
• About seven months remain before travel, so the ball needs to start rolling now.

• Thanks were given to the committee and whānau. Closing karakia.