Video Library
A Week at Toatakai
Join us for all the classes and events of a busy week at Toatakai Karate 👊
Drone Footage at the Dojo
Big thanks to Nic Tauroa for coming in and getting this awesome fly through of the Dojo!
Evolution of Gyakuzuki (Karate Body Punch)
Check out some highlights of coach Barney throwing chudan gyakuzuki (body punch) from his first class as a white belt all the way to today in 2024 at top level competition.
2023 Wrap Up
Some highlights for the year. Thanks to everyone that helped make a great 2023! Enjoy the Xmas and New Years break, then we're looking forward to an even stronger 2024!
24hr Bike Challenge
Amazing effort from the team on this mental challenge. We had the bikes set up in the Dojo, with Barney and Raukawa targetting to do 24 hours non stop, and Elemer, Dallas and Eledon trying to go as long as possible.
This was a real uncomfortbale challenge, literally! Doesn't take too long on a bike seat to staret getting painful. Check out the video to see how long we could make it!
Thanks to everyone that came down and to Rutherford Fitness Waikato for helping us arrange the bikes.
Kumite Rules
Check out all the basic rules for Karate Kumite, including the layout of competition, referees/judges, how to score, penaties to avoid and how to win the fight.
Just like any sport, if you want the best chancing of winning, you need to know how to play the game!
Australian Open
A sit down with Dallas, Eledon, Elemer and Lucas talking about their experiences at the 2023 Australian Open in Sydney.
All of the kids made the podium, representing Toatakai really well on and off the mat!
Round Robin
Another successful Round Robin competition in the Dojo, where kids get a chance to do some tournament style Kumite rounds. A great way to prepare for real competitions, where we can go through all rules and procedures, plus coaching from our experienced players. Round Robins run once a term, so make sure to catch the next one!
2023 Round Robins;
19th February
21st May
23rd August
19th November
Toatakai at Ninja Valley!
Toatakai Kids had the chance to release their inner ninja at the new Ninja Valley during the Holiday programme 🥷🤸♀️🥋
Competition Kumite Rules
This video goes through all of the basic rules for tournament sparring, including the points and penalties that can happen on the mat.
Big thanks to Elemer and Eledon Ing for helping out on the day!
Oceania Championships
Team Toatakai at the 21st Oceania Championships in New Caledonia 🇳🇨👊
How awesome to finally have travel and competition back on the cards after a long couple of years! I'm so proud to have a team of such amazing athletes and supporters, who represented themselves, their club and their country so well on and off the mat.
Isolation Training
For all those Isolating at home, in this session we’re working with an inflatable bag to do a variety of timing and distance drills with our techniques.
You can pick up one of these bags online to use at home, I've purchased this one from Kmart - https://www.kmart.co.nz/.../inflatable-boxing.../3146306
Agility/Timing Lights at Toatakai
We’re stepping up our game with new reaction/agility lights!
2021 isn't over yet, we've still got plenty of training left in us!
DIY Punching Bag
Keep training outside the Dojo by making your own bag at home - perfect for kids!
Today we're making a bag with just the following things: 👖 Pair of old jeans/pants (the bigger the better).
👕 Some old clothes/rags or anything soft to fill up the outer part.
⏳ Sand/dirt/gravel or anything heavy to fill in the middle part.
🛠 A pipe/tube to seperate & fill bag (ie PVC pipe, cardboard tube).
🧵 String and Rope. **You can use a plank of wood/metal pipe instead of the tube and heavy filling.
This was really easy to put together, takes less than an hour. Have a go at making this or any other bag from home (check out youtube for more ideas) and send through some videos bashing your own DIY bag!
Kumite Training at Toatakai
Kumite training has stepped up at Toatakai, with just two weeks to go until the NZ Cup.
If you’re interested in getting some extra training, and potentially competing, make sure to come to our Kumite Intro classes on Saturdays!
Zoom Training
Lockdown doesn't stop us working!
Highlights from one of our Zoom sessions durning the October lockdown.
Well done to all the students for keeping active and engaged whike stuck at home.
Home Training Tips
Dojo - a room or hall in which martial arts are practised. A dojo is any space we practice Karate.
When we're not at the club Dojo, we don't stop training - we just use whats available to us in our home Dojo!
Here's a couple of exercises to work on that will improve Kicking and Balance.
NZ Open - Christchurch
Toatakai players at the NZ Open 2021 in Christchurch 👊. Incredible results from our team, returning with 8 gold medals from our team of 14. Also took the gold, silver and bronze in both the 10-11 and the 18+ divisions 🥇🥈🥉.
Not just greast results, more importantly a lot of improvement. A well deserved rest for the team before back to training next week.
NZ Nationals 2020
Watch our top athletes battle it out at the 2020 New Zelaland Nationals at the AMI Netball Center. This was an exciting event, as it was the first ever time a Karate tournament has been broadcast on Sky Sport.
Contragulations to all the following athletes, who made the club proud - Chase Hennessey, Dean Moxon, Liam Singer, Lola Hennessey, Raukawa Jefferies and Sam Crawford.
NZ Nationals - Juniors
Day 2 of the Nationals gave our under 14 players a chance to get on the mat against the best in the country. Great performances all round, with the kids showing they have just as much talent as the older ones!
Home Training in Lockdown
Lockdown made Karate training difficult, but with today’s technology and motivated members, we kept training!
Well done to all the students that followed along to sessions on Facebook, trained with us live on Zoom, or even came up with their own training drills. Because we stayed home to fight the virus, we were able to come back to the Dojo soon enough and fight each other.
Training Overseas Part 1 - Slovakia
Some insight and highlights into Barney's training for a few months in Nitra, Slovakia with our friends at the Farmex Karate Club.
Fortunate to be joined with good friend Mitchell Durham from Australia, as we competed and trained throughout Europe.
Training Overseas Part 2 - Kazakhstan
Another overseas training video while we were based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, training with the National Team. Joined again with Mitchell and our other Australian mate, Daniel Tielen.
Big thanks to The National Coach Tareq Abdesselem for inviting and helping us out. Tareq had been coaching at our club in Hamilton earlier that year, which was a huge honour!
Holiday Programme
Training, learning and fun during the Holiday Programme!