SEVERAL athletes from bayside martial arts school Sports Karate Australia have earned Australian titles at the Japan Karate Federation of Goju Kai National Championships on the Gold Coast.
Sports Karate Australia took a team of 28 to the competition in Carrara, where they competed against competitors from across the country and overseas.
The championships - which ran between April 3 and April 8 - involved seminars and grading by some of the world's most senior Japanese instructors, led by Seiichi Fujiwara, president of Sewakai International.
Sports Karate Australia came away with a medal tally of 11, with five athletes walking away national champions.
Five gold medallists included Ben Craddock, Eliza Daffy, Scarlett Smith Perkins and Guilluam LaCroix, as well as instructor Rene Roggeveen.
The championship saw Roggeveen, 60, returning to the mat competitively for the first time in more than two decades.
It came two years after he received open-heart mitral valve surgery.
"I just felt it was time to take the old ticker for a spin," Roggeveen said.
Competing was a good way to inspire his younger students, he said.
Gabriella Sanchez, Alvara Herrera and Daniella Woods won silver medals, while Charlie Fumberger, Loki Hansen and Zed Youdale won bronze.
Sports Karate Australia runs classes at Hilliard State School in Alexandra Hills, Mary Mackillop Parish and Birkdale South State School in Birkdale and Wellington Point Recreation Hall.
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