After more than 15 years in the dojo with us, Sensei Bailey has moved to Melbourne to start a new chapter. He didn’t want to make a big deal of it and kept it pretty quiet, and we can only imagine it was a tough decision. While we’re sad to see him leave the Sunshine Coast, we’re excited for the adventures ahead of him. As a result, Coastal Karate Club is closing, but the dojo isn’t going anywhere. It’s continuing as Caloundra Karate, led by Sensei Matthew Stevenson.
Sensei Matthew started his Chito-Ryu journey with us back in 2000. In fact, he was our very first adult student when we started teaching on the Sunshine Coast, and one of our very first black belts. For the last few years he has been training with Sensei Bailey at Coastal Karate Club, and he’s now welcoming all of Sensei Bailey’s students who are able to continue with him.
Both were on the mats at the Soke Cup in August: Sensei Bailey won gold in bo and sai and with the Australia A men’s kumite team, plus bronze in kumite, and Sensei Matthew won bronze in Masters kumite.
Caloundra Karate starts early in Term 4, with classes on Mondays and Thursdays at the same Currimundi venue. To find out more, call Sensei Matthew on 0438 102 943.
Once Sensei Bailey has settled into life in Melbourne, we hope to see him for some online classes, and maybe even a Melbourne dojo in the not-too-distant future.
Thank you, Sensei Bailey, for everything you’ve given our karate family. And we look forward to working with Sensei Matthew as he welcomes Sensei Bailey’s students to their new home at Caloundra Karate.