Karate club ‘cleans the mirrors’ in new premises
Seido Karate Nelson has “cleaned the mirrors” and moved to a new premises.
The club has relocated to the Old St John’s Church hall on Hardy St, a location it shares with the Islamic community who go there to pray.
Sei Shihan Aaron Barber said after his father Andy’s passing in 2022, it was his turn to continue his father’s work.
“It’s my time to try and push the legacy that dad set for 50 years forward and I feel honoured and privileged,” Barber said.
Previously on Parere St, the club moved on when their former dojo, or hall, was sold.
Barber said they were fortunate in that one of their students knew the landlord of the Hardy St church hall, paving the way for negotiations.
The new space, having been used as a place of prayer and believed to date back from 1914, “had its own energy already”, he said, boasting wooden floors and rimu panelling and doors.
Kaumātua Harvey Ruru led Saturday’s opening ceremony and blessed the new dojo, after which some 90 students took part in a class before sharing kai.
“It was a nice way to set the year off, which traditionally is called kagami biraki, to clean the mirror, and to reset your goals for the New Year,” Barber said.
Some of those in the karate community are in their late 70s, including seniors who have trained for more than 35 years.
Barber said they made up an important part of the dojo, as they helped him guide younger students.
“It just shows that although you’re older, and you’re not able to maybe do what you could physically when you were young, you can still do karate.”
The Seido was about being “inclusive”, he said, and was a place where families could train together.
“It’s accessible to everybody really,” Barber said. “That’s why it’s got such a community feel about it.”
Anyone wanting further information about Seido Karate Nelson can visit their website at https://seido.co.nz/.