The grading was an opportunity for karate students to display the skills they had learnt throughout the year in a hope to progress through to their next belt level.

About 16 students took part in the grading with majority of students accepting a new level.

Sikaran Martial Arts president, Dallas Farnsworth, said most of the students were on a level between white and green belts.

“We have a grading once a year and this allows students to learn everything throughout the year then display what they learnt at the end,” Farnsworth said.

“Enzo Triglla instructed the grading at Lake Moondarra and marked students on their attendance, form, how well they are progressing, how much effort they put in throughout the year as well as on the day.”

“We put them through our traditional stances, (forward stance, backwards stance, straddle stance, fighting stance) and carta.

“When students first learn carta, they purely learn them for the actions and movements for muscle memory. Then as they progress they learn why they are learning them and how to apply them in situations.

Farnsworth said the karate school followed a creed which allowed students to learn to take pride in themselves, self denial, look up for wisdom and strength, respect elders, respect god and give them confidence.

“We always say violence is a last resort, you can always win a fight by 100 metres, there is no problem with running away,” he said.

“Although this grading showed that the students had come a long way and implemented the creed. They all tried really hard and it was good to see them taking the next step forward.”