18/09/2026
🥋 ANNOUNCING: 2026 SUNSHINE COAST OPEN — Karate & Kobudo Championships
📅 Sunday 1 November 2026
📍 Kuluin State School, 41–67 Tallow Wood Dr, Kuluin QLD
Individual events: Bogu Kumite · Kata · Bo Kata · Sai Kata
Open to all traditional karate and kobudo styles.
AN OPEN TOURNAMENT, IN PRACTICE AS WELL AS IN NAME
There is no fixed kata list, and no style's syllabus sets the standard. Any kata from your own traditional style's syllabus is eligible. Judges evaluate basics, body control and effective application of the performance, and are expressly directed not to penalise a kata for differing from the version taught in their own style. Kobudo bo and kobudo sai kata follow the same principle.
NEW TO BOGU KUMITE? START HERE
Bogu kumite is fought in full protective equipment: body armour, headgear with a face mask, gloves and shin/instep protectors. It allows controlled contact to be scored cleanly and judged clearly, with a referee and four corner judges on every match.
For most dojos outside our organisation this is an unfamiliar format, so we're introducing it carefully. We're running FREE Introduction to Bogu Kumite seminars — open to any style, any dojo, ages 10+. You'll be introduced to the equipment, the rules and scoring, and safe training practice, then put the gear on and fight in one yourself.
▸ Sat 26 Sep — Sunshine Coast, 12:00–2:00pm (Maroochydore)
▸ Sat 26 Sep — Gold Coast, 3:00–5:00pm (Ashmore)
▸ Sat 10 Oct — Gold Coast, 3:00–5:00pm (Ashmore)
▸ Sun 11 Oct — Sunshine Coast, 9:00–11:00am (Maroochydore)
Bogu is supplied on loan at no cost. Entries for the 26 Sep sessions close this Friday 25 Sep.
Important for non-Chito-Ryu dojos: entry to KUMITE is open to students of instructors who have attended a seminar. That's a safety measure, not an exclusion — if the instructor attends, all of their students may enter, whether or not the students came. Kata, bo kata and sai kata are open to every competitor with no such requirement.
ENTRY FEES
Standard entries close Sun 18 Oct, 11:59pm
$50 first event · $10 each additional · $150 flat family rate
Late entries close Sun 25 Oct, 11:59pm
$60 first event · $15 each additional · $180 flat family rate
(Family rate covers a parent, their partner and their children under 21.)
WHY WE'RE DOING IT THIS WAY
We would rather build something that lasts than fill a hall once. Starting deliberately — with instructors who understand the format, rules that treat every style fairly, and officials who know what they're looking at — is how a tournament earns the trust to become a circuit.
Enter the tournament 👉 https://taikai.karate4life.com/t/9/sunshine-coast-open-karate-kobudo-championships
Book a free seminar 👉 https://taikai.karate4life.com/t/10/introduction-to-bogu-kumite
REFEREES AND JUDGES
Every kumite match runs with a referee and four corner judges, so officials matter here as much as competitors. We're holding a REFEREE CLINIC the day before the tournament:
▸ Sat 31 Oct, 1:00–3:00pm
▸ Sunshine Coast Karate, 2/14 Depot St, Maroochydore
▸ Ages 16+ · registrations close Fri 30 Oct, 11:59pm
The clinic gives an overview of the competition rules and covers the key points for refereeing kata, kobudo and kumite. It is open to anyone who would like to referee at the tournament.
Who should attend:
• Referees from dojos outside Chito-Ryu must be ranked shodan or above, and must attend this clinic in order to referee on the day.
• Brown belts (3rd to 1st kyu in most styles) are welcome to attend and learn the rules, but will generally not be appointed to referee on the day.
• Chito-Ryu members who have refereed previously are not required to attend, but are highly encouraged to.
• Only those ranked shodan or above in kobudo will be permitted to referee kobudo events.
If you'd like to officiate, register as a referee here: https://taikai.karate4life.com/tournament/9/register-refereeR
Hosted by ICKFA (Sunshine Coast Branch) Inc · Supported by Taikai
