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Goldfields karate coach will join State team at national championships in Queensland

Headshot of Madeleine Clark
Madeleine ClarkKalgoorlie Miner
Robert Sage practices a kumite routine with Sensei Brian Chambers.
Camera IconRobert Sage practices a kumite routine with Sensei Brian Chambers. Credit: Madeleine Clark/Kalgoorlie Miner

Local karate coach Robert Sage, 31, is set to represent WA at the 2022 Australian Karate Federation National Championships in Rockhampton, Queensland next month.

Sage has been practicing karate since 2015 at the Kalgoorlie Kofukan Karate training centre.

Moving to Kalgoorlie-Boulder to pursue a career in mining, Sage said he found he finally had enough free time to take up a sport he had always been drawn towards.

He said he felt honoured to be heading to the championships which would involve 445 entrants across multiple classes and thanked Sensei Brian Chambers for guiding him to this point.

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“Sensei Brian has quite the resume behind him — he knows his stuff — so he has been teaching me through the years to get to this level,” he said.

“I’ve been working hard but I am still progressing to the standard of those who have trained much longer than me.

“To get the opportunity to represent WA in Queensland is amazing and will be good experience for me.”

Sage will compete against other practitioners of the sport from across Australia in the men’s open kumite (sporting fighting) and men’s open kata (pattern sequence) in his weight division.

“To become eligible for the State team I had to go to as many competitions, tournaments and championships as I could to qualify and get noticed,” he said.

“I am more introverted than extroverted so getting involved with all the camaraderie in Perth has brought me a little bit out of my shell. Hopefully I can make some more friends at this competition.”

Sage has placed first in the senior male under-84kg kumite event at the WA State Championships for the past two years and was last year selected for the State team for the 2021 national championships that were cancelled because of COVID restrictions.

He was first introduced to the competition side of the sport in his second year of training in Kalgoorlie-Boulder when Sensei Brian had a competition.

“The experience is a bit different to normal training and I really got into it and then the opportunity came up to head to the Statewide tournaments in Perth and I basically went to as many as I could,” he said.

“Its a good workout and you get to meet lots of people.

“I have been heading up to Perth a lot to train with the State team which has been a confidence boost for me — I am not really an out there person so it’s good to get involved with others.”

Karate is a Japanese martial art characterised by defensive and counter-attacking body movements in weaponless combat and moral teachings that target overall improvement of the individual.

“I always thought about getting into it but I didn’t have the opportunity to when I was younger. I was probably influenced by TV shows or something but I always thought it looked cool,” he said.

“The practice gets your body moving, improves flexibility and gives you confidence in that you know what your body can do. The goal is to build character so when you are out in the wider world you are less afraid of the unknown.

“It can be a good way for kids to vent frustrations in a safe environment and everyone is supportive in the karate community here.”

Having attained his first degree black belt (Shodan), Sage became an assistant coach at the centre and works alongside Sensei Brian to teach the martial art.

Sensei Brian told the Kalgoorlie Miner he wishes Sage “the greatest success in this tremendous opportunity”.

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