Our students who desire to compete will be assisted in all the necessary paperwork and learning and qualifying for all pertinent requirements.

The  Australian branch and flagship of the World Martial Arts Championships (WMAC) has been in operation since 1993, and throughout Australia since 2008. The Australian Martial Arts Championships (AMAC) is currently offering over 20 tournaments throughout the year not only in five Australian States (NSW, QLD, VIC, ACT,SA) but also a number of regional tournaments. In addition, Australian athletes have the opportunity, under the WMAC banner, to compete in New Zealand and Japan.

We suggest you plan ahead. Already there are a number of confirmed dates for most locations for NEXT year! Put them in your calendar and start training for them. We’ll update throughout the year, so keep checking back.

UPDATE 2019

The current website for AMAC | AUSTRALIAN MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPIONSHIPS is found at https://www.wmachampionships.com/australia. You can find the most up to date information here. f you’re interested in competing in AMAC tournaments, their events page has details and online entry forms is available for you; including information about when and where tournaments are being held in Australia this year.

The Australian Martial Arts Championships (AMAC) is the Australian branch and flagship of the World Martial Arts Championships (WMAC). WMAC was founded in 2007 in Australia by Peter Mylonas, Kancho of Kempo Ryu International Karate Organisation. The Australian arm of WMAC (AMAC – the Australian Martial Arts Championships) had already been established in 1995, and had been a popular and successful annual event. Initially, AMAC was the National Championships for Kempo Ryu, based in Sydney, Australia. This event was attended by all styles of Martial Arts and was one of Australia’s fastest growing events in Australia. In 2007 AMAC became a National Open Circuit and WMAC was formed as the parent body, both for AMAC and any other countries that would like to develop their own Open Martial Arts Championships (xMAC) circuit.

When my cousin from Australia came to visit me in California, her son had just participated in the Brisbane Round 2 2019 tournament in the 11-12 yrs advance traditional division. He came in fourth. I was impressed, but her son was rather disappointed. Since I was so ignorant about the sport we spent one afternoon with me asking questions about the difference between martial arts hard form division versus soft form division. Hard form is for styles that execute their form in a rigid and hard way (mostly Karate and TKD styles) while soft form is for styles that execute their forms in a flowing and softer application (commonly seen in Kung Fu and Tai Chi or Chinese / Internal arts).

She was surprised I was so ignorant considering my father as had hers had once been quite a martial arts experts as a young men growing up in Australia. I then had to explain that during my youth and until his death a few years ago my father drank excessively. Martial arts was out of the question. I took up swimming as a youngster. In fact, martial arts was not an option that was ever discussed. As a result of growing up in a family that was impacted by an alcoholic, I had decided to become a doctor specializing in research for alternative approaches to dealing with alcoholism and how to prevent alcohol addiction. Our conversation veered away from martial arts and into the medications and approaches towards excessive drinking. We discussed the meds disulfiram versus baclofen. Disulfiram also known by the brand name Antabuse that is used as an effective treatment for chronic alcoholism by discouraging the consumption of alcohol by making the person feel extremely sick after digesting even a small amount of alcohol. Disulfiram does not treat withdrawal from alcohol nor does it reduce cravings for alcohol. It is designed as a deterrent to drinking. Baclofen on the other hand originally was developed to help relieve painful spasm, automatism from a number of neurological diseases associated with spasm of the skeletal muscles such as multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However researchers discovered that Baclofen’s action on the GABA receptors in the brain may help lessen cravings and withdrawal symptoms for alcohol. It may also help people remain abstinent from alcohol. Preliminary open-label studies from Italy demonstrated effectiveness of baclofen in reducing alcohol use among the alcoholics. In addition, results from a clinical study conducted by Brown University show alcohol-addicted participants receiving baclofen were able to abstain from drinking for longer periods of time than those who didn’t receive the drug. My father might not have been a candidate for baclofen considering his long term excessive drinking. But it does look like a medication that could help many people who are just starting that long spiral down into chronic drinking.

Well, I digress. Let’s return to information about the Australian Martial Arts Championships in 2013.
 

2013 AUSTRALIAN TITLES

30 Nov-1st Dec

The Australian Titles will take place at the Tallebudgera Recreation Centre, which is located about 15 minutes drive from the Gold Coast Airport. This is a great location with its own private beach, accommodation, leisure, and picnic facilities. The Tallebudgera Recreation Centre will not be accessible  to the general public during the event. The site will be the venue for the Australian Titles and has the capacity to accommodate all athletes, patrons, and officials. This allows everyone in AMAC to stay at one location for the weekend of the Saturday and Sunday during the Australian Titles. We will shortly announce some very affordable accommodation packages. For those folks bringing other family members besides the competitor, we suggest packing kids golf clubs, if you also have some aspiring younger golfers among your group. There is a putting green along with a golf range nearby for them to work off some energy and perfect their skills.