It's been a while since our last episode, but in today's episode we share part 1 of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei some time ago, sharing a bit about his journey and perspectives as the most senior ranked teacher of Chito-Ryu Karate-Do in Australia.—- Transcript —-Martin: Hey everyone, and today we'd love to share the first part of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei. A five-part series this one.Sandra: This is going to be so good, Martin.For those who don't know Noonan Sensei, he's currently the most senior-ranked Chito-Ryu Karate instructor in Australia, with the rank of 7th Dan, Kyoshi.Martin: And Noonan Sensei is based in Sydney and he runs a successful karate dojo?Sandra: Yes, he does.And so let's now hear from Noonan Sensei as he shares his recollections of his early years in the dojo.Martin: We've noticed everybody faces challenges in life, some big and some small, but not everyone has a way to navigate these problems.Sandra: It's not always easy, but we've found that we always keep coming back to what we've learned from our years in the dojo.Martin: And that's what this podcast is all about.Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to last problems, or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise.Martin: This is Martin and Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate4Life Podcast.Sandra: Okay, Noonan Sensei, thank you for joining us today.Noonan Sensei: Thank you.Sandra: And I guess I'm going to get straight into this, okay. So when I first met you, you would not remember. I was a green belt at a tournament in Newcastle and I remember you coming up to me and acknowledging my kata performance.You loved it.Noonan Sensei: Yeah, I think I do remember that, to be honest with you. I actually do remember that.Sandra: You're just so enthusiastic and I thought, whoa, who is this guy? And I remember that to this day. And it's funny how, you know, you get that feedback from your own teacher, but when somebody else comes to you and does that, it's like, that's extra special, right?And my second time.Noonan Sensei: Well, just to interrupt you, I don't do that. I don't do that lightly. I never give praise easily.If I thought your kata wasn't very good, I wouldn't have said anything, or I would have told you it wasn't very good, but it must have been very good because I do remember, and I may not have remembered that it was you, but I do remember doing that. Now that you've jogged my memory, yes, it was you.Sandra: Yeah, no, thank you. And I guess the second one I remember, which is an absolute massive highlight for me when I was training for one of my Soke Cup events, my husband, Martin, shared with me a video of you doing kumite in 1992 at the Soke Cup. And I could not believe the intensity and the timing.It was just incredible. I've been around sport karate for only a short time, but to see someone fight in that way, it was just mind-blowing. And to this day, I still refer to that video to this day and say, go and check it out.The timing's incredible.Noonan Sensei: Well, thank you. I had a good tournament that year. I didn't always have good tournaments, but that year I felt particularly good.And I think we still had the old Ippon and Wazaari those days. And I remember I particularly got a lot of Ippons that tournament, so I felt pretty good about things, to be honest.Sandra: That's really cool. So I guess I was reflecting on those things, right? And it's only two events in my life, but they're obviously very profound for me.But when I go and talk to my students about you, I don't think it's right just to share those two things. And I can share some more recent stories, fair enough, but it's like, well, who is this man? And I don't really know you that well when I think about it as far as your training history.I've learned a lot this week with you. It's been wonderful to learn about that. Bu