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When she was 5 years old Jessica Patterson began her karate journey at Go-Kan-Ryu (GKR) achieving a black belt at 13 years of age.

She says that karate has provided her with confidence, discipline and physical release: attributes that everybody can benefit from.

Karate provided her with adventurous opportunities, travelling to competitions in Australia and to training in Okinawa, Japan, with several karate masters.

Feeling that such enjoyment was much too good to give away, Jessica decided on a career in this martial art.

Now a Regional Instructor in Christchurch, managing around 400 local members, she works full time for GKY Karate which maintains a roll of around 3,000 karateka in New Zealand.

Seeking to improve her communication and leadership skills Jessica joined Sunrise Toastmasters.

Applying herself with methods such as she might have developed in the dojo, her public speaking and communication skills have progressed, not only to her benefit but to that of the whole Sunrise club.

I caught up with Jessica during a slow time at Northlands Mall during the school holidays where she was representing GKR and later overseeing demo displays. She was very happy to give my 3-year-old grandson a couple of pointers which hopefully he will not take back to his play school without managing his exuberance.

Jessica says children as young as 5 years can benefit from karate as a sport, a place to build confidence, discipline, life skills and to make friends. You can find out more about GKY Karate here: https://www.gkrkarate.com/about-gkr/

Sunrise Toastmasters is a safe environment where anyone can grow their public speaking, confidence and leadership skills.

Come along to Sunrise to get a taste of Toastmasters.

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