Dale Morris

Dale is a 1st Dan Black belt in Karate Sempai Dale returned to karate after more than a 20-year hiatus in 2010, joining Bendigo Mixed Martial Arts Academy and Te Shin Kai Bendigo, training under Shihan Barry Johnston and Shihan Frank McKinley. He began his karate journey at an early age, studying Shukokai Karate under the tutelage of Sensei Bob Shearwood, training on traditional floorboards in a dusty church hall in Dingley, a suburb southeast of Melbourne. Sempai Dale is a skilled, technically proficient and well-respected martial artist and karate coach with the Bendigo Mixed Martial Arts Academy. He has extensive martial arts experience having also trained in Muay Thai [and judo as a child]. In 2017, Sempai Dale was awarded Shodan rank and is currently training for Nidan [2nd Dan]. As a father of three girls, Sempai Dale understands the importance of developing the whole person; physically, emotionally, and intellectually; and the positive contribution martial arts can play. One of the most intrinsically rewarding experiences for Sempai Dale has been the opportunity to train with and coach his eldest daughter Olivia, a Te Shin Kai black belt. Coupled with a deep knowledge and broad experience in strength and conditioning methodology and application, and as a lifelong strength and conditioning practitioner with over 30 years experience, Sempai Dale has a holistic coaching philosophy. Sempai Dale was also a founding director of Kyokushinkaikan Allied Karate Ltd from 2018-19. He has extensive experience within the sports industry, managing the sporting program at Wesley College Melbourne between 1994 and 2001, facilitating broad participation across a range of sports to enhance the health, wellbeing and skill development of school aged children and sporting premiership success. He is a senior leader with strong coaching credentials and a passion to develop people, having refined his coaching philosophy and capability within both the sporting and corporate context.