Sensei James Tabak

Sensei James Tabak has been involved in Martial Arts (boxing, fencing & karate) for over 20 years. His time has involved training, teaching and also competing. Sensei James’ honours include several local & national titles in fencing where he represented Canterbury and New Zealand at various levels including World Championships, Olympic qualification tournaments, and the Youth Olympics.

After his competitive fencing career had finished he started back at Seido Karate in 2010. Throughout his karate journey he had competed at various tournaments in New Zealand and always walked away with a medal in hand for both points and full contact Kumite. In 2023 he achieved the rank of Yondan (4th degree black belt).

Adding to his combat history, he has been boxing since 2013, where he has competed in four amateur matches. Sensei James enjoys the challenge of learning new skills, teaching and seeing not only himself progress but others as well. His approach to training is one that is about breaking limits, achieving goals, hard work and repetition.

Sensei James runs the Striking classes with Kyoshi Greg Briggs on both Monday and Thursday. Their aim is to introduce boxing and kicking skills to help students become more proficient and confident in their sparring (kumite).

Those attending the striking class will require hand-wraps, shin-guards, and boxing gloves (This is for everyone’s safety). Training attire is gi pants, or shorts, along with a t-shirt.

We look forward to seeing you there.