Alaya McDonald’s upcoming Tokyo training trip is Front Page news in the ‘Surf Coast Times’

‘Come see this, Alaya!’ I shouted from the bottom of the staircase, waving the newspaper. ‘You’re on the front page! This is huge!’

‘What? Why is it huge?’

‘Hardly anyone ever makes it to the front page!’

‘What do you mean? Why is so hard to get front-page-ed?’

And try as I might, I couldn’t explain to Alaya right then why her being featured on the front page of our local paper, the ‘Surf Coast Times’, made her a VERY. BIG. DEAL. It sank in a little more after hours of celebrating - including obligatory video calls to grandparents and her auntie, and discussions between Ross and I about obtaining a copy of the front page to frame in the dojo.

‘I’ve been around for forty-five years,’ Ross shouted, lifting Alaya into the air, ‘and I’ve never made it to the front page! Which six year-old makes it to the front page?! And in the biggest paper of the year - during the Rip Curl Pro weekend!’

But why Alaya was featured is really the important news.

‘You’re going to have to train hard,’ Auntie Gill, my sister, said. ‘Those little karate kids in Tokyo… whoah… ‘

For now, we continue celebrating while Alaya remains blissfully unaware of the preparatory training ahead.

Six year-old karate student to train in Tokyo

Alaya during her photoshoot with Peter Marshall for the ‘Surf Coast Times’.

If you would be considerably more dedicated to your karate training than a six year-old wild nature child from Jan Juc, why not try us out?