In the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours, prolific Australian recording artist Kate Ceberano AM was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the performing arts, particularly music, as a singer, songwriter and entertainer, and to charitable organisations.

It would be a rare event for two members of any family to be given such a high level of recognition for eminent service to the community but that is exactly what has happened when Tino Ceberano Hanshi OAM was awarded Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to karate in the Queens Birthday Honours on Mon 10th June 2019.

In the 1960s an energetic, young visitor from Hawaii arrived on our shores who understood the benefits of physical activity for mind and body and lived the lifestyle, “walking the talk” as they say.

He promoted physical culture to us in the way he knew how, using judo and boxing clubs to attract his audiences and leading the way with his unique brand of Goju Kai karate-do, the “art of the empty hand.”

Tino Ceberano Sensei had experience both in traditional Japanese karate and he had served in the U.S Marines so he understood something about self-discipline and pushing an individual beyond their self-imposed beliefs and restraints, using exercise and the martial arts to do so.

He was a student of physical culture with a thirst for knowledge. He quickly became an ambassador for the martial arts in Melbourne and an educator for self-defence bridging communication between varied martial arts clubs with his enthusiasm where tradition, politics and languages sometimes did get in the way of progress.

Tino Ceberano Sensei had a passion to teach and he entered a Physical Education degree at Melbourne University leading to positions as an intern physical education instructor at Balwyn High School and at Wattle Park High School.

With an easy-going nature and warm personality, people quickly warmed to Tino Ceberano Sensei. He was invited to perform demonstrations at community events, speak for local charity functions, appear at Pentridge Gaol to do a workshop with high security life serving prisoners and to appear on radio and TV which he did regularly for 10 years with a regular spot on the Roy Hampson Show on Channel 0.

The Education Department had its own internal conflicts with his regular television appearances on Channel O.

It did not approve of his growing public media profile while he was teaching and he was quietly asked to stand down from the course denying him the formal qualification he desired to gain his desired tertiary credentials.

Tino Sensei’s karate schools were growing as a direct result of his TV appearances and he was faced with choosing between his business or his desire to become a fully qualified Physical Education teacher.

He wished to complete his tertiary education but it was not to be and the growth of his karate clubs around Melbourne demanded of his time.

He stepped down quietly as requested (or subtlely demanded) and never revisited the idea of completing his tertiary studies. As he says, he was ‘just too busy’ working and teaching. For better or worse, his path as a full-time karate instructor was chosen and the name Tino Ceberano and ‘karate’ became entwined.

The teachers union did not take it so lightly and made a stand on his behalf. They went on strike and mounted a large protest at Dallas Brooks Hall in East Melbourne being the first ever teachers’ public protest in this city.

Within the first few years, word spread of this charismatic character with a big heart who went out of his way to help those who needed to improve their self-esteem, confidence and move ahead with life.

It is the nature of the martial arts that those who need it most come seeking guidance and Tino Ceberano Sensei was a patient man with time for all and he certainly devoted himself to the art, often not charging fees and giving way more than he took.

His students worked hard and as they graded to high ranks, they took on teaching positions allowing Tino to open more clubs in the suburbs and country areas.

Many of these clubs grew to host large numbers of students and over many years, there were several generations of students becoming instructors and helping more and more people. It is inevitable that some went their own way choosing their own paths and this really only served to multiply the numbers of clubs and new styles with each generation. Notable exponents of the art like Bob Jones and Richard Norton were early students of Tino Sensei and went on to develop large, successful organisations.

In an almost exponential fashion, the way of the martial arts was spread with leadership from the front and the Tino Ceberano home brand giving so much to so many in the only way he knew…out front doing it!

This paved the way to Australians partaking in local, national and international competition with students at a higher level often travelling to compete overseas and study with the famed grand-masters in Japan.

Many of today’s martial arts leaders have Tino Ceberano to thank for his mentoring, friendship, influence and vision and many built entire careers and businesses due to his help and vision.

In an era when martial arts were becoming of age with lack of regulation, government control and adherence to standards, it was Tino Ceberano who formed, drove and helped fashion the new federations and sporting councils to drive the growth of karate in a safe, controlled environment so that anyone of any size or gender could train and reap the benefits.

Regulation in this industry and sport has been slow to evolve and mature and after 50 years, he is still tirelessly submitting to government and regulatory bodies to ensure the public have safety and reliability from the schools and clubs they attend. He remains as concerned today about the public image of the martial arts and the claims of many instructors, their teaching abilities and safety for students seeking instruction.

Over decades, Tino Ceberano met with local police, government ministers and made countless submissions to address the issues concerned with the cottage industry, home-grown martial arts clubs and schools.

It is no coincidence that the late Don Cameron MP became a good friends and the first President of the Australian Karate Federation (AKF), an organisation that Tino Ceberano was key in founding and directing.

Tino Ceberano Sensei in his drive and passion to teach his skills ended up unwittingly creating a public health program of sorts, not envisioned by local government, not previously run out in another state, not read about in the archives…he led from the front and created something previously non-existent on our shores. In his deep, resounding voice that shook the dojo walls, he yelled commands and the crowds followed and kept on coming.

The average person entering the martial arts does so for the health benefits of regular exercise, flexibility, endurance, core strength and learning to drive themselves beyond their self-imposed mental limitations.

It is said that karate is a ‘fight against yourself‘ before anyone else. Tino Ceberano says “You should know thy enemy – the first enemy is yourself.”

Many have no interest in fighting or sparring but end up learning to defend themselves nonetheless with the huge positive vision, improved self-esteem and energy that comes with regular physical training when so inspired to do so. It takes a patient teacher who can generate the trust and safety required to develop these skills in almost anyone.

People came from afar and travelled for hours for a taste of this energetic young man from Hawaii that they heard about. The crowds that attended varied expos and exhibitions when he brought out international masters and instructors are legendary often pushing our smaller Melbourne sporting and local council venues to the limit in those years.

Many martial arts exponents from overseas came to teach and present at seminars in Melbourne only because Tino Ceberano Sensei had developed affiliation and networking relationships with so many other martial arts instructors and masters in each country with purely a desire to share.

Many of his students were professionals including many in the health professions. They would recommend their patients to get involved and help themselves. Like a massive health promotion program, this exploded with one man at the helm and always leading from the front.

Five decades later those early students speak of Tino Ceberano Hanshi with fondness and affection, grateful for his mentorship and time, appreciative of his big heart and the example he led that we can all be far bigger than we ever envisioned ourselves to be, to develop an iron will, a strong body and have strength of spirit and mind.

It’s a rare thing to find a man like Tino Ceberano Hanshi who inspired entire communities to be their own doctor and trainer many decades before personal trainers and Pilates classes existed. In fact if you watched his early classes you might have wondered if he had a hand in developing aerobics and Tae Bo concepts combining exercise to music.

Tino Ceberano is a national treasure. When he passes on we will suffer a big loss because he led us for so many years in the growth and education of martial arts. Not all great teachers are great leaders – he has been both.

He is known as the Father of Australian Karate for good reason. His desire to help, to share and his ability to care means his vision of the average man or woman gaining martial arts skills with all the tremendous health benefits became feasible. From the early 1970s he encouraged women to join classes with men and Cherie Ceberano Sensei played a part in this.

Despite not completing his tertiary school qualification due to unusual circumstances he has spent 53 years in Australia teaching the martial arts, giving himself selflessly for the improvement of others, teaching people about themselves, how to strengthen their bodies, minds and spirits.

He has informally kept up to date with sports science, had affiliations with the Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra and studied with most of the famed martial arts educators around the world since the early 1970s, many of whom have already passed on.

He has contributed to many newspaper and magazine interviews, television segments, radio programs and community events in the name of advancement of the martial arts. His CV reads like an archive of the history of martial arts growth for over five decades.

His many years and expenses of international travel sitting on boards, council and committees were to formulate rules of play in the sport and help it achieve the global international standard it enjoys today while networking and communicating with his international peers and gaining his own qualifications becoming an international referee in karate.

Perhaps the only thing that Tino Ceberano Hanshi has not achieved in a lifetime of dedication to sports, community and public health is his own formal tertiary, educational qualification. It has never stopped him.

It was something he always aspired to do yet spent a busy life forging his own path and opening communications between martial arts styles so that more could enjoy and partake.

As it happened, he ended up instructing people for well over 50 years across many countries in a multitude of languages developing his own progressive training methods as he went, tertiary educated or not.

His legacy today speaks for itself and his CV is detailed and lengthy in the councils, committees, groups, schools and associations he served on in his own time and on his own dime.

Tino became the first westerner to grade to 6th Dan within the Goju Kai karate-do organisation in Japan before a panel of Japan’s grand masters and his own teacher Gogen Yamaguchi Hanshi in 1977. He was also Chief Instructor of Goju Kai Karate-do for Australia from 1966 up to 1989.

Tino Ceberano Hanshi‘s name today is synonymous with karate and so many proudly relate how they trained with the great man. He has given much to communities, urban and regional, in many Australian states and in an era prior to email, the internet and freeways, tapping away on his typewriter and sending letters around the globe for decades.

Over the many decades Tino Ceberano Hanshi was instrumental in bringing many noted martial artists to Melbourne to instruct and network so everyone could learn and share their art. The list is long and varied including well known names like Tadashi Yamashita Sensei, Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace, Bobby Taboada Sensei, Prof Wally Jay as well as noted Goju Kai karate-do seniors Gogen Yamaguchi Hanshi, Goshi & Wakako Yamaguchi Shihans, Kihei Sakamoto Shihan and Ingo de Jong Shihan.

The summer and winter camps he created and led for many years are legend in themselves with many interstate students making their annual pilgrimage to Victoria for a taste of the Tino Ceberano style and energy.

His passion today is to reduce bullying, give youth some strong principles and values and offer hope for those without direction. He believes that the troubled youth can still benefit from the influence he brought to this country and he is helping to lead programs where instructors receive the right formal qualifications to enable them to teach within schools and reach those that need it most.

In summary, there are multitudes of martial arts, schools and clubs today in Australia. Many can trace their roots back to a young Hawaiian who came here to strange shores with only Pidgin English to help him along but a bigger heart than most of us will ever see.

It is timely after all these years that the community formally recognises his efforts and achievements. For a man who never completed tertiary education, he certainly has achieved more than most will ever in their lifetimes. Ask him about his goals and he’ll tell you he’s not finished yet.

Karate Victoria held an annual dinner on 25th May 2019 and presented an award of Special Recognition each to Tino Ceberano Hanshi and Sal Ebanez Hanshi, his close friend and training partner from Honolulu in the early 1960s engraved “The founding father of Goju Karate in Victoria. An inspiration to the many that have followed.”

They trained together under their instructor Masaichi Oshiro Sensei and travelled together to Japan to obtain their 4th Dan grades together under the supervision of Gogen Yamaguchi Hanshi, head of Goju Kai worldwide.

It was an auspicious occasion in that Tino Hanshi was a founding member of FAKO (Federation of Karate Organisations), later named AKF (Australian Karate Federation) of which Karate Victoria is a branch. The Australian Karate Federation is the national governing body of karate in Australia recognised and endorsed by the federal government.

Tino Ceberano Hanshi is a blessed man. Each of his children have carved individual careers reaching prominence in their chosen path. Both his sons Paul and Phil have trained in karate following their father’s tradition and further exploring the arts with their own progressive adaptations and investigations. His grandson Louis has also become an accomplished karateka and has taught with his father Paul who continues to teach Goju karate-do with his own passion and flavour.

Phil Ceberano is one of Australia’s most talented musicians and is best known for his many successful years as Kate Ceberano’s band leader, creative partner, lead guitarist, vocalist and co-producer. He is extremely respected within the music industry which enables him to bring together Australia’s most elite musicians for his many and varied music projects.

Kate Ceberano is truly an Australian household name as an award winning singer and songwriter. With her soulful voice and charismatic nature, she has become a legendary Australian icon over the past 35 years, writing and performing both jazz and pop music – with seven Platinum and seven Gold albums to her name. Kate is widely respected not only by the music industry, but also for her ability to juggle an abundance of other roles. 

ABC Brisbane Radio journalist Rebecca Levingston interviewed Tino Ceberano Hanshi on 7th June 2019 to ask him about his life work and endeavours and to congratulate him on being the recipient of the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to karate in the Queens Birthday Honours 2019. What a coincidence that Kate Ceberano was interviewed by Rebecca Levingston only one week ago on ABC Brisbane Radio!

Tino Ceberano Hanshi is currently writing his life story and hopes to release the book by the end of this year. It is a compilation of childhood memories growing up on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, his teenage years training karate in Honolulu and his arrival in Australia when he grew his unique brand of karate into a local brand and household name. He tells his tales of travels to Japan and beyond where he became an international referee and an ambassador for the art of Goju karate-do.

More information will be published on this website about the book when it is released and how to obtain a copy.

Tino Ceberano Hanshi continues to actively teach and travel in his endeavour to share what he has learned with others.

He will celebrate his 78th birthday later this year and says that there is so much more to come with an awakening dawn in his martial arts career.

Two months after being granted the award the office of David Y. Ige, Governor of Hawaii, honoured Tino Hanshi with the award of a Certificate of Special Recognition, dated 7th Aug 2019, congratulating him on his Order of the Medal of Australia. It was a special honour for Tino Hanshi who grew up as an islander without graduating from high school or tertiary education, to be acknowledged for his services to the community.