Luke’s Most Excellent Independent Supports

12/11/2024

Wow, so last Thursday I had the pleasure of taking Andrew to Sydney to go to a 40th Anniversary Screening of the karate kid. It was an incredible evening for so many reasons!

First of all there was just a lot of cool stuff on. Andrew had photo ops with Martin Kove (who plays Kreese) and unexpectedly also with his son Jesse Kove (who appears in Cobra Kai). There was a Q&A with both actors which was very entertaining, an auction of memorabilia and a competition to win one of three karate kid t-shirts, with Andrew winning one of them with his imitation of Kreese saying “no mercy”.

But it wasn’t just that. Andrew went in his karate uniform, because the Karate Kid franchise is what inspired him to take up karate in the first place. Not only that but the character of Kreese is a specific inspiration, with the phrase “no mercy” becoming Andrew’s signature phrase for psyching himself up. So getting a photo with the actor who played Kreese, and winning a shirt for saying “no mercy” had special significance for him.

And both the coolness of the event itself and the specific significance it held for Andrew was reflected in his enjoyment in the evening, which was at new level I’ve never seen before. Andrew loves movies and stage musicals and we have been to many of both together. And usually there are two things that happen - during the show/movie there are usually moments where he becomes disengaged and sometimes even sleepy. This occurs even with his favourites as difficulty with concentration is a part of his disability. In addition he normally has a significant drop in energy and motivation and difficulty self-regulating beginning the day after and continuing up to a week. But this event was different on both counts - he was sitting forward and upright with his eyes focused on what was happening the entire evening, and has continued to be excited every day following so far!

So it was an incredible honour to get to take Mr Andrew Dash to this event. Thank you Fan Experiences by Dan Delts and to Kreese himself Mr Martin Kove for entertaining us. The positive impact you had cannot be underestimated.

Also a shout out to GKR Karate, Andrew continues to love his karate classes.

No Mercy!

04/11/2024

Andrew Smashing Personal Records!

17/10/2024

We’ve been visiting the animal shelter, here’s some pics of Andrew enjoying some time with one of the cats!

17/10/2024

Woohoo, we’re excited too Andrew!

24/09/2024

Also, as part of the post run fun Andrew Dash got to throw a whole packet of colour powder all over me!!!

24/09/2024

Woohoo, well done Mr Andrew Dash for completing your first ever 5km run and first ever colour frenzy on Sunday! It was a great day

11/09/2024

We’re excited too Andrew Dash!!! Would love for people to come join us and support Andrew at his first Colour Frenzy and first 5km fun run Sunday 22 September @ Stuart Park North Wollongong, 9:30 am

23/06/2024

Andrew Dash Just completed his latest 2km Fun Run, this time at Kiama. He had to face multiple steep hills and running on sand and still managed a personal best time! Could not be any prouder of this legend!

20/02/2024

03/02/2024

We have a winner for guessing the movie that has inspired our brand makeover! Thanks for participating, and providing great ideas for future years too!!!

Look forward to showing off the new look in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

And if anyone would like a shirt please let me know within the next week!

31/01/2024

A month into the new year and we're planning a new theme for all our branding. Once again we will be taking inspiration from a movie. Guess the movie in the comments below and if you guess correctly you'll score a free t-shirt with the new branding! Guess as many times as you like.

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

20/12/2023

Andrew enjoying an easier, fun Tuesday. Then again, given the number of stairs he had to go up, was it really any easier? Love some sneaky exercise while having fun!

10/12/2023

And some photos also showing the hard work Andrew put in yesterday

10/12/2023

Andrew working hard at grading to achieve his orange belt!