What a successful tour our team had in Japan. We are so proud of every one of the members who took part in the WSKF World Championships and also the Technical Seminar. To the parents that toured with the group, all I can say is that you have now experienced a karate tour – not full of luxuries, but good camaraderie and karate spirit!
Herewith some feedback on the sequence of events:
Technical Seminar conducted by Kasuya Sensei was conducted in true Japanese style. Kasuya Sensei was very strict on the floor but friendly off the floor. It was a great experience for all who attended and everyone felt that they were “beginners” again!
Werner Pretorius and Brandon Shepherd graded for Shodan (1st Dan) under the Japanese Instructors and the comment from Kasuya Sensei (WSKF Chief Instructor) after our boys graded was: “Standard of a very high level”.
We are very proud of them both.
Congratulations to the two Individual Kata medalists:
Chezan Nel who won a Bronze medal and to Palesa Mafereka who also won a Bronze medal. You girls are both stars.
Well done to the participants in the Team events:
Boys Team Kata – Bronze medal i.e. Brandon Shepherd, Johnny Kuhn and Daniel Nunes.
Girls Team Kumite – Silver medal i.e. Chezan Nel, Wenette Jordaan and Marelie Botha.
What a wonderful surprise we had when the award was announced for the “Best Competitor of the Tournament” and it was won by our own Bryan Sensei. Bryan Sensei commented later that the award meant more to him than the 2 medals he won i.e. Silver for Kata and Silver for Kumite. What an achievement!
To all parents and karateka, please believe me when I tell you that good basics will deliver results. Bryan Sensei is a true example of good basics.
To all the other competitors who did not win medals – please remember that we are very proud of you as well. Experience gained will make you stronger for future events. Remember what I always say “Learn to lose gracefully and then it is easy to win gracefully”. Keep training.