THE First United World Karate South Africa (UWKSA) Championship was held at the Fish River Sun from Thursday, March 17 until Saturday, March 19.
“Over 250 competitors from various dojos and national federations participated in the championship,” says Gary Grapentin, the inaugural championship organiser, UWKSA president and head-instructor of Eastern Cape Shotokan-Ryu.
“The first day made provision for the training of referees and judges, which was followed by a stringent examination. The referee’s course was presented by internationally respected World Union of Karate-Do Federations (WUKF) referee, Alta Venter. Both the course and championship carried the endorsement of WUKF president and UWK (United World Karate) vice president, Liviu Crisan (Romania),” says Grapentin.
The kata and kumite categories made provision for novice, intermediate and elite athletes and included both individual and team events. The kata and kumite events were held on Friday and Saturday respectively.
Results from the first UWKSA were as follows: Senior Men’s Brown and Black Belt kata and kumite categories were both won by seasoned international competitor, Nicholas Gaston-Bellegarde from Cobras, in Gauteng.
Ilze van der Merwe from Helderberg, in the Western Cape, placed first in the Senior Ladies Brown and Black Belt kata category, while Michelle du Plessis from Algoa Bay Karate Academy in the Eastern Cape won gold in the Senior Ladies Brown and Black Belt kumite category.
“The championship was a great success in bringing the UWKSA affiliated federations and dojos together for the first time. In addition, the championship also served as trials in order to select a UWKSA Team for the 2017 UWK World Championships.
“Although Protea colours will not be awarded to this team, those selected will still have the honour of representing the UWKSA National Team against some of the world’s very best karate athletes,” says Grapentin.
