Boskruiner to break boards for South Africa

Niresh Masana’s taekwon-do strikes gather momentum like waves before crashing powerfully.

The first dan black belt taekwon-do practitioner has won gold medals at international tournaments and will soon represent South Africa at the Seventh International Martial Arts Games in Minsk, Belarus.

“Taekwon-do is part of me. It is more than just a sport, it is a way of life,” said the 34-year-old Boskruin resident, only four years after taking up the martial art.

“The movements of taekwon-do are like waves. They build momentum before a powerful crash. Unlike other martial arts, taekwon-do aims to generate enough power to finish an opponent off in one blow.”

The tournament in November and December will see Masana join a team of six competing for glory for SA. He hopes to place in the top four in the world in at least one of the categories he will compete in, namely power breaking, team power breaking, sparring and patterns.

“It is all about technique, not power, when breaking boards. And there are different strikes to use to break boards,” he explained, adding that patterns were a set of movements used against an imaginary enemy.

Masana qualified for the tournament by placing well in official tournaments in the past two years. Specifically, he earned gold medals at the Byangae Tournament, African Cup and International Taekwon-Do Federation South Africa National Championships.

Masana trains at Just Physical Gym in North Riding, under 4th dan black belt Sonya Rebelo, a three-times world champion and African champion in her age category.

“Niresh is one of my top students. He always gives 100 per cent at training and competitions,” she said. “He started with me at white belt and it has been a fantastic journey.”

Masana concluded that taekwon-do has given him ‘courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and an indomitable spirit’.

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