Siphesihle Msomi might only be 10 years old but he already has 20 medals under his karate belt.
He recently competed in the KSA Children/ Cadet and Junior National Championships in Durban where he took home the gold in Kumite (fighting) for boys aged 10 to 11 and in the over-45kg category.
Siphesihle’s father, Bongani Msomi, said his son had to qualify for the Johannesburg and Gauteng squads, and that is how he ultimately won the nationals. However, because of Covid-19, no parents or spectators were allowed.
Siphesihle started training at the age of seven in 2018 and won his first competition in Kumite in Soweto that same year. Later that year he also qualified for the Gauteng Squad to compete in Cape Town in 2019 where he unfortunately lost.
Bongani said his son was motivated to start doing karate because he also did Karate at a young age.
I trained full-time from 1989 to 2001, and when Siphesihle saw my pictures, he insisted that he also wanted to do karate,” Bongani said proudly.
Siphesihle trains with the Diepkloof Shito-Ryu team and goes to the dojo once or twice a week. The rest of the time his father trains him.
Siphesihle’s main achievements:
• Making it into the West Rand Squad in 2018, the same year he started training
• Qualifying for the Gauteng Squad in early 2019, and representing the province in Cape Town in 2019
• Qualifying for the Johannesburg Squad in late 2019, and qualifying once more into the Gauteng Squad in early 2020 to represent Gauteng in Durban
• Qualifying for the JHB Squad once again in early 2021, and later qualified for the Gauteng team for the third year in a row
• Winning the KSA Championships for the first time in 2021
“I think he carries on with karate because it runs in our genes. He wants to be better than me because he hears stories of how I wasn’t too bad during my years,” he laughingly said.
As to what is next for Siphesihle, his dad said by winning the KSA nationals he qualified for a national call-up for his division for whenever there are international tournaments.
The next steps are for us to profile him well so he can obtain a sponsorship because currently we cover the costs. Now that he can represent South Africa everything will have to be paid out of our own pocket because karate does not have sponsorships – this means tracksuits, accommodation, a national blazer and flights will have to be paid.”
For now Siphesihle’s short-term goal is to win the KSA Nationals consistently for the next three years.
