Gold medals galore for Wits Tang Soo Do
Korean Martial Arts Champs see Wits students excel.
Thirteen martial arts students from Wits Tang Soo Do Club raked in a whopping 33 medals between them at the South African Korean Martial Arts National Championship recently.
The group, led by their 7th Dan instructor Master Gregory Hart, competed against athletes from all forms of Korean martial arts and dojangs and clubs across the country, at the prestigious event in Potchefstroom.
The Wits students practise the art of combat tang soo do, a martial art famous for jumping, spinning and complex kicks in combination with powerful hand techniques that are great for self-defence and strength training.
Athletes competed in various age and skill divisions, ranging from six-year-old beginners to advanced adult black belts. They showed off their skills in different categories – traditional forms, weapons forms, point sparring, combat weapons sparring, continuous sparring and a new division, free sparring.
After excelling in each of these categories, Wits Tang Soo Do returned with an astounding 13 gold medals, 13 silver medals and seven bronze medals.
The free-sparring division was aimed at showcasing the variety of specialised kicks present in Korean martial arts. While the other sparring divisions may devolve into boxing matches with few kicks, this separate event encourages athletes to make use of their spectacular kicks, such as spinning 360 degrees, double kicks, and jumping kicks. The Wits athletes embraced this new division and earned three gold, one silver and four bronze certificates.
In his very first competition, Lethabo Rabothata achieved bronze for points sparring and silver for continuous sparring. He greatly enjoyed the opportunity to go head-to-head with other athletes and said he was looking forward to competing again.
The results for Wits Tang Soo Do were as follows:
- Lethabo Hatang: 18–34 years novice– gold for traditional forms; bronze for free sparring
- Ripfumelo Mate: 18–34 years novice – bronze for traditional forms; gold for points sparring; gold for free sparring
- Lethabo Rabothata: 18–34 years novice – bronze for points sparring; silver for continuous sparring
- Tlhologelo Mashiane: 18–34 years novice – gold for traditional forms; gold for weapons forms; gold for combat weapons sparring; bronze for free sparring.
- Thomas Mbombi: 18–34 years intermediate – silver for traditional forms; silver for weapons forms
- Treyen Pillay: 18–34 years beginner– bronze traditional forms; silver for weapons forms; silver for points sparring; silver for combat weapons sparring; gold for free sparring
- Lehlohonolo Motho: 18–34 years intermediate – gold for traditional forms; gold for weapons forms; gold for combat weapons sparring; silver for points sparring; bronze for free sparring
- Tumelo Masokoane: 18–34 years novice – silver for traditional forms; silver for points sparring
- Nerrisa Maripane: 18–34 years beginner – gold for combat weapons sparring; gold for free sparring
- Dienelle Moodley: 18–34 years novice – silver for traditional forms; silver for weapons forms; silver for combat weapons sparring
- Nndivhuweni Muleka: 18–34 years novice – bronze for free sparring
- Hyeonah Byun: 18–34 years beginner – gold for weapons forms; silver for free sparring.
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