The past year has been one of the most successful for the Malcolm Dorfman Parktown North and Shane Dorfman Norwood karate schools.
“Possibly the most noteworthy achievement, history in the making in the Shotokan karate world, was Malcolm Dorfman successfully passing the stringent examination for 9th Dan at the KWF World Conference, thereby confirming his status as world deputy grandmaster of the KWF [Karatenomichi World Federation],” said Shane Dorfman.
“This is the first time a Japan-based mainline Shotokan organisation has conferred this prestigious rank on a westerner.”
He added that the school’s members excelled in the tournament sphere especially in the KWF South African National Karate Championship earlier in the year, achieving 21 medals in the senior events of which six were gold.
“The most important gold medals attained were by Prianka Pillay who became KWF SA Female Grand Champion, winner of both female black belt kata and kumite categories, and Nick Baker who became KWF SA Male Black Belt Kata Champion,” said Malcolm Dorfman.
“The juniors were outstanding with a haul of 78 medals of which eight were open category gold medals and 20 were development category gold medals. Grant Booysen became 2003 KWF SA Open Grand Champion by taking the gold medals in both the 2003 kata and kumite categories.”
The other open category gold medallists in the various age groups were David Hamlyn, Tihan Enslin, Gadija Essop, Aaron Friedlein, Matthew Pine and Reynier Landman.
The most prestigious achievement was the victory in the senior three-member unison kata category, over the Japan team in the final to take the world title in this event. The team comprised all Dorfman karate members, Baker, Pillay and Kevin Croft.
The junior members of the KWF SA national team made their presence felt. In the junior unison kata team category which was won by Japan, South Africa took second and third place. The silver medallist team comprised Noa Burke, Pine and Friedlein and the bronze medallist team Grant Booysen, Enslin and Essop, all members of the Dorfman dojo.
