A successful karate tourney held in Plett

KNYSNA | BITOU NEWS - After a successful outing to Cape Town earlier this month, the Shotokan Knysna and Plettenberg Bay dojos returned the favour and welcomed a vast number of dojos and their karateka for the Plettenberg Bay Invitational Friendly Tournament.

The tournament was held on Saturday 18 June and organisers received more than 100 entries for the competition, which was held at the Piesang Valley Community Hall.

Seven dojos from around the province made the journey to Plett, with competition officially getting going at 09:30.

The karateka competed across some 52 divisions on the day, and by late afternoon all was wrapped up with a very positive outcome for the Knysna and Plett dojos.

According to Sensei John Peach, despite only having 14% of the total entries, Knysna and Plett emerged with more than a third of the medals (36%). Peach pointed out the value of competitions such as this.

"Tournaments are not only a test to be the best, but rather a karate playground/workshop to learn and develop your skills toward improvement through experience," he said.

He also urged those who did not earn medals to not feel despondent in any way. "Some competitors may be feeling sorry, sad, sore, elated, happy or stiff – but let us not find fault but learn to improve for next time." Peach also expressed his gratitude towards those who made the day possible.

"We sincerely thank each and every individual's support and dedicated effort - [including] the table officials, door-duty assistants plus Baden Hall for his MC duties and enchanting manner behind the microphone, together with Charlene Turpin's catering efforts to provide much-needed eats for the hungry on the day."

Part of the Plett group that excelled at the competition. From left: Aiden Whitehead, Luke Momsen, Harvey Whitehead, Zach de Wet and Gabriella Kennedy.