Knysna's karateka thriving

KNYSNA NEWS - The International Japan Karate Association (IJKA) dojo in Knysna has wrapped up what was an eventful third term that featured a wide array of activities for the dojo.

The latest was a visit and masterclass on Wednesday 22 September from Sensei Mike Dukas, who holds an 8th dan grading within the IJKA.

However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. The term started off with the grading of the students on 28 August.

"Grading is and remains a very necessary and required competency test to recognise and award the student with an appropriate qualification matched to their ability and skill by awarding them an earned belt," says John Peach, who holds a 5th dan within IJKA Karate and is the sensei for the dojo.

A brown belt seminar was held for the more advanced karateka within the dojo on the morning of Saturday 4 September. This was followed in the afternoon by the black belt (dan) grading for two of the karateka at the dojo, where Rene de Langen was promoted to first dan and Natasha McKelvin achieved her third dan.

"This therefore qualifies De Langen as a sempai (understudy) while McKelvin is now qualified as a sensei (teacher) as recorded in the annals of the IJKA Headquarters in Yokohama, Japan," Peach explained. Sensei Bernard Buys (IJKA SA chief instructor) was the examiner on the day.

The dojo's activities continued with the senior gasshuku on Saturday 11 September at Jubilee Creek where the Knysna karateka were joined by the senior students from IJKA Plett dojo. The gasshuku is a remarkable experience for any practising karate student, as the students go out to a location where they carry out off-site training as a group for hours on end, pushing each other as far as they can while bonding in a way that can only be done through a gasshuku.

The group of karateka that took part in the senior gasshuku at Jubilee Creek.

The next weekend, on Saturday 18 September, the junior gasshuku was held at the Harkerville Forest Lodge.

The third term has now concluded for IJKA Knysna & Plettenberg Bay. Anyone interested in joining when the fourth term starts, can find contact details on the Facebook page, IJKA Karate - Knysna & Plettenberg Bay.

The senior class at the IJKA Knysna dojo.