Club members excel at world champs
Members of the Tonkinkan Edenvale Ju-Jitsu Club represented South Africa at the United Nations of Ju-Jitsu World Championships on October 4 and 5.
The martial artists, led by fourth dan Sensei, Shaine van Niekerk, were awarded their national colours and several members were selected to take part in the competition.
The championships took place at the Barnard Indoor Sports Arena in Kempton Park.
The club’s representatives achieved the following results:
Fourth dan Sensei, Shaine van Niekerk, achieved a silver medal for Weapons Kata and was ranked second in the world. He also achieved a bronze medal for the Random Attacks category and was ranked third in the world.
Second dan Sensei, Winnie Kriek, achieved a gold medal for Ground Fighting and was ranked world champion.
Brown belt Sempai, Matthew Hardwick, achieved a gold medal for Kumite, a full-contact fighting category. He was also ranked world champion.
Blue belt Gary Purcell, achieved a bronze medal for Random Attacks and was ranked third in the world.
Blue belt Rebeca Purcell, achieved a silver medal for Random Attacks and was ranked second in the world. She also received a silver medal for Pairs Kata and Ground Fighting. Subsequently, she was ranked second in the world for both disciplines.
Blue belt Joshua Purcell, achieved a silver medal for Random Attacks and was ranked second in the world. In addition, he also received a silver medal for Ground Fighting and a silver medal for Kumite (full contact). He too, was ranked second in the world for these disciplines.
Blue belt Jessica Jones, achieved a silver medal for Random Attacks and a silver medal for Pairs Kata. She was ranked second in the world for both disciplines.
