Keeping karate in the family

KZN’s first family of karate all achieved international recognition over the past six months.

The Pillays were recognised for the outstanding contribution they have made in the karate field.

SA karate legend Professor Sonny Pillay achieved his 8th degree black belt in Indonesia in November 2016.

Meanwhile his two sons, Brando and Lorenzo, passed the practical exams for 6th degree and 5th degree black belts respectively with flying colours last weekend.

Remaining siblings Deniro Pillay (an attorney) and Evita Pillay (an educator) are also high ranked karate exponents.

The exams were conducted by the Japanese SKIF (Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation) examiner, grandmaster Kanazawa Hirokazu (10th Dan), who judged Sonny Pillay while visiting chief instructor master Murakami Manabu (8th Dan ) examined both Sensei’s Brando and Lorenzo at the SKISA (Shotokan Karate International South Africa) masters camp held at the Tongaat sports centre.

Sensei’s Brando and Lorenzo, who regularly conduct karate classes throughout the North Coast (from Umhlanga to Richards Bay), have been practicing the martial arts since the age of three under their father and mentor Hanshi Sonny, who also serves as the president of Karate South Africa (KSA) Pillay paid glowing tribute to his two sons on witnessing their outstanding performance at the graduation program.

“Both Brando and Lorenzo work extremely hard and their sacrifice and commitment has paid dividends.

Moreover, I feel elated because they passed the grueling test first time around without any hitches.

“We will continue our concerted effort through our international organisation SKISA (forty years in the making this year!) to promote the sport among the youth, especially given that karate has been elevated to Olympic status,” said Brando Pillay, who is the head coach of the Protea cadet and junior national teams.

“Karate has the power to shape the future of today’s youth, hence my intention is to attract the youth to our noble sport as an excellent catalyst to arrest the problem of drug and alcohol abuse amongst today’s youth,” said Lorenzo. For all karate inquiries, call the SKISA HQ at 082 302 9504 or email Lorenzo.pillay@gmail.com

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