Martial arts dominance for Wits Tang Soo Do Club

The Wits Tang Soo Do Club got all the spoils at the Gauteng Provincial Martial Arts Championships.

April 2, 2025

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Wits martial artists celebrate their achievements in the Gauteng Provincials.

Nine students from the Wits Tang Soo Do Club, led by master instructor Gregory Hart, attended the Gauteng Provincial Martial Arts Championships held in Tshwane, Pretoria North, recently and managed to rake in an astounding 23 medals in the 18 to 34-year-old bracket.

The Gauteng Champs gathers athletes from all five districts as well as KZN, North West and Limpopo to compete in forms (patterns), weapons forms (routines), point fighting, continuous fighting and combat weapon sparring.

Madiala Leputu wins three gold and two silver medals in a dominant display at the Gauteng Provincials, with master Gregory Hart, 7th Dan.

The Wits Tang Soo Do martial artists competed against athletes who trained in many different Korean martial arts, such as ITF taekwondo, NWAA taekwondo, combat tang soo do, world tang soo do, traditional tang soo do, KFS (Korean Fighting Styles), GTF taekwondo, hapkido, and kickboxing.

Overall, the event brought together over eight different styles of martial arts representing all the Gauteng districts and three other provinces. Wits Tang Soo Do came out on top with a remarkable average of 2.5 medals per student.

The Wits students practice combat tang soo do, a martial art famous for its combination of spectacular kicks and hand techniques and its celebrity practitioner, Chuck Norris. They compete in various divisions, ranging from white belt beginners to advanced black belts.

Keneilwe Sekwale with her gold medal in traditional forms and master Gregory Hart.

They showed off their skills in different categories – namely traditional forms, weapons forms, point sparring and combat weapons sparring. After excelling in each of these categories, Wits Tang Soo Do returned with nine gold medals, eight silver medals and six bronze medals.

Also read: Martial arts brothers win at SA Champs

Several of the Wits athletes have been selected to attend the World Championships, in Inverness, Scotland, in August and are determined to raise the funds necessary to represent their country at the highest level.

The Wits students have organised a fundraising tournament, open to all Korean martial arts styles at the Danie van Zyle Recreation Centre in Newlands, to get some much needed tournament practice ahead of the Worlds in Scotland.

Results for Wits Tang Soo Do were as follows:

Madiala Leputu: Intermediate, silver for traditional forms, gold for weapons forms, gold for points sparring, gold for combat weapons sparring and silver for continuous sparring
Mawande Mathe: Beginner, silver for points sparring, silver for traditional forms.
Keneilwe Sekwale: Beginner, gold for traditional forms.
Tchissola Khumalo: Novice, bronze for traditional forms and gold for points sparring.
Thomas Mbombi: Intermediate, gold for traditional forms and bronze for points sparring.
Lethabo Rabothata: Beginner, silver for traditional forms and gold for points sparring.
Tristan Wilkinson: Intermediate, bronze for traditional forms, silver for weapons forms, bronze for combat weapons sparring and silver for points sparring.
Tele Mabote: Beginner, gold for traditional forms, bronze for points sparring.
Nndivhuweni Muleka: Beginner, bronze for traditional forms, gold for weapons forms and silver for points sparring.