Local Karateka grades as a Tskkia National Champion with a black belt
On a quest to learn self defence, local karateka, Fazlin Jardien has been karate training for over five years now.
POLOKWANE – Fazlin recently graded as a Tskkia National Champion with a Black Belt in Rustenburg on Friday, 14 December.
“I opted to take on a journey to Shodan, my first dan Black Belt because I felt I needed to learn some self defence tricks as my job requires me to travel a lot. I started with Sensei Henri Eksteen and Sensei Annatjie De Jager who have both taught me valuable lessons that I am to apply both in Karate and in life generally. I have faced many challenges this year alone from loosing my father whom I really relied on for everything, including my safety as a woman, so in my quest I wanted to achieve my dream of becoming a black belt karate holder this year. I worked really hard to achieve that goal,” she explained.
You might also want to read: Fazlin finds her peace on karate mat
The black belt holder says she has competed in various competitions all over the country in her quest to become the best at what she does. One of her highlights in her journey is the Tokon Shotokan Karate Ken and Laijitsu Acadent (Tskkia) National Championships in Rustenburg where she bagged double gold and one silver during her kata, Kumite and Bo Kata (weapon).
“These were just some of the achievements I had as I competed with over 250 competitors nationally, vying for the same spot. My recent black belt exams really pushed me to challenge myself to go beyond the norm and basic syllabus we normally do, under the watchful eyes of a panel of senseis who were assessing me. I learned to never give up, it was hard but I did it.,” she added.
The grading was military style boot-camp training where they did knife attack and defence tactics for in case of emergency situations and the need to apply extreme self defence tactics to get him/herself out of a tricky situation. There was also archery, katana (sword challenge), kenjutso, grappling, anti-rape defense, take-downs and applying the katas in a fight.
“We fought, punched and kicked till we could not move anymore, for me it was a first time learning experience. With busted bleeding knuckles, I came out victorious and cracked a tile with my bare fist during the Tameshiwai, the last challenge,” she concluded.
She advises women to invest some time into learning basic self defence skills and tactics as she says they really do go a long way into saving ones own life.
