Seshego’s karatekas shine in East London
The tournament was attended by the best young athletes and high ranking kyokushinkan leaders in Southern Africa.
POLOKWANE – Karatekas from the Oyama School of Karate in Seshego recently went to East London for a development tournament hosted by sensei Dineo and shihan Simpiwe Dlulane on March 30.
The tournament was held to promote karate and develop the fighting skills of the young athletes.
The team comprising the two instructors, sempai Peter Malatji and sensei Thomas Sekhale, accompanied by karatekas Thato Molaba, Kgotso Molaba, Kgotsopu Rampheri and Mahlatse Malatji came back with a trophy for Kgotso Molaba having won third position.
The brothers fought in the boys under 40kg and 50kg categories respectively.
Malatji fought with Dlulane in the 50 men kumite challenge in which the former fought 50 men one after the other – making him the first instructor to take on the challenge in South Africa and Africa.
“The challenge was tough and came with a lot of kicks and punches by multiple fighters, but it was worth it,” said Simphiwe remarked during his 50th birthday celebration speech.
The tournament was attended by the best young athletes and high ranking kyokushinkan leaders in Southern Africa.
Malatji was happy with the outcome of their challenges and said the students showed some improvement in their skills and the bravery to travel all the way to take part in this tournament.
He said he would have liked for girls to also take part in the tournament but due to financial constraints, most students could not afford to.
Female karatekas from Gauteng, the Free State, KZN and Eastern and Western Cape came out in their numbers to face their opponents, he said.
The instructors will be preparing fighters for the upcoming tournaments in Soweto this month, and in August.
The karatekas need to be physically fit and have better strategies to fight in these tournaments as they are the most attended tournaments in Gauteng, Malatji concluded.
