Karateka hold training camp

Clove and Hoof in Muldersdrift resembled something out of a martial arts film on September 13.

September 26, 2025

Johan Meyer 1 minute read

A martial arts class practices outdoors on grass. Participants in black shirts and white pants engage in synchronized moves, showing focus and teamwork. — Line van Antwerpen takes part in a training session: Photo KIME Photography.

Four local karate dojos affiliated with the Japanese Karate Association (JKA) banded together on September 13 for their annual West Rand Gasshuku.

The West Rand Gasshuku is an exercise camp where karateka from the various schools receive tutelage from some of the top instructors in the country.

A young karateka is completely focused on the training session.

This year’s event was held at Clove and Hoof in Muldersdrift and was organised by Roodepoort Karate Centre, Horizon Karate Centre, Kaizen Karate Do, and Tomadachi Karate Centre.

Among the instructors was Sensei Daniel Gombe, a highly ranked (6th Dan) South African karate instructor, the JKA Regional Director for the Sub-Saharan Africa Region, and an instructor at the Tomodachi Karate Centre in Sandton.

Owner and founder of Horizon Karate Centre, Sensei Wendy Wannenburg (6th Dan), also conducted training sessions.

A young boy and an adult woman in martial arts uniforms exchange high-fives outdoors, showing teamwork and encouragement. Others sit and smile in the background. — Sensei Wendy Wannenburg congratulates a young karateka on a strong performance.

The training camp catered for children from age four to adults, from beginners to advanced karateka and consisted of sessions covering self-defence, basic technique, kata (form) and kumite (sparring).

According to karateka Line van Antwerpen, it was an amazing experience.

“It was so good to receive training from all to big senseis. We had a lot of fun and we learned a lot.”

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September 26, 2025

Johan Meyer 1 minute read

Johan Meyer

"Johan is an internationally published journalist and editor with extensive experience in news and industry reporting. His work has featured in numerous publications over the years. He cut his teeth at the Roodepoort Record and Northside Chronicle as proofreader, swiftly progressing to junior journalist. He later joined Randfontein Herald as journalist and eventually worked his way up to becoming editor. During his years away from Caxton, he fulfilled journalist and editor positions for various industry publications at the once mighty Malnor Media House right up to their closure in 2019. This position saw him traveling all over the world on writing assignments. Since 2019, he has worked as a freelancer for various publishing houses, and had a year-long stint as senior editor for a large stable of retail and medical B2B titles, until rapid growth of his own small business required his fulltime attention. At the end of 2023, with his own business now fully staffed, Johan decided to dedicate himself to his first love, working as a local journalist for the good of his community. "