(Video) Karatekas amongst the cream of the crop
Sensei Leon said the chance that a kumite world E-championship can be hosted won’t be possible at this stage because of the health implications of the Covid-19 pandemic
Covid-19 changed everything, even the way the Shotokan World Karate-Do Federation (SWKF) competed in the world championships. The first-ever virtual kata world championship took place on September 4 and 5 and was hosted by Dhaka in Bangladesh. SWKF South Africa participated in the Virtual E-Kata World Championship. eMalahleni has reason to be proud because not only did the South African team earn a bag full of medals but the chief referee for South Africa was sensei Leon van Vollenstee from Witbank Karate Academy. Sensei Leon is a seventh dan graded black belt.
“It was difficult. We had to make a paradigm shift and judge katas on video, not on the floor where you can clearly hear the snapping sound of your gi (suit), feel the adrenaline and become one with the karateka on the floor,” sensei Leon said.
Sensei Leon had to undergo eight seminars hosted by sensei Kike Sano who is a worldwide chief referee instructor. The seminars were conducted via Zoom.
All the referees were evaluated and Leon received A-class referee status. Eighteen countries participated in the championships. Because Bangladesh was the host country, all the videos had to be sent to their head office where it was allocated to 18 different ‘floors’. Each ‘floor’ had a chief referee and four other black belts represented by all the countries who participated. The points for each participant on Leon’s floor were sent to sensei Leon’s computer, and he then sends it to Bangladesh. In the event where two karatekas ended in a tie, the referees in Bangladesh evaluated each entry again and then allocated points again. All the points tallied up determined the winner in each category.
“The judging was stricter as we could rewind and look at each component of the kata over and over again, whereas once you are on the floor you only get one chance to judge a kata. In my opinion, this judging was fairer,” sensei Leon said.
It took sensei Leon a week to judge the karatekas that landed on his ‘floor’. Sensei Leon said the chance that a kumite world E-championship can be hosted won’t be possible at this stage because of the health implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. On home soil, sensei Leon prepared a studio in his garage with different backgrounds and filmed his students and the results were amazing. The karatekas who are ranked amongst the top in the world are Milán Combrinck (gold), Waldo de Bruin (gold), Aiden Smith (silver), Geraldene Conhan (silver), Andile Nkosi (silver), Jordan Martins (bronze), Luhan de Bruin (bronze), Brenda Velloen (bronze), Chandré Haggard (bronze), Ethen Conlan (bronze), Karl Haggard (bronze), Matthew Conlan (bronze), Charlemain Haggard (bronze), Hendrico van der Merwe (bronze), and sensei Diane Nel (bronze). See how Waldo de Bruin and Aiden Smith perform their katas for the Virtual E-Kata World Championships.
