Two senseis from a dojo in Ottery say they’ve made history after they were graded by the Ashihara Karate Kai Kan headquarters in Japan last week.
Senseis Malcolm Naude and Dillon van Rensburg are the first persons on the African continent to receive this specific grading.
Naude and Van Rensburg left for Japan in January after they were invited for the grading after almost 20 years as karatekas.
“We were initially going to Japan for training but then because of our long travel, the director of Ashihara Karate Kai Kan invited us for our grading also,” says Malcolm.
“This is a big deal and we are the first persons to grade in Japan and in front of the Directorate of the institute from South Africa and Africa itself.”
Van Rensburg was also appointed as the Area Manager for South Africa by the Director of Ashihara Karate Kai Kan.
The senseis also trained with Japanese instructors.
TRIP: The two senseis are the first in Africa to be graded by the director of Ashihara Karate Kai Kan in Japan
Dillon says: “We are in awe. We got the opportunity to train with the Japanese instructors. We were taught in Japanese but knew exactly what was being taught. We were also exposed to many techniques and new styles of Ashihara.”
Malcolm says their new training and knowledge will now be shared with the students at their dojo.
“The students will now be able to perform better techniques, this will also assist their daily morale. These are hidden techniques which has not before been revealed to them,” he adds.
robin.francke@inl.co.za