Done and Dusted!

Firstly, I need to get something off my chest...

PRELIMS DONE!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Now that I have expressed my extreme content in the fact that I am not studying right now, I can proceed with telling you that I have finally finished my Prelims!

With only 11 days left until I depart to Malaysia everything is starting to get exciting. I am training hard with my fellow team mates and the nerves are slowly starting to kick in. We will be receiving our kit in the next week (which is very exciting to me) and our plane tickets have arrived!

On another note, my fellow karatekas (in case this isn't obvious, karatekas means some one who does karate) competed in a KSI (kimura shukokai International- my old style) South Africa Championships and did incredibly well! Natalie Faint, Doug Graham, Luke Romyn, Bjorn Isaacs, Dean Lotter, Martin Batek, Shaun Marais, Jessica Graham, Uliana Alekseev and a few more all received medals and some trophies! I went to watch for a few hours and was very impressed! Well done too all of you guys!

Now for those of you who are a bit unclear on what exactly I will be doing in Malaysia. I am competing in Kata. For the people who don't remember, that is the demonstration of certain movements into a sequence. In order to win a round, you have do the kata fulfilling certain criteria as well as performing it better than your opponent. The first two rounds you have to do specific selected katas and the rest are free choice. However, you are not allowed to repeat a kata.

Here is the first round kata that I have to do. Performed by the one and only Antonio Diaz! These compulsory katas are a lot more basic than the free choice which is why they are used for the elimination rounds.

Once I receive any more information regarding my exciting trip you shall be informed!

XxX

My happenings :)

I am proud too let you know that I am surviving my prelims! I have officially got three exams left and as of monday next week I have got about 10 days left untill I leave to malaysia!

This tournament is looking very exciting I must add. The level is going to be amazing and I am training very hard if I may add! I have managed to find the official video for the WKF (world karate Fedaration) junior, cadet and u21 World Championships in Malaysia. (which is the tournament I am going to if that isn't obvious)

Seriously, click Here for the video, its so awesome and gives  really good in-sight of the level I am to attempt to compete in!

Another little titbit of information, I got awarded honours (by my school, Reddam Constantia) yesterday for my achievments in karate! Doug Graham and Natalie Faint as well!

Have a great day every one!
XxX

WHATS UP :)

Hello there!

Just thought I'd take advantage of my new Internet speed to fill you in on my happenings at this point in time.

Firstly, on Sat I had my first SA training session with the team going to Malaysia and although we still have some work to do...Everyone is still feeling the excitement.

In case I haven't expressed the details of this tournament well enough, here is the break down...It is the WKF (World Karate Federation) world championships for Cadets (14-15) Juniors (u18) and u21's. It will be held in Melaka Malaysia from the 13th of October to the 16th. I will be leaving on the 9th and arriving back to the glorious Cape on the 18th. Each country is allowed to send one person per division so the team is actually rather small!.The WP part of the team consists of 11 people who are, if I may add, pretty awesome!

I will let you know when I am to compete but as far as I know, it is the Friday morning.

For now, I have got some photos I have copied from the Australia Commonwealth photography website.

OH! and Im writing Prelims right now so feel free to pray for my cause ;)

XxX

Its me again :)

Hey y'aall, just want to give my hugest apologies for making you wait so long for me to update my blog...

For some reason, I have had trouble with my Internet connection but it seems all has been restored now!

I have a lovely summary of my Commonwealth trip that I still need to work out how i am going to post out..BUT IT SHALL BE DONE.

Until then, I will fill you in on my happenings for the moment.

I have officially been selected for the WKF (world karate Federation) World championships! which is in October in Malaysia and I'm super excited!

I have become an official Sales Representative for Medac and Rocket Sportswear. SO if you are keen, I am available and you will properly end up saving a lot of money on some really good quality sporting and recovery stuff.

But more on that later in the week.

I also have a video of my performance in Australia that I will post if anyone is interested.

Thank you to everyone for being patient
XxX

The Verdict

I have to start this blog with a huge apology that I haven't updated in a while! It has been so busy here and almost impossible to get onto the only computer between 200 people!

Over the last weekend I competed in the Commonwealth Karate Championships and, if I may say, Holy Moly the level is amazing here. I was speechless as I watched 10 year olds do kata to a standard that I could never do it! My division was very tough! I went against champ after champ after champ (I almost had a heart attack when I saw my drawsheet for the first time). BUT I managed to place third! Which I am so unbelievably proud of!

Doug Graham placed bronze in a very close and tough kumite division.
Natalie Faint and Tasneem Cozyn fought a part of the Team kumite 14-15 years and their team placed silver! (This team is the reason I have no voice)
Did I mention the standard was spectacular-I think I may have.

Anyways, I am leaving the hotel at 11(which is about midnight for all of you peeps) and as soon as I get back I will update you awesome people on my whole trip. However, I may pass out as I enter my Front door so bear with me here.

Until then. I miss you guys
XxX

READY :)

Right! just a quick note that I am officially competing tomorrow morning. (which for most of you is Friday evening) Just doing my last minute preparations before I go and kick some butt.

This evening we had a training with the ex world champion Kumite ( to no surprise, he is Japanese) and he taught us some really interesting stuff :) I will post photos of this when I find this cable that I am on the search for.

Anyways, I am having the most amazing time ever and am feeling very motivated as I sit here in the Millennium Institute Of Sport and Health (MISH) sitting room typing on the Computers.

Ill let y'all know how I do
XxX

IN NEW ZEALAND!

Wow, traveling on the airplane is no easy feat. Gosh its exhausting actually. BUT, I did it! After about 20 hours of flying, we arrived in NZ Wednesday (very early!!).
We awoke at 6 this morning (Wednesday) after about 3 hours sleep and after searching the MISH grounds (Millennium Institute of Sport and Health..The SA netball team and NZ rugby team have stayed and trained here- ITS SO AWSOME, honestly makes me feel very athletic as it is fully equipped for any sport, ANY SPORT)

Anyways after training and breakies, We spent the day shopping and walking around the city in Auckland. Amazing day just missioning around and seeing new things. I must add there are alot of South Africans here!

I have photos but I need to find a cable to connect them first :)

Id like to end off by saying I do miss everyone.
XxX

Videos!

Ok So this is my Team Kumite fight at the triangular tournament in Oudshtoorn ( I can never spell that right!).

Just some fun facts for those of you who don't know what is cracka-lacking: A kick to the Body is 2 points. (I totally did 4 of them!-I think a 'Booya!' is in order here) I am in the blue belt with the unmistakable blond hair that seems out-of-control. And the people chearing behind me are a part of the amazing Western Province Team that kicked Butt at that tournament! Such an invigorating experience!

On another note. I have just come back from a training session and getting my kit! Very Nice.
Photos from the training session compliments of My Mom.

And here I am recieving my kit. As you can see, I am using my awkward pose I do when I have just  realized that someone is

 infact taking a photo of me.

Leaving on monday!

XxX

My Goings Ons

I know, I know, after the tournament in oudshtoorn, there hasn't been much blogging on my side. BUT don't panic, I am still alive and have just been training super hard for my Commonwealth tournament in Australia. You see, I leave on Monday! (Yes, it is the first day of school, for those bright sparkies who pieced that together!)

I will be departing at 1:30 on Monday from Cape Town International airport. After a few linking flights here and there and a whopping 20 hours, I will arrive in New Zealand! Here I will compete in the New Zealand Open as a 'warm up' for the commonwealth Champs that will be held the next weekend in Sydney.

So that's all there is for now but I promise there is a lot to follow. I defoz (translation; Definitely) will be blogging on all my doings while I am away! So keep following to see the amazing experiences I will be having.

Until Monday, I leave you with the official Logo for the Commonwealth Karate Championships.

PS: I am still waiting for an AWESOME video of the WP team kumite (fighting).
PSS: Stay Amazing
XxX

Oudsthoorn! and more!

Okay Wow.

This last weekend has been epic.
It  has been awesome!

Basically myself and the HUGELY gamungous Western Province team travelled up to the town of oudsthoorn to compete in the tra-angular champs! Just to give you a perspective, we had 3 bus's of 50 AND there were more driving up on there own. This was the biggest team I've ever traveled with!

The tournament was awesome! So well organised by SWD (south west districts) specifically Oudsthoorn. They even got a group of dancers to open the event. One of my friends from SWD actually sympathized with 'poor' Oudtshoorn saying, "Shame, they are trying so hard" (Successfully!)

(picture of the dancers)

The Champs was a great success. Nat winning Bronze for kumite, Taz winning Silver for kumite, Luke Romyne winning silver for kata and gold for kumite, Myself, double gold, Doug Graham, Silver for kumite, Bjorn Isaac winning Gold for kumite , Danika VB winning double Gold and Tiff VB winning double bronze!
Western Province did  so well that we actually took home the trophy, which was an amazing moment as all 150 of us grouped together, in our blue tracksuits, and celebrated the victory!

Here is a picture of my dojo and coaches with the trophy!

Now for the 'More' part...

My fundraiser!
Last night I had the 2nd Theatre Sports event at Kalk bay theatre and it went better than last time! (I know!, i didn't think that was possible) I'm sure many of you who were there had a good belly laugh and left with smiles on your faces, i know I did! But this smile that is stuck to my face even now, is mainly because I have such awesome friends and support that I am so grateful for!

So thank you!
For you have truly made these 2 nights a success and my trip to Australia possible!

I'm sure I have said this before, but if not, YOU ARE AMAZING!
Until next time, have a great holiday! and stay awesome!

(There is a video on its way of myself in the team event in Oudtshoorn!, so be excited!)
XxX

Update for everyone.

I would just like to give y'all a quicky update on my doings.

Firstly, the fundraiser is going so amazingly! I am so excited about all the awesome support I have received so far. However, there are still tickets available for both nights and I know there are a few people who want to come, but haven't booked yet. So, PLEASE book. You don't want to miss out on this, its so hilarious! And for those of you who are indecisive, decide to join us! Its THAT simple!

Also, myself and a few other competitors (whom I will list closer to the time), will be attending the triangular champs (Being Boland, South West Districts and Western Province-THE BEST OF COURSE!) this weekend in Oudswoorn. The top four of this tournament will qualify for the Western Cape team who will compete in regionals at the end of the year. Following a super awesome PE tour last weekend, my guess is that this tour will be fun fun fun!

Thats it for now! but dont worry! Just for your entertainment, I leave a video of, THE LEGEND (the other legend as Antonio Diaz is also 'the legend') Rika Usami doing a kata called Kosokun Dai. Enjoy!

PE NATIONALS...RESULTS!!

I must say, this tour was pretty Spectacular!
We departed on Wednesday, in the bus and drove for about 6 hours to Wilderness. We stayed the night at an awesome hotel and then drove to PE the next day.

Thursday, the seniors and veterans competed.

Friday- The cadets (14-15) competed and Tiffiny Van Boom got third place!

Saturday- The Cadets kumite (fighting) and Juniors(16-17) competed. Tiffiny winning a bronze medal. Natalie Faint winning a Silver medal. Tasneem Cozyn winning a Gold medal- Nat and Taz were in the final together. Myself winning a silver(kumite) and gold(kata) medal.Douglas Graham winning gold medal. And Dean Lotter achieving gold.

The Western Province did amazingly! We got something like 13 golds and a whole lot of other medals!

Also, the fact that a got gold at these champs secures my place in the wkf junior and cadets world champs in Malaysia. Which is a flipping HUGE deal! Now this is so exciting and I really wana go! basically my delima is matric finals are a week after the tournament. So I will let you know what i decide!

Once some photies have found their way onto the Karate Western Province Website and Karate South Africa Website, I will post them up here.

Until then, Hereis a photo of the venue before it was full. Because Province always arrives fashionably early.

PE Nationals

Firstly, I would just like to point out the AMAZING feed back i am already getting from all you spectacular people! So thank you! and keep it coming! Its gonna be AWESOME!!

Also, Myself and a few others will be departing (on a bus) to Port Elizabeth for the KSA(if you remember, that stands for Karate South Africa) National Championships! This is a rather gimongous (that's a mixture between ginormous and humongous- and yes, i did make it up) deal as the winners of these division will secure a place in the Junior world championships in Malaysia!

I will keep a running comentry on how everyone is doing. The tournament runs over Thursday (seniors) friday (children up to 15 years) and saterday (14, 15 years kumite and lastly, as always, my division).
I'm Pretty sure we will, if you dont mind me saying, 'kick ass'! Go Western Province!

Untill then, i leave you with a video of me getting ended! because its hilarious. Look at my dad in the background-in the blue top. He wants to attack this girl who hits me!

On a side note: I got accepted to Rhodes University! booya!

Stay awesome

I need YOUR Help!

As i mentioned in my 1st blog, i have been selected to attend the Commomwealth karate champs in Austrialia aswell as a Tournament in New Zealand. Now, as you can imagine, this makes me very excited indeed but unfortunitly (or fortunitly) I need YOUR (YES! YOUR) help in getting me there.

But, lets be honest, I'm not just gonna stand at your doorstep and beg, no, I've decided to make this fun for everyone. So this is the plan...

Have you ever heard of Whose Line is it Anyway? (If not seriously, click here). Well there is a an amazing group called Improguise who do the same thing and BOY, is it HILARIOUS! So I managed to arrange two nights where you can all have a delicious dinner, some wine and laugh until your belly is sore while watching these Improguise.

Here is the invitation with the details.

If you cant see any of the writing click on the picture and I think it will enlarge. If that still doesnt work then you can either comment or email me at thouartbrittany@hotmail.com

Click here for directions to the Kalk Bay theatre. (which is where it will be held)

I hope to see you all there! Trust me, it will be such a jam!

My Busy Week :)

Woweee! this week of mine has been incredibly full with fun activities!
Fun Activities? yes indeed very fun and exhausting...but enough with the adjectives!
Ok so lets break it down...

Shian Nikki Pillay has been down from Durban for the week. Who is he? you may ask...well he is a 7th dan Inoue-Ha Shito-ryu Karateka. He has visited Japan numerous times and trained with Hayashi himself (the founder of my style) aswell as other countries including Botswana, India and many more where he has really "expanded his horizon" (If i may use that incredibly over-used saying)

Anyways, throughout this week I have been training with him everyday while going back to basics. I must say, it has been extremely eye-opening! It is so enjoyable to be learning from someone with so much knowledge.

As well as training with this Shian (Higher than a sensei), myself and a few other people have been grading. This is when he observes our level and hopefully advances us to the next level. I will hear the results in a few weeks! So cross your fingers for me!

Here are some of the other students who were grading with me.

Tomorrow we will be attending a friendly tournament in Shian Nikki's honour!

Will let you know how that goes!

Until then have a great day!

Competition karate Break down..What is it exactly?

Ok, so... for those of you who don't quite understand the significance of "the all-styles" karate circuit, i have decided to do a break down of what this includes and HOW one can compete. (For example, it ISNT a competition to see who can break the most wooden boards with their karate energized pinky fingers.)

Lets start by pointing out that karate isnt just ONE form of martial art. There are thousands of very different styles! literally! From JKA (Japan Karate Association) and Shukokai to Inoue-ha (my style!). All of which are created or moulded from a variety of backgrounds and therefore some are almost uncomparable. They all have their own world champions and obviously all believed that their styles, were the way to go!

So now they have created an "all styles" semi-contact curcuit where all the styles can compete together. Each competitor falls under one of the 4 general style groups; Shotokan, Goju-ryu, Wado-ryu and Shito-ryu. (thats mine!). And every referee should be able to ref these general groups of styles!

Now that we have established that..the question arises." But what DO you guys to?"

There are 2 things...

1st, its the 'fighting' called kumite. (pronounce it like..koom-it-ay) This is where we where super light gi's (those white karate suits we all wear) and try to score points on eachother. 1 point for a punch to the head (no contact!) or to the chest. 2 points for a kick to the side. and 3 points (this is a big deal) for a kick to the head or a take down! The person with the most points at the end of the time limit, wins! Its that simple!

Here is a super cool selection of kumite fighting best moments(3 pointers!) that just gets me so excited!

Secondly, there is KATA! Now this is a sequence of karate movements that are practised to show to the referees at a tournament. One has to know at least 7 different sequences! Each competitor will perform they kata and the the refs, using a red or blue flags, decide who they thought did the best one! I really love this one!

Here is an example of the current world kata champion (the legend, Antonio Diaz!) doing a kata called Annan.

And thats it!  Hope this quicky overview of what competition karate is sheds some light on the matter.

If i havent clarified anything enough just pop a question in my comments box!

Lets Begin!

Right! As you may have read on the 'about me' section, I am a karateka practitioner who competes in the semi-contact all styles circuit. So to update y'all about this years results of mine; In March Icompeted in the WP champs and received double gold and then proceeded to attend the KSA (karate South Africa) trials where I was selected to represent KSA for the year.

So basically this means that I get to go to australia( karate Commonwealth games) AND New zealand in July to represent South Africa. This indeed makes me very excited as i do LOVE to travel (who doesnt?).
Also i may or may not be going to Malaysia for the WKF(World Karate Federation) junior World champs.

Here are photos of me fighting in Kumite at the KSA trials.
I think i may post some videos of me aswell, once i work out hoe to do that! enjoy!