KARATE GOES INTERNATIONAL

BY BUNTU GOTYWA

THE BLUE AND GOLD colours of UWC are a familiar sight on the podium at many team and individual sports events. The institution is a force to be reckoned with in several codes, including athletics, football, volleyball and rugby, and has produced numerous provincial and national stars, and even a few Olympians.

KARATE, however, has been a sport primarily practised off-campus by individual athletes. The recent selection of three karateka for the FISU University World Cup Combat Sports in Samsun, Turkey, on 27–30 September, suggests an upswing in the fortunes of UWC Karate.

JODY WILLIAMS (21) AND DARREN LAKEY (21) were selected for kumite and LYNDON BAILEY (20) for kata. All three train under the watchful eye of Michael du Plessis, a respected karate instructor with tons of experience at the international level.

Despite their lack of international experience, Du Plessis says: “They are the most talented individuals I have worked with, and no other athletes in the country are working at the level they are working at right now.” >

Jody Williams

JODY WILLIAMS, a Sports Science Honours student from Athlone, was a bronze medallist at the African Championships in 2017 and 2018.

“I have competed in a few international events and recently competed in Egypt just to get exposure to the international level because it’s highly important to stay in the game,” he says.

“Representing my university, my community and my country internationally is an honour as not many people are able to get to this level,” says Williams. DARREN LAKEY, a second-year law student, is a four-time national champion and was the 2019 Western Cape sportsman of the year for karate. He received his Protea colours when he competed in the Region Five Championships in Namibia in 2019. He took gold in kata in all his competitions between 2019 and 2021. Like many before him, the bullying he experienced growing up in Elsies River led him to the sport of karate at a young age.

“What has kept me going in the sport is consistently trying to be a better version of myself, to always improve when competing so I can be able to produce a medal for South Africa. With these guys in my team and our coach, it is very much possible. We put in the work and we believe in each other,” says Bailey.

LYNDON BAILEY, a Sports Science student from Brackenfell, won his provincial colours when he was 13 years old and his Protea colours in 2018 when he competed in Botswana.

He says: “We [always] stand a very good chance because we are working with one of the best coaches in Africa in Michael. With him in our team, we expect to perform very well.” WHAT MAKES their achievement more remarkable is that UWC did not even have a karate team until sensei Du Plessis, an alumnus who never got the opportunity to represent the university at the international level, pitched the idea to the institution’s sports administration to start the karate club in 2021.

Darren Lakey

Lyndon Bailey

Representing my university, my community and my country internationally is an honour as not many people are able to get to this level.

JODY WILLIAMS

INTERNATIONAL KARATE is highly competitive and only the very best even make it to the championships, let alone return with medals. With so many talented karateka in the past not making it to the international scene, the trio’s selection is already affirmation of their talent and will inspire other students to take up the sport.