Jayden Visser, a Grade 9 learner at Parel Vallei High School, has been selected for the South African team to participate in the sixth annual World Goju Ryu Karate Federation Championships in Foligno, Italy next year. Remarkably, he took up martial arts only four years ago. In 2019, he entered the Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate-do Kyokai Africa (OGKK) competition and won two gold medals – one for iri-kumi (continuous fighting) and the second for kata (a set of defending and attacking movements against an imaginary opponent). Amid challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic last year, Jayden trained even harder on his development areas, recording himself training and sending the videos to his coach via WhatsApp. This year, still under Covid-19 restrictions, the athlete won gold in his division at the OGKK Kata Competition and silver at the African Goju Ryu Karate Competition.


Karateka off to Italy

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