Students eyeup Wgtn Secondary School Karate Champs

Seido Students eye up Wellington Secondary Schools Karate Champs

Seido Karate Wellington is entering an unprecedented number of students in this year’s Wellington Secondary Schools Karate Championships on the 25 June at Walter Nash Stadium in Taita.

Seido’s Principal Instructor Ben Otang says eight students ranging from 14 to 17 years in age, and from yellow to advanced brown belt in experience are entering the tournament.

“It’s a sign of growth in the numbers of younger members in our club,” he said.

“Over the last couple of years we’ve had a huge increase in the number of younger people taking up Seido. We have large kids’ classes and the number of teenagers taking up the martial art is noticeably on the rise.

14 year old Wellington Girl’s student Greer Chrisp is one of the group entering the competition. She has been training for four years and says Seido appeals to her because it’s friendly and she likes the challenge.

“Karate is something that can never be perfected, it’s a lifelong thing to learn. I dropped several other sports so I could keep doing my karate,” she said.

14 year old Wellington College student Michael Canty started Seido when he was six years old. He says he is looking forward to a new experience by entering the tournament

“I have kept training in Seido because there are heaps of different things to learn in the training – every lesson is different and this keeps me motivated to achieve high standards,” he said.

Alex Neiman – is 14 and has been training for three years, the Onslow College student is entering this tournament because he says it will be a good experience for him. He wants to do other tournaments in the future and be able to win.

“I started Seido three years ago because my father and older brother were doing it, I like this style because it includes both defending and attacking strategies,” he said.

16 year old Samuel Marsden student Andrea Logan has been training for ten years in Nelson and Wellington. She says she’s taken some breaks but has always been encouraged to keep training in karate by her parents and others in the club.

“I kept coming back as it’s so useful for me to learn and really a lot of fun.” “I’m training very regularly at the moment,” she said. Andrea also has an interest in smallbore target shooting.

Ben Otang says all the students have to fit their training in around demands of school and other interests.

“It’s been an intensive training time for them,” he said “they have had to learn point sparring instead of their usual light full contact sparring style, and some of the formal preset moves (kata) have had to be learnt differently.

“I think this group will do well and we’re looking forward to seeing how they go at the tournament,” he said.

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