There was not much to fault in the performance of the Wits Tang Soo Do team at the South African Championships held at Wits this past weekend. 9 members of the team walked away with an impressive 20 medals among them.
- BATTLE SCARS: Kim Lucas’s hand was injured during a sparring event, but he managed to bag a silver medal for the event at the South African Championships.
Photo: Lameez Omarjee
Winning streak
The team of 13 attributed their success to their instructor, Master Gregory Hart. “He (Hart) always expects us to win. He trains us hard. He trains us to be the best and that is what he expects and that’s what we produce,” said Kim Lucas, chairperson of the club.
[pullquote]“You don’t really notice pain when there’s adrenaline flowing through your veins,”[/pullquote]
Lucas received two silver medals and a gold, but suffered a nasty bash to his hand during one of the sparring (fighting) events, “Someone bashed my finger with a sword.” But he did not notice until the fight was over, “You don’t really notice pain when there’s adrenaline flowing through your veins,” he said. Generally a fight is stopped when there is an injury.
Other team members were lucky to win without any injuries.
Ipeleng Malope took five medals alone. A silver, two bronze and two gold medals. He said he was not intimidated during the competition, especially during the sparring (fighting). “If you feel intimidated, that’s when you lose,” he said.
Shakira Minty won a bronze medal for sparring in only her second tournament.
Other team members who performed well include Robert Makoloane who took two silver medals, Mlami Ncontsa and Candice Lockyear both won silver medals, while Trisha Rajkumar took both a gold medal and bronze medals. Ngwato Kekana received a gold and bronze medals while Kurtis Kavila received two gold medals and a bronze.
The team is now preparing for the next national championships, to be held in Bloemfontein on May 31.
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