–Sensei Jeffrey Wong
Construction of a permanent Guyana Karate College (GKC) is expected to commence in November, according to Chief Instructor (ag) Sensei Jeffrey Wong.
Wong, in an interview with Stabroek Sport, said that the executive of the GKC has been given the green light to build the facility at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
The Government of Guyana (GoG) leased the GKC an acre of land at Liliendaal one year ago after Chief Instructor Master Frank Woon-A-Tai, the late Ian Fung and Wong had approached President Bharrat Jagdeo.
The lease will be for 50 years and according to Wong the facility will take on the form of traditional Japanese dojos.
“The president gave us the green light to build the new college. In the first week in November Master Frank (Woon-A-Tai) along with the president will turn the soil and the next week we will start the construction,” Wong revealed.
Wong also emphasised that Guyana’s championship placing at the recent 11th International Shotokhan Karate Federation (ISKF) Pan American Karate Championships is also a fillip for the facility to be constructed.
He also indicated that while the GKC has a temporary facility at the Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC), the autonomy of the permanent structure will capture the legacy of karate in Guyana from its embryonic stage to the present.
The ancient art had its genesis in Guyana in 1964. And March 2010, marked the 42nd anniversary of the most vibrant karate association in Guyana- the Japan Karate Association (JKA), which has evolved into the GKC in collaboration with the ISKF Guyana.
“From the results of the Pan American Championships Guyanese became very aware and are now anxious to have their children join the college. We at the college believe that karate is getting somewhere and therefore the college will continue to provide a high standard of tutelage to its students,” Wong said.
According to Wong the GKC is hoping to satisfy the needs of 500 students and hold some local karate tournaments at the dojo. Wong is also hoping that the standard of karate will be returned to where it was in the start-up days of the GKC.
He said that it was a standard that was known in the Caribbean and even further afield. To attain this once high standard Wong said that there is a developmental programme for the young karatekas and this will be implemented in November when Woon-A-Tai returns to Guyana.
This programme was drafted after it was recognised that there are many junior karatekas, who grabbed the hog’s share of Guyana’s 44 medals at the PanAmerican championships last month, but they are not making that requisite transition to the adult ranks. This concern was also expressed by Woon-A-Tai at the conclusion of the tournament last month. “We are going to have clinics for instructors to push juniors successfully into the senior ranks because when you go into third dan and fourth dan you have to develop practically and with exams. Here is where you have to be mentally and physically stronger if karatekas are going to improve and lift that level of the college,” Wong elaborated.
Wong also believes that for the standard to move upward then there needs to be financing for overseas stints, citing that karatekas from Canada and the USA have yearly programmes to hone their skills. He said that these camps are more on the technical side since the sport is constantly changing and new techniques are being taught.
For the long term, Wong posited that the GKC will be inviting master instructors to conduct these camps so as to ensure that Guyana does not lag behind the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, there are plans to honour the late Fung who died in 2008. Wong said that the executive body of the college has not forgotten the contributions Fung, who was one of the founders of the GKC, has made to karate at the GKC and more particularly in Guyana.
