Vice Chairman of the Guyana Karate College (GKC) Sensei Jeffrey Wong says the performances of the young Karatekas at the recent Caribbean Karate Championships in Barbados has prompted the college to immediately begin scouting for young talent.
Team Guyana placed second behind hosts and champions Barbados in the two-day tournament held in the land of the Flying-Fish.
Sensei Jeffery Wong
Despite winning more gold medals, the locals were forced to settle for second place after the Barbadians recorded more points.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport on Monday the 6th degree black belt said that the team’s success came as a direct result of the performances of the young students who excelled in their respective age groups.
The young karatekas excelled in Embu (the application of kata), Bunkai and Kumite with outstanding performances coming from Hannah Farinha and the Ramlall sisters, Rebecca and Rachel, in the girls’ 8-10 years-old category.
Also excelling were Alliyah and Tashana Wong and Alyssa Persaud in the girls’ 10-13 years-old category and Christy Dey, Mickelly Rahaman and Ashley Seelall in the girls’ 14-16 years-old category.
The male standout performers were Tyler Orderson, John McGrath and Antoine Herod in the 8-10 years-old category.
Wong said that the team was not weak but were not as time committed as their Caribbean counterparts whom he termed “Career Karatekas.”
The “Career Karatekas,” said Wong, were more “senior and hard-working” than the Guyanese karatekas.
Wong said that it his aim to have the students; especially the seniors, spend more time in the dojo which, he said, will help them improve on their skills and techniques.
This November will mark 45 years of karate in Guyana and Wong hinted of a Shotokan-style based Guyana Cup event which, he said, will be open to and all clubs in Guyana to be a part of that exhibition.
He also revealed that the college will be hosting a summer camp for young students in August, which will “keep the youngsters moving up.”
The next World Karate Championship will be held in Venezuela in 2015 and Wong said the GKC will be looking to blood new, young martial artists since, he said, the strength of the college lies with the younger generation who will eventually graduate to the senior level gaining experience in the process.
“We are satisfied with our performance. We did well in the areas we expected to do well in and it was a well-earned second for us, which we plan on using to go up,” he concluded.
