CARIBBEAN karate champion and triple gold medallist Christina Cheeks was one of the successful students at the recently held International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) grading examinations which was held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall CASH) two Fridays ago.

Seventy-eight-year-old Master Teruyuki Okazaki who is the Chairman and Chief Instructor of the International Shotokan Karate Federation and Master Frank Woon- A-Tai who is a 10th Dan karateka, conducted the grading examinations for students of the Berbice, Lusignan and YMCA Georgetown karate dojos.

Master Okazaki held a joint training session with the I.S.K.F Guyana and the Guyana Karate College students, after the grading exercises were held, which saw Cheeks gain her second Dan in the black belt category and Bobita Wheeler being promoted to first Dan in the same category, at the examinations which had a total of 77 students being graded by Masters Okazaki and Woon-A-Tai.

The full results are as follows:-
Nineteen (19) students promoted to yellow belt (8kyu), 20 students promoted to orange belt (7kyu), 7 students to green belt (6kyu), 6 students promoted to purple belt (5kyu), 9 students promoted to purple belt (4kyu), 7 students promoted to brown belt (3kyu), 4 students promoted to brown belt (2kyu) and 3 students promoted to brown belt (1kyu), totalling 75 kyu students.

One student was promoted to first degree black belt (1st Dan) and one student was promoted to 2nd Degree black belt (2nd Dan). 77 students participated in the examinations.

Outstanding among the kyu grades were Digvijay Rai, Orin Janniere, Michael Sutton, Karran Persaud and Raimund Angelo Rausch who skipped from white belt to orange belt, while Wheeler gained her first Dan and Cheeks her second Dan in the black belt.