THE Malteenoes Sports Club came alive on Wednesday afternoon when the Guyana Karate College held its grading examinations. Chief examiner Master Frank Woon-A-Tai, 8th Dan, was very impressed with the performance of the students and said that the standard has risen since the last grading exercise.
Sixty-three karatekas were graded, with eleven being successful in gaining their 1st Dan (black belt) – the first student black belts since the college was formed.
Their names are Aliya Wong, being the youngest at eight years old, Tashanna Wong, Joshua Mortley, Kenny Wong, Ashley Lopes, Krystal Lopes, Romalo Fernandes, Leon Burnette, Gajandra Jaipersaud, Romel Rameshwar and Tanya Teixeira. Fifty-two others were graded from 9th Kyu (white belt) to 1st Kyu (brown belt).
It was noted that three karatekas skipped ranks as Ryan Leitch skipped 7th Kyu and moved from 8th Kyu (yellow belt) to 6th Kyu (green belt), Simonica Fanfair skipped 3rd Kyu as she went from 4th Kyu (purple belt) to 2nd Kyu (brown belt) and Shem Wilkie skipped 8th Kyu as he went from 9th Kyu (white belt) to 7th Kyu (orange belt).
The students were trained under the watchful eyes of the Guyana Karate College Dojo’s Senior Instructor Sensei Jeffrey Wong, Sensei Guy Low and Sensei Chetram Mortley.