CHARMED by the skills of martial arts movie legends like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan while growing up, 18-year-old Kemo Cornelius is definitely willing to emulate those two idols. At eight years old he started training in the combative sport of karate, now ten years later he’s quickly progressing in the sport.
The youngster has been winning locally, regionally, and internationally since 2009, and has already advanced to being a 2nd Dan black belt.
Cornelius is a student of the Association Do Shotokan Karate, and trains under sensei Amir Khouri.
“It’s been awesome. I advanced through my belts quickly, reaching black belt, and then two years later I got promoted to 2nd Dan black belt, which I am currently. I’ve been more focused on tournaments though, so I haven’t been up for exams since.” Cornelius said when we caught up with him.

At the last Caribbean Karate Championships in Jamaica, the 18-year-old won silver in the Boys’ 17-19 individual kata.
This follows a string of medals over the years, both in the individual and team divisions.
At the International Karate Daigaku (IKD) World Cup in Canada, in 2015, he won four gold medals: three from team events, and one for the Boys’ 17-19 individual kata.
He won another four gold medals in 2014 at the Caribbean Karate Championships, in Trinidad and Tobago, while he won three team gold medals for the Boys’ 14-16 team kata, team bunkai, and team enbu.
Because of his size, it could easily be argued that Cornelius does not fit the conventional look of a karateka, but the Caribbean champion sees this as more of an asset than a liability.
“Most persons when they hear karate and fighting, they think big and strong guys, so I stand out mostly with my size, which I use to my advantage where I’m really quick and agile and consistently training to improve my level,” said the former St Rose’s High student.
He added, “At first it was mostly the fighting, but as I learnt more and more especially reading up a lot on Bruce Lee’s perspective of martial arts, and how it makes us better as individuals it captivated me. So for me karate has become like a lifestyle, but the competition is still really awesome.”
His performances overtime have not gone unnoticed, and the Government Technical Institute student was last year honoured as a Banks DIH brand ambassador for his stellar performances.
And with karate finally getting a nod from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Cornelius is more determined than ever to develop his career, and perhaps make history as being among the first to participate in the sport at the Olympics.
(tgarnett_sports@yahoo.com)