Thane Plus - Karate kids to go Down Under, Sports,

A group of 17 karate players from Thane, who have won 58 Gold, 44 silvers and 56 bronze medals between them in the past eight months at the District, State and National-level, are in a team of 72 karate players from Maharashtra to take part in the Karate Budokan International World Championships later this year in Australia

take that: The children from Sri Ma Vidyalaya and Sri Ma Bal Niketan will be going to Australia in May

This group, which is included in the 40 players selected from Thane, includes 11 students from Sri Ma Vidyalaya and Sri Ma Bal Niketan who have won 11 Golds, 12 Silvers and 10 Bronze medals between them. They are currently training under Sensei Sandeep Surve. The selection trials were held at the Kerala Selection Tournaments on November 14 and 15 last year.

Speaking to Thane Plus, Sansei Sandeep Surve said, “Solo training of kata is the primary form of practice in some martial arts. At higher levels, serious injury is prevented only by a high sensitivity of both participants to important concepts being taught and trained for.

These include timing and distance, with the kata practiced at high speed. This adjustability of kata training is found in other Japanese arts with roles of attacker and defender often interchanging within the sequence. Many martial arts use kata for public demonstrations and in competitions, awarding points for such aspects of technique as style, balance, timing, and the appearance of being real.”

He adds, “Kumite refers to forms of sparring. It covers a vast range of activities. In traditional karate, the first type of kumite for beginners is gohon kumite. The defender steps back each time, blocking the attacks and performing a counterattack after the last block.

This activity looks nothing like the jiyu kumite practiced by more advanced practitioners, which is far closer to how karate would look if used in a real fight, especially because it is not choreographed.”The children from Sri Ma Vidyalaya and Sri Ma Bal Niketan will be going in May for their tournamnet.