Two Solis Ortus karatekas, Lilian Mynhardt and Jacques Steenkamp, competed at the KSA Trials, U21/Seniors/Veterans and Masters on 17 and 18 March 2017 in Cape Town.

Beautiful Cape Town, coastal city, second-most populous urban area, nominated World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design and of course the host for the KSA Tournament 2017.  

It was a tough and hard Tournament. For many an eye opener and learning curve. “The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.” Gichin Funakoshi

Our two karatekas speak of great character in their karate. Lilian fought hard to receive her silver in kumite; and achieved 5^th place in kata. Unfortunately Jacques did not receive any medals but went home with tons of inspiration and self-confidence to work hard and get more experience.

Solis Ortus is very proud of you and we admire your courage and self-poise as karatekas of this dojo.

At the trials Sensei Eugene was honoured and nominated as Assistant National Coach for children (7-13 years), kadets (14-15 years) and juniors (16-17 years).

Sensei, form Solis Ortus karatekas and parents, we wish you all the best and success as Assistant National Coach for all young karate athletes during their karate footpaths. They can be proud to have you as one of their Coaches.

After a successful weekend they kissed the foot of old Table Mountain goodbye until next time.

Remember: “It never gets easier. YOU just get better.” Quotesgram.com

Written by: Heilethe Calitz

What a privilege to train with 2 sharp and true JKA karatekas at the Solis Ortus dojo; Lorenzo Helena and Melanie Marchbank. They are used to hard training as they are members of the Honbu. Solis Ortus made them feel welcome as there is no other way they train themselves. As they say: “the more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.”

Sensei Eugene is an opponent of great respect as he himself has years of experience and understanding how to train kumite and be a winner. He was SAJKA Men’s Open Kumite champ multiple times.

Melanie Marchbank CA (SA) and a Godan, has a host of achievements in karate, her most recent has been in October 2014 at the Funakoshi Gichin Cup 13th Karate World Championship Tournament in Tokyo Japan; where she fought in the final eight female individual kumite section.

Lorenzo Helena CA (SA) and a Yondan, also competed at the Funakoshi Gichin Cup 13th Karate World Championship Tournament in Tokyo Japan; where he competed in the top16 in the Men’s Kata division.

After a hard kumite class we wish both of them good luck to reach and achieve all their karate dreams for 2017. SO is looking forward to train with them again.

Written by: Heilethe Calitz

What a weekend! Solis Ortus wants to congratulate all our karatekas who competed this weekend. You all worked so hard for this moment to achieve your highest expectations. Well done. To Solis Ortus you are all CHAMPIONS!

Solis Ortus did exceptionally well this weekend at the JKA Gauteng Tournament held at the Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg on Friday and Saturday. Our contestants were well prepared and their spirits were on a high.

On Friday our Novice Champs (White to Red Belt and Disabled) arrived bright and early at the arena to face their challenge to become National champs in May. They were not deterred by die traffic which we all experienced travelling to the venue.  They arrived ready and amped!

Some of the divisions were very big, but our contestants had the heart of a tiger. Competition was tough but with all the preparation and hard work the results were outstanding.

There were 97 divisions in which Solis Ortus participated. The overall standard of the tournament was extremely high and our karatekas never fail to impress.

Solis Ortus had 38 karatekas registered in the Novice and Disabled divisions, and received 56 medals. The first 8 places secured a place to compete for SA JKA National colours in May.

It is amazing to see how each karateka has grown to become the best they can be. They have so much heart in what they do and accomplished their highest expectations. Sensei Eugene is extremely proud of every one of you.

On Saturday the Elite Junior to U/21 and Senior Elite black belt divisions took the floor with a roar. The standard was exceptionally high and some divisions took almost two hours to complete. Solis Ortus contestants persevered and came out on top of each division.

Red belts who aimed to qualify for International participation have to enter the Elite Section at the Provincial Tournament and the National Tournament, and need to be graded to brown belt before the 14^th Gichin Funakoshi Cup (JKA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS) in August 2017, if they qualify for the team.

To ensure the selection of the strongest possible team for the 14^th Gichin Funakoshi Cup, to be held in Limerick, Ireland on 18th – 20th August 2017, kumite will be judged on a repecharge system.

Solis Ortus had 14 karatekas registered in the Elite division and received 13 medals. The first 8 places secured a place to compete for SA JKA National colours in May.

Good luck to all our karatekas who qualified to go through to SA JKA Nationals in May. Train hard, improve yourself and reach your dream. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

Written by: Heilethe Calitz