High kick: Aileen Nurmala Muhammad Lingesveran (in blue) and Lau Yen Nee (in red) competing at the Penang Goshin-Ryu Karate Association’s Karate Championship 2022 held in SJKC Chung Shan.— LIM BENG TATT/The Star
TSUZUKETE hajime! At the announcement to recommence the bout, the participant in red delivered a hook kick to his opponent’s head – his second of the match – and secured victory to the cheers of his team.
The Penang Goshin-Ryu Karate Association (PGKA) Championship 2022 marked the first time in approximately 20 years a national tournament was held for this particular karate style in the country.
A powerhouse in the sport, particularly in the kata (performance of a sequence of moves) category, Penang Goshin-Ryu has been producing state and national karate exponents for decades.
Re-emerging from the down time the pandemic imposed, the association is looking towards the future with aims of building up not only champions but well-rounded children and youth with self-confidence and focus.
Organising chairperson and former national karate exponent Nicole Lee Phei Sze said it had been a long wait for Goshin-Ryu students.
“We have not even had any inter-dojo tournaments since 2019.
“A lot of students hunger for a tournament, and they want to experience it and go through the process.
“When they are facing a competition, all children – no matter how old they are – automatically become more disciplined.
“This cultivates a habit that continues even after the tournament,” Lee said.
National kata legend Lee Lee (in red and back) and Lee (back row, on Lee Lee’s right) posing with participants and medallists of the PGKA Championship at SJKC Chung Shan in Penang. – LIM BENG TATT/The Star
Platform for the young
Lim Lee Lee, one of the most recognised faces in the national karate scene with multiple Asian Games and SEA Games medals under her belt, was seen walking up and down the edge of the tatami mats during the tournament, watching closely as her charges performed.
“This is a good platform for the children to participate. Winning or losing is not important.
“The most important thing is that they are enjoying it and know what it is like to participate, to feel excited, to feel nervous, to feel scared – this is where they build self-confidence and it will encourage them to participate more,” the former national coach said.
Lee Lee, who heads a number of karate centres in the state alongside her husband Ku Jin Keat who is the 2010 Asian Games kata gold medallist, contributed the largest contingent to the PGKA tournament that saw 190 participants compete.
Karatekas from as far as Johor and Kuala Lumpur descended on the school hall of SJK (C) Chung Shan, located near the Penang International Airport, to take part in 24 kata and 18 kumite categories.
They ranged from beginners as young as six years old to aspiring national athletes in their mid-teens.
Among the breakout stars were 17-year-old kumite exponent S. Vaissnavi who dominated the junior female category and Zayden Riad Lee, seven, who clinched gold in the below 120cm kumite category.They represented the Goshin-Ryu Kuala Lumpur Dojo under the instruction of K. Vasanthan and Campus Rangers International School training centre in Selangor coached by T. Ganesa, respectively.
In the kata division, Yee Qian Yu edged out Bernice Low Yu Han in the highly-competitive female cadet (brown belt and above) category.
Both hail from the Linear Park training centre in Penang headed by Lee Lee.
(From left) Former teammates Henry, Muhammad Faezuddin, Chin Keong and Espiritusanto going over the list of participants competing at the PGKA championship.
Medallists lend a hand
Training with someone six times a week for hours on end has the inevitable result of being very familiar with that person, regardless of how much time has since passed.
As the PGKA Championship 2022 marked an important milestone and a “restarting” of sorts for the karate branch, reinforcements were called in from near and far and from young and old.
Grins and greetings were thrown across the hall as old teammates met again after years apart.
“The last time I fought on the mat was in 2010.
“I feel excited to be back. It brings back the memories and I’m very happy to see all the seniors, the senseis (teachers) and the new juniors,” said former Sukma Games gold medallist Teh Chin Keong, 34.
Isabella Maria Espiritusanto said the former state karate exponents would always make themselves available to help in activities or events.
“When they need help, they call, even if it’s just for a class.
“At this tournament, you can really see the fighting spirit of the kids.
“It almost makes us want to go down and fight again, too!” Espiritusanto, 35, exclaimed.
The duo were seen mingling with Henry Teh Han Wei and Muhammad Faezuddin Ab Malik, who all returned as referees and judges for the tournament.
“My five siblings and I were all elite athletes who trained under Sensei Lee.
“I’m the only one who still lives in Penang, so I’m representing everyone in helping here,” Muhammad Faezuddin, 33, said with a smile, adding that he was prepping his two-year-old twins and four-year-old son to start taking karate lessons.
Ganesa with three of his charges at the PGKA championshipin Penang.
Other officials and helpers at the event were fresh off a successful 2022 Sukma Games campaign that was held in Kuala Lumpur last September.
Men’s kata champion Yong Kojiro was seen judging at Tatami One while kumite bronze medallist N. Sharvani Devi was stationed to organise and prepare fighters at Tatami Two.
“There hasn’t been a tournament like this for a while so it is a good experience and important exposure for the juniors.
“I saw the Johor team’s gold medallists here and it is great that the juniors in Penang get to fight with them,” said Sharvani Devi, 21, who is now studying in Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Also present were PGKA president Ong Ah Teong and his former coach Datuk Patrick Lim Chee Jin, who is the association’s chief instructor.
“As a teenager, karate taught me self-defence and also improved my physical health and mental strength.
“I became more confident and am able to look at life in a different perspective,” said Ong who is also the Batu Lanchang assemblyman.
He said the sport was especially good for the younger generations, like his own son who obtained a black belt at age 13.
“Karate helps them manage their life better during the transitional years to adulthood.
“They learn self-control and discipline and are more resilient in life as it is a sport that helps develop both body and mind,” he said.
