This past Sunday, head of the International Karate Daigaku, Ninth Dan Shuseki Shihan Frank Woon-A-Tai, Eighth Dan Shihan Maureen Woon-A-Tai (IKD Vice Chief Instructor) and Eighth Dan Shihan Bernice Hughes, along with Amir Khouri (Seventh Dan), Tejram Harichand (Six Dan) & Roger Peroune (Fourth Dan), conducted a high-level three-prong karate examination at the YMCA, Thomas Lands.
Students take a photo op following the conclusion of the grading exams
As per norm, the day saw ASK-G students and parents awaiting the commencement of the examination whereby the White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, third and second kyu Brown Belts were conducted.
Examinations then resumed with the commencing of the Dan levels, which started off with the two youngest females and males followed by two teens who presented their abilities in front of a packed audience. The intensity in the room then changed when the competition for Third Dan arose. It was a heated exchange of fists and feet from both parties equally competent. What really blew it was when Malcolm Francis had to face off against Trevon Miller and two other opponents at the same time; then, Miller had to do the same with Francis and the other two opponents. There was non-stop action as well as some humour that had the audience in awe over the performances.
Miller, Francis and Shakeem Walcott were all promoted to Third Dan black belt while Emily Santana, Danielle Persaud, Jamar Pile, Shamar Francis, Andes Roberts, and D’Andre DaSilva stepped up to First Dan.
The instructors who participated in the tournament
The Association Shotokan Karate Guyana would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to all the students who were successful and instructors Roger Peroune; Malcolm Francis; Keith Beaton; Patrick Gurahoo; Wanda Agdomar; Clinton Moriah (New Amsterdam); Hazrat Ali (Albion & Blairmont); Parmeshwar Persaud (Canaan) and Mahadeo Ramotar (GFK) for their commitment to the development of karate and the karatekas.
The full list of competitors is as follows:
6 to Yellow Belt: Isaiah Browne, Donte Garraway, Anthony Angle, Chris Hicks, Stephen Buchana, Vijay Tiwari.
18 to Orange Belt: Ravindra Lalbachan, Joel Harry, Yuvraj Beharry, Giada Agdomar, Bethany Agdomar, Tyrone Niles, Mia Singh, Saif Tulla, Keith Williams, Darius Lamaison, Isaiah Anderson, Ethan Rosine, Elijah Rosine, Sahira Ali, Jasmine Ramdas, Ajit Dehaan, Saskia Dyasindoo, and Nelicia Higgins.
16 to Green Belt: Brian Small, Shawn Campbell, Xavier Lambert, Junxi Yang, Tyler Bess, Tyshaun Bess, Izaiah Abrams, Kyra Soares, Joshua Daniels, Shemar Fortune, Antol Griffin, Shaquan Stewart, Gurav Ram, Basdeo Bissessar, Rahman Yakub, and Joshua Rampersaud.
9 to Blue Belt: Matthew Salim, Anuvani Gunpat, Kristen Samaroo, Romario Jaisingh, Thamishwar Dyasindoo, Micah Narine, Isaiyah Proctor, Joshua Nimar, and Christian Rampersaud.
6 to Purple Belt: Yam Chan Chu, Nicholas Rampersaud, Luke Seabra, Malini Jainarain, Gabriel Looch, and Nicolai Adolph.
11 to Brown (3): Nathan Narine, Anastassia Seabra, Oudesh Ram, Brandon Foo, Obinna Utoh, Jasmine West, Akeem Mcpherson, Leandre Holder, Bhaskar Jaipersaud, Zac Hussain, and Shinessa Boyce.
8 to Brown (2): Kevin Fraser, Christopher James, Andre Sookram, Bradley Fenty, Jared Rambissoon, Nalini Arjoon, Keyshawn Grant, and Navindra Deonarine.
7 to Brown (1): Bohan Cao, Piya Parasram, Amara Nandan, Budhdave Singh, Angelo Harris, Bevon Jordan, and Krisendat Phagoo.
