Jordaan will be fighting to medal at World Student Karate Championships
There are never any guarantees in sport but if Wenette Jordaan has her way she hopes to win a medal next week during the World Student Karate Championships in Kobe.
The Tuks Consumer Science student believes in not leaving anything to chance. That is why has done some “studying” on her rivals, watching videos of their fights and reading up on past results. It gave her confidence.
“Competing at any World Championships is never easy because you are competing against the best, but I honestly believe that I can win one or two fights at least and if I don’t allow myself to be intimidated I might even be in contention to win a medal."
Jordaan impressed last year when she represented South Africa at the WSKF World Karate Championships in Tokyo winning a gold medal in the under-21 Kata category. She was also the runner-up in the kumite and got bronze in the team kumite competition.
Last week she won two gold medals during the USSA Championships in Secunda. Overall Tuks finished third in the team competition.
Once the Tuks student starts talking about karate, it becomes clear that she is serious about not just being someone on the mats going through routines not really understanding what she is doing. Her constant challenge is to be the best she can be even if means making sacrifices and putting in the long hours.
“Karate is one of the ultimate sports as it challenges you physically as well as mentally. You can never really relax in any fight. To be good, you got to learn to anticipate what your opponent is going to do before she does so and immediately think about a way to counter-attack. It is something nobody can really teach you, you can only learn to do so through experience.”
Jordaan admits that at times things might get rough on the mats.
“In an unguarded moment, there is a real chance that you can end up with a bloody or even a broken nose or with a swollen eye. But it does not help to cry about it as it is part of the game. You just deal with it,” said Jordaan who hopes to grade up to her third dan sometime this year.
Karate will make its debut appearance at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Like any athlete, Jordaan dreams about representing South Africa at the Games, but she is also realistic.
“The only way that I or for that matter any other South African karateka will be able to qualify is to gain more international experience. To do so is going to be expensive and finding sponsors is never easy.”
Minét Uys who won two gold medals and a bronze medal at USSA’s is also going to compete at the World Student Championships.
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