Breakthrough for karateka Thage
Full-contact karate styles fall under Martial Arts SA
Legendary SA karateka Peter Thage has occupied a central spot in the fight for the recognition of the sport in the country for many years.
A devoted practitioner and trainer of the art, the 63-yearold is standing tall these days after he claimed victory in a battle that spanned decades.
The bone of contention was whether the full-contact or semi-contact styles had the right to be the official governing body of the sport under the Karate SA (KSA) umbrella.
The impasse got so out of hand that the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) deregistered KSA two years ago.
It was left to the courts to settle the matter.
“After many years of struggle, all full-contact karate styles have finally got a home at last,” Thage told Sowetan.
“Instead of continuing fighting, our body – United Knockdown Organisation SA – is under Martial Arts SA. Masa, a Sascoc affiliate, has given us an interim membership as of July 1.
“Our youth will no longer be deprived of their rights such as earning provincial or national colours, funding and recognition,” Thage said.
He added: “The court has decided that KSA SC [semicontact] is the only legal custodian of karate in South Africa but they can only cater for one sporting code of the same kind.”
Sascoc president Gideon Sam said: “We’ve sorted out our arbitration with karate. We have been calling for their leadership to come together.”
Karate will debut as an Olympic sport at the 2020 Games in Japan.
Thage, however, won’t realise his Olympic dream soon.
“We need to unify full-contact styles to achieve this goal but the recent move is a huge start,” admitted the veteran karateka from Germiston, Ekurhuleni.