He’s a real sensei-tion in karate coaching
Local karateka gets international coaching papers
Brando Pillay can teach you a thing or two about karate. He can, in fact, teach you and anyone you know anywhere in the world.
That is because the 34-year-old Durban black-belt karateka recently became the first South African Indian and one of only four local karate coaches to receive international World Karate Federation accreditation as a coach.
The son of local karate legend Kyoshi Sonny Pillay — who is president of Karate South Africa — said his official recognition by the world’s largest international karate governing body as a master of his sport was an “awesome, excellent” experience.
“It actually was inspiring for me to be sitting there and to take in this information. And when I actually realised that I am the first Indian person to do it, it was really an incredible feeling.
“It makes all the sacrifices — firstly of my father, who is my teacher and other stalwarts of the karate fraternity — worthwhile.”
Pillay is part of a family of karatekas — mother, sister and two brothers are also involved — and began learning the sport at the age of three.
He signed his accreditation papers during the WKF Karate World Youth Cup in Greece last month.
“I am the only one from KwaZulu-Natal who will be allowed to coach at world championship level when it comes to WKF. You have to be an accredited coach before you step onto the floor.”
He is in charge of KZN-based national athletes. He said he was proudest when he watched his own young charges triumph — 19 of his students made it into the national team.
“My students are my kids. They were really excited [about the international accreditation] — I got a lot of messages on Twitter.”
He has been teaching karate for 15 years.
“It’s my life, my passion and something I always wanted to do.”
He said he was grateful to Karate South Africa for creating the conditions for local karate practitioners to excel.
“They have opened the doors for us to compete internationally, and that has happened following a lot of turmoil [in the organisation] in the past few years.”
KSA was in the news recently owing to infighting between local karate associations.
Pillay would like more South Africans to be aware of the scope of karate as an international sport.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that karate is the top-ranked sport after soccer in the world.
“I think we have quite a bit of support in terms of numbers, but we don’t have the support in terms of funding and high-performance facilities. We definitely can rank among the top nations in the world.”
National team head coach Peter Brandon, who retires next year, said Pillay was a prime example of what the next generation of national karate coaches should be: disciplined, humble and patient.
“We need the new youngsters who have a passion for the sport,” said Brandon.