‘South America, here I come!’
Plett’s nine-year-old karate kid is off to Argentina next month
They say dynamite comes in small packages and this rings especially true for nine-year-old Galliano
Boni who was recently selected to participate in the South American Karate Championships in Catamarca, Argentina next month – the only South African to have been chosen to compete.
His selection comes as no surprise as this Grade 4 Plettenberg Bay Primary learner has exceptional accomplishments under his belt, including being an eight-time world champ at only 9.
After winning silver and gold respectively at the 2019 WUKF
World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia in June and the WJKA World Championships in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape in July this year, Galliano received an invitation from the Federacion Sudamericana de Karate-Do (FSK) to attend the South American championships from 15 to 17 November this year.
Galliano began his formal training a few months before his fifth birthday and started participating in tournaments in the year that followed – and raking in titles. He won his first SA titles at age five and then went on to win his first two world titles and the coveted grand champion trophy at the ISKA World Martial Arts Championship in Orlando, USA the following year at age six.
The young karateka has since won a further six world championship titles, five silver and four bronze medals and attended six world championships.
Being one of the best in the world does not come easy. “He has quite an intense training schedule which includes a lot of travelling on weekends to either Mossel Bay or Uitenhage for kobudo and kumite training respectively. Leading up to tournaments he will train up to six days a week,” his father Roberto Boni said.
Apart from his natural talent, Galliano is also a very determined boy. “He has had very good coaching from a young age. The fact that he started participating on a world stage at such a young age has given him the confidence and edge above his peers.”
Galliano still has big dreams for the future. His main objective is to earn his black belt and his ultimate dream is to participate at the Olympic Games.
Taking part at such a high level comes with a massive financial commitment, not only in terms of attending tournaments around the world, but also training sessions. “There is very limited state funding for athletes in this country, let alone for the minority sports like karate. We rely heavily on sponsorships in order to attend all these tournaments. There have been some amazingly generous people out there, some of them we have never met. Without their sponsorships, Galliano would not have achieved what he has and I would like to take the opportunity of thanking them for their contributions. We are dearly looking for more sponsorships, hopefully a major name brand, for next year when Galliano is hoping to take part in the WUKF World Championships in London and the ISKA World Martial Arts Championships in Orlando,” said his father.