Plett karate kid has a Midas touch
PLETTENBERG BAY - Plett's karate kid, Galliano Boni, is continuing to rake in titles and medals - the most recent being three gold medals and a silver at the 2022 WUKF South African National Championships and Africa Open over the past weekend.
The 12-year-old Greenwood Bay College learner represented the South African Karate Alliance (Saka) at the event held at the Boardwalk Hotel and Conference Centre in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) on 25 and 26 March.
It was the Grade 7 learner's first big tournament since becoming world champion in Romania last year and being a "purple belt", it was the first time he competed in the black belt division. He performed very strong katas to win gold in traditional kata, kobudo long weapons and kobudo short weapons. He won a silver medal following a well-contested fight in the final round of the kumite division.
This brought Galliano's total national medals to 36 gold, five silver and three bronze.
Since the world championships in Romania the youngster has been under the guidance of one of South Africa's top karate instructors.
"And the proof is in the pudding. There has been a definite shift in his level of performance and this was evident over the weekend," Galliano's father Roberto said.
The weekend's event was just the start of a very busy year for Galliano.
In June he will represent South Africa in Orlando, USA at the Iska World Martial Arts Championships where he will receive his full Protea colours for Sports Martial Arts, becoming the youngest athlete to achieve this accolade.
He was awarded Protea colours at the age of nine, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he could not ratify these colours in 2020 or in 2021. "This is the first year that athletes from South Africa will be allowed to compete in the USA again," said Roberto.
In July Galliano will travel to Fort Lauderdale in the USA where he will represent South Africa and defend his world title at the 10th WUKF World Karate Championships.
He has been invited to compete at the GB Open in Birmingham, England in September and a week later he will represent South Africa yet again at the Goju Ryu World Championships in Foligno, Italy.
His sport calls for great sacrifices in terms of time and dedication. "As you can imagine, all this travelling is a huge financial burden with no assistance from any of the sporting bodies," said Roberto. "Attendance for all these tournaments is self-funded and we would be grateful for any sponsorships to make attendance to these tournaments a certainty. Galliano needs to raise R250 000 in order to participate in all these tournaments.
“Without financial assistance his dream of obtaining his Protea colours will remain exactly that - a dream."