Trevor Rustin, left, founder of Trevor’s Kyokushin School of Karate in Westridge, travelled to Mauritius recently, to obtain his 5th Dan Black Belt, passing with flying colours after a gruelling four and a half hour exam, which included 42 full contact fights.
Rustin said he’s always had an interest in martial arts and started his Karate journey just over 31 years ago when introduced to Kyokushin in 1991.
Obtaining his 5th Dan Grade is quite an achievement as there are only a handful of shihans with a 5th Dan and above in the greater Cape Town area, he said.
“I hope to inspire our parents to take that first step and enrol your children in our karate school. Once there, we will plant the seed that everything is possible. That they need to dream big dreams and work hard to realise it,” said Rustin, who has over the years produced a number of students who excelled on the national and international stage, including Jaden Marcus who finished in third place at the Junior World Tournament, in Bulgaria in 2016 and Kaylin Stubbs, who collected the most-spirited-fighter trophy in Mauritius in 2017.
Stubbs, along with teammates Clayton Gordon, Darren Abrahams and Aden Bulose also competed at the All Africa Championship in Mauritius in 2019.
Rustin said he was invited by his teacher from the Seychelles to test for his 5th Dan earlier this year.
“My preparation now involved training five days a week, a minimum of two hours. A lot of preparation was spent on my conditioning as I knew the physical aspect of the kyokushin grading was tough,” he said.
He said he received praise from Shihan Phillip Moustouche, a 7th Dan who conducted the grading ceremony.
In other karate news, students who train at the Woodlands and Portland community centres, performed well at the recent WP Kyokushin-Kan karate championship, in Welgemoed.
More than 100 competitors that took part in the tournament, which was also a qualifier for those eligible for WP colours, depending on their previous results.
