Guyana Karate College aiming high

– Construction of Dojo, World Tournament in Canada among highlights of 2012

The construction of its multi-million dollar Dojo at Lillendaal, and attendance at the World Tournament in Canada on July 3 are the main areas of focus of the Guyana Karate College (GKC) in 2012. Senior Instructor of the College, Sensei Jeffrey Wong, said the GKC will be looking to raise more funds this year to commence construction work on the College at a plot of land it received from the government at Lillendaal, East Coast Demerara.

Sensei Wong said the Gy$ 100M facility, when completed, will be divided into four sections, for four main training areas and will also include an administrative office and dormitory for students.

This, Wong said, will allow for the construction to take place in stages, hence, the costing will be met. “We are looking to commence the construction works as soon as possible, but definitely works will commence on the facility this year; we have some funds that we raised already, we will be having a committee meeting next week where we are likely to decide on a definite date for the commencement of the construction works,” Wong said.

He noted that the GKC over the years has held a number of fund raising events to garner financing for the facility.

According to the instructor, the GKC will also approach a number of corporate entities, the Japanese Consulate and the Government of Guyana for additional funding.

Already, the GKC has completed some land filling on the site and is now looking to commence construction of the structure on the plot of land. The college will be situated in close proximity to Guyana’s lone Olympic-sized swimming pool.

The plan for the facility includes a Japanese garden and fish pond in its roofless centre and sliding doors to enclose all training areas so that training sessions can be visible from nearly any part of the facility.

Meanwhile, Wong explained that the college is preparing its students for the World Karate Tournament, scheduled for July 3, 2012, in Toronto, Canada.

This tournament, which is the first to be held by Guyana’s Master Frank Woon-a-Tai led International Karate Diagaku (IKD), is another priority for the GKC and students are already training to participate in the tournament.

“We at the Guyana College see this tournament as very important to our students as they will be competing against some of the best karatekas in the world; so this is definitely an opportunity for them to prove themselves and make an impact. This is very important to us, and we are placing heavy emphasis on this tournament, despite being such a small organization in the world of karate, we over the years, have been very, very successful, we have captured a significant number of medals in international tournaments,” Sensei Wong explained.