Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate Namibia is proud to announce that this past weekend four of its members successfully passed their Black Belt Grading’s;

Dieter Buys – 1st Dan

Pablo Serrao – 2nd Dan

Stefan van der Merwe – 4th Dan

Hermann Hentschel – 4th Dan

The Annual Black Belt Grading took place on Friday night (27th November) and was hosted by OGKN Chief Instructor, Sensei Carl van der Merwe. Together with Sensei Karin Brockmann, who graded for her 5th Dan earlier this month, OGKN now boasts 5 new Black Belts which is remarkable considering much of the training and preparation had to be conducted virtually (on Zoom) due to Covid-19 restrictions.

“We are tremendously proud to be able to say that we were not only able to keep on training this year throughout the Covid-19 pandemic; but also to have been able to produce so many senior grades! This truly highlights the dedication of our students as well as the instructors! We look forward to what next year will hold for us as an organization” – Sensei Carl van der Merwe

Grading’s for the color belts (kyu grades) took place the following day as well as the annual Best Attendance Awards Ceremony! OGKN is proud to announce this year’s

Best Attendance Award Winners:
Derick Gurirab – Kiddies
Tuwilika Kanandjembo – Children/Beginners
Penda Atshipara – Advanced Children
Biance Bierman – Intermediate
Rene Bader – Senior
Michael Bauman – Shinto Dojo Adults
Laeya Carstens – Shinto Dojo Children

“Goju Ryu Karate Namibia would like to thank all of it’s students and parents for their dedication this past year! We wish you all safe travels and a blessed festive season!” – Sensei Carl van der Merwe