Karate - Promoting and encouraging a ‘family friendly’ atmosphere |21 February 2023

The Ashihara Karate Seychelles whose main dojo is at the Mont Fleuri secondary school, held its first social activity for 2023 last Saturday with a picnic at the Au Cap beach.

About 40 of its members from Mahé and La Digue took part in the beach activities which included football, volleyball and light karate training.

Some parents who took part said they enjoyed the activities organised by the Ashihara Karate Seychelles (AKS) as they could spend time with their kids.

Shihan Egbert Moustache, the head Instructor, noted that there are very few sports out there these days in which parents and children can actively take part together and enjoy themselves.

“It has become ever-more difficult in our modern world to find a shared interest, which can also help the parents stay fit while enjoying with their children,” added shihan Moustache

He explained that for this year, the AKS has a loaded programme mixed with fun activities, training, grading, as well as local and international championships, while the school also has some members involved in kumite training with the national team in preparation for the 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) 2023 scheduled to take place in Madagascar from August 23 to September 3.

Shihan Moustache also noted that the obvious benefit of karate training is immense in terms of discipline to self-discipline of children.

“We have found that many of our students who were bullied before joining can now deal with their bullies, not necessarily by physical fights, but by being able to bravely stand and talk to the bullies,” added shihan Moustache.

The AKS caters for serious athletes while at the same time encouraging a “family friendly” atmosphere and accommodates older athletes, as well as anyone physically challenged.

This is in contrast with schools which focus only on creating sports champions and medal winners. They also have self-defence classes for ladies since last year, and this year they will intensify their membership.

In fact, this week the school is inviting ladies to join them for their normal karate classes on Tuesday February 21 and Thursday February 23 to experience Ashihara karate and self-defence for themselves.

Interested individuals wanting to practise this style of karate can check out the AKS website and Facebook page for information on the school.

Shihan Moustache and the Ashihara karate instructors at the school would like to thank all the parents and individuals who helped in making this first event of the year a complete success.

Contributed