Weideman keen to extend golden run at USSA karate champs

Sisters Adré Weideman, left, and Luchay are members of the Madibaz semi-contact team who will compete at the USSA karate tournament in Durban on June 28 and 29.

Gqeberha karateka Luchay Weideman hopes to kick on from where she left off 12 months ago when she puts her body on the line at the University Sports South Africa tournament later this month.

The Mandela University student claimed four of her team’s 18 gold medals at the 2024 edition and is confident she can deliver a similarly impressive performance.

“My goal is to maintain that standard, both personally and for the team,” the 22-year-old said this week.

“Achieving that level of success does bring added pressure but I see it as a privilege to be in that position.”

The human movement science coed is well aware that each year brings new opposition and, with it, new challenges.

“It motivates me to work harder and to find new ways to elevate my performance,” Weideman, who is currently studying towards her Master’s, explained.

She tracks her physical progress while constantly refining her technique to ensure she is at her peak when it counts. However, mental fitness was equally important, she said.

“You have to stay composed.”

Believing in your ability and not cracking under pressure or when intimidated were crucial traits if you wanted to reach your goals, she said.

The Madibaz champion has already made her mark this year by winning silver in the kata (a choreographed pattern of movements) and a team gold in kumite (sparring) at the Afro-Asia World Open in Nelson Mandela Bay in April.

She competed as a team member of the Hillside dojo, which received a special invite to the event that doubled as the SA championships.

Now she is keen to replicate that form against the country’s top student-athletes at the Durban University of Technology on June 28 and 29.

Madibaz won 28 medals en route to claiming gold in the full-contact and bronze in the semi-contact disciplines last year.

Those and other recent successes have sparked a surge of interest in the sport locally, which means there will be several new faces in the squad for KwaZulu-Natal.

“It’ll be exciting to see how they perform and contribute to the growth of karate,” Weideman, who believes the rise in numbers has opened many doors for the club, said.

She said last year’s gold rush gave the Madibaz momentum going into 2025 and credibility as serious contenders in university karate.

Her older sister Adré, who mentors the semi-contact team, is confident they, as well as the full-contact team coached by Sango Mbinyashe, are in with a shout.

“I definitely believe both teams are in a great position to achieve top results.”