While we’re sitting down to chat inside the University of Ghana grounds where Team SA is housed for the 13th African Games, Maxine Willemse described herself as “an introvert. I’m quiet and shy and only found the confidence to speak in public at the age of 19. I wouldn’t even have been able to do this interview.”
We continue chatting about various aspects of sport and life and then the interview ends. The 28-year-old Capetonian gets to her feet and breaks out into a dance jig. I ask her if she has a social media handle and she replies. “Madmax” she replies … “I got called that at school”.
Ah, an introvert? “I suppose next you’re going to tell me you’re a Gemini star sign,” I joke.
“I am!” she replies. And then laughs.
Life is good. Thanks to karate Willemse has come a long way. “Karate definitely developed my character. I was bullied in the Foundation phase of my schooling from Grades 1 to 3 and I went to a karate hall to learn how to protect myself … learn the traditional basics, how to kick, punch. I didn’t realise there was a sports side to it. After my first year I entered the SA champs and won it.
“But, I really am an introvert and apart from my family and closest friends, I enjoy listening to music, reading and going to the games arcade.”
Her story is similar to another member of the Team SA karate squad here in Accra, Tyrone Gray. The 27-year-old, who competes in the kumite 75kg category, says he was also introduced to the sport, aged six, after being bullied. “That’s when my mom took me to the local karate club. I started with the basics, traditional karate. I never thought karate existed as a sport but at the age of 10 I started doing tournaments. I loved it!” And he laughs. “It grew from there into a never-dying passion for the sport of karate.”
It’s a sport where he has also grown as a person. “There are so many benefits to karate. It has taught me to be more self-confident and built my character, while I learned how to protect myself.”
Karate has also allowed him to travel to a number of countries. “I’ve been to a few international championships and at the 2023 Region South Games he won gold. He’s ranked No1 in South Africa and No7 in Africa.
“There’s a really high level of competition on our continent, particularly in North Africa. Coming here though there’s not much to separate potential medallists. We’re all on the same level and it will come down to who is better on the day.”
Kumite is a form of karate which is the fighting aspect. Points are scored in three-minute contests by clean punches (one point), kicks to the body (two points) and kicks to the head or knockdowns three points.
Surely with that there’s a high risk of injury? There is, but not necessarily what you are thinking.
“I had a grade 3 tear in my ankle and for six months I had to wear a moon boot,” Gray says. “Any injury to an athlete is not only a physical setback, but also mental. Sitting on the sidelines watching your partners train sets you back. You think you’re missing out on progression. I adapted my training to stay fit, doing a lot of upper body work, or with one leg. It was a difficult time.”
Willemse, like Gray, quickly showed that they were cut from a different cloth when taking up karate.
“Tyrone started karate at six and I was eight. As a youngster I was also doing volleyball, ballet, netball and singing in the choir but there came a point when I had to choose what I wanted to concentrate on. I chose karate.”
And she hasn’t looked back, both in life and in the sport. “Last year’s African Beach Games in Tunisia stand out as the most memorable I’ve competed in. It was an experience and a half. It didn’t feel like a normal competition. There was no tatami (mat), the beach sand and sun. It’s definitely different to competing on a tatami inside a hall. Being on the beach there was a great vibe and everyone was chilled.”
Willemse and Gray are two of the nine Team SA members. Despite being drawn
from all parts of South Africa they’re a tightly-knit group. They’re shortly on their way to lunch in the tents that pass as food halls, but they’re enjoying being in a multi-code Games.
We go out for a photo shoot. There are a few interested onlookers sitting around on this peaceful Sunday. Marinda Roetz, a 20-year-old kumite participant, agrees to stand on the top of a ledge, and then jump over the heads of Willemse and Gray who are taking up a fighting pose below her.
She aces it first time. Someone nearby says “Yoh!” And rightly so.
Photos: Roger Sedres in Accra