MONIVAE College student and karate champion Dave Perera, has been very successful at the recent Funakoshi karate tournament which was held in Warrnambool.

Perera won the gold medal in fighting and the formal Kata competition, and at 16-years-old already holds a blue belt after only nine years since taking up the sport.

The young man is training with the World Shotokan Karate-do Federation,  which offers training at Monivae twice each week.

Perera travelled with the club to Noosa, Qld. earlier in the year to train with the Chief instructor of the World Shotokan Karate-do Federation, Hitoshi Kaysua from Japan who is the leader of World Shotokan Karate. 

Perera said, “I feel that karate is a lifetime thing and that you don’t get to a point where you stop but rather keep improving.

“I am looking to continue to train and compete and take every opportunity to be noticed which may lead to competing at state and national titles and from there to Commonwealth and Olympic games.

“With karate it’s all about the journey, not the destination.”