Going for gold

Christian Winter in action against a competitor. 
Photos courtesy Sabrina Khillawan
Christian Winter in action against a competitor. Photos courtesy Sabrina Khillawan

Rhianna Mc Kenzie

Eleven-year-old Christian Winter has been back flipping his way to the top since he was two, so his recent karate wins came as no surprise.

Winter is a member of Team Elite Karate, located in his hometown of Sangre Grande, where he is trained and nurtured by his parents, Barry and Lena Winter. He also trains with the national team, although he is still too young to compete with them.

Christian Winter shows off the rewards of his discipline and hard work–his medals.

The pre-teen has many awards and accolades to his name. He is the 2018 national karate champion in both kata (individual training exercise) and kumite (freestyle fighting) categories, with two gold medals. He also participated in the TAK traditional central karate tournament (two gold medals), the TEK inter-school martial arts championship in February (three gold medals), Dragon Cup Caribbean martial arts championship in July at the cycling complex (three gold medals) and TAK southern classics martial arts tournament (four gold medals) , where he was also the second youngest athlete to win all four categories in open kata , traditional kata, weapon kata and point sparring. On October 14, he participated in the TAK southern classics martial arts tournament in the ten-11 age group, at the Pleasantville Sporting Complex.

Last year, Winter won three gold medals at the North American Federation of Martial Arts world club championship, which was held at the National Culture Centre in St Lucia. “I feel both nervous and happy before a fight,” Winter told Newsday Kids, but he’s okay after the match when “everything is gold”, he said with a light chuckle.

Christian demonstrates his karate skills.

Winter has a very tight schedule that allows him the time he needs to practice and get his school work done as well. He wakes up at 5.30 every morning to do drills, then it’s off to school.

“Sometimes I’m tired,” he said, but his time has to be efficient, even if it means working late to get the job done. But even with such a crazy schedule, with a little micromanaging from mom and dad, he is coping well. “Sports helps with my discipline,” he said, adding that for him it is also like a brain cooler.

But like most boys his age, he has a weak spot for football as well. He is a huge Chelsea fan. “England all the way!” he said excitedly. And he doesn’t just watch on the sidelines, he plays with his school. “He’s very brave” said his dad, joking that even though he’s small, he competes with the bigger kids on the field. The Guaico Presbyterian Primary School student will write the Secondary Entrance Assessment exam in March next year and has his eyes set on Swaha Hindu College as his first choice.

“The discipline is awesome and my sister (Chelsea) goes there…she’s my biggest fan.”

Olympics is the end goal for this tiny karate master, who also has plans to be an army medic.

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