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SHIHAN BAS VAN STENIS
Shihan Bas started karate with Shihan Len Barnes in Cape Town in 1964. He achieved his Shodan in 1970. In 1971 Shihan Bas and Shihan Len Barnes opened the very first Kyokushin Honbu in Cape Town, South Africa, producing many famous future karate-ka like Shihan Trevor Tockar now living in Australia.
In 1975 Shihan Bas captained the South African team at the First World Open Karate Tournament held in Tokyo. In 1977 he was captain of the victorious Cape Province team that won the South African Open Karate Tournament. At the age of 35 he retired from competitive karate.
He continued teaching, assisting and helping his sensei and friend Shihan Len Barnes right up to his death in 2003.
Today Shihan Bas, with over 40 years of karate experience, is the most senior Kyokushin teacher in Southern Africa and a member of the International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan; The All Japan Kyokushin Union, Japan. Shihan Bas is actively involved in promoting Kyokushin Karate throughout Southern Africa with strong affiliations in Zimbabwe.
Shihan Bas is an internationally recognised referee having refereed at various international tournaments.
In 2004 Kancho Hatsuo Royama recognised Shihan Bas’s tireless promotion, his knowledge and dedication to Kyokushin Karate and promoted him to Rokudan (6th Dan) which was acknowledged by the All Japan Kyokushin Union/ Technical Dan Promotion Institute in 2005
Shihan Bas’s aim is to bring karate to children of all levels of society in South Africa. Through the medium of karate he hopes to give the children of Southern Africa a purpose, diverting them away from less desirable temptations and teaching them vital life skills! The children of today are our future and everything possible must be done to safeguard them.
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