Sports Centre turns eastward

Poise and balance: Members of the Shaolin Kung Fu Institute of South Africa.

August 1 was a Sunday morning punctuated by guttural cries as contestants and demonstrators grappled, wrestled and punched their way through routines and matches at the UCT Sports Centre. UCT's Jeff Chen (computational chemistry) and organisers from the Fighting Sport Athletes Alliance gathered 21 martial arts clubs during last week's festival there.

On display in the 10 demonstrations and 66 matches were kick boxing, aikido, jujitsu, karate, kung fu, tai chi. Also there were UCT's aikido, judo, jujitsu, karate, capoeira and fencing clubs. Special thanks to Frans Mamabolo and UCT sports administration for their assistance. They were particularly kind in waiving entrance fees. (Look out for details of a festival in October.)