Cayman students impress at martial arts grading

(Purple Dragon): Over 90 students of the Purple Dragon martial arts school were recently put through their paces and then honoured with their new grades by Professor Don Jacob, founder of the Purple Dragon martial arts programme, who visited Cayman last month especially for the examinations. The grading process took place over two days at the Purple Dragon dojo (studio) at the Mirco Centre and students from both that location and the programme’s Crewe Road studio were required to showcase their karate skills in front of Professor Jacob. As well as developing his world-famous Don Jitsu Ryu martial arts, Professor Jacob is also a Martial Arts Hall of Famer and martial arts world champion and he visited Cayman in November as part of his worldwide grading tour.

Grading is an important part of a karate student’s development programme as the grading process allows them to progress to the next level of their training, as is indicated by an exchange in their belt colour. In total 92 students were graded during the November tour, with youngsters aged 11 years and under making up the majority (71) of those graded, the remainder were pre-teens, teens and adults. New belts achieved were broken down as follows: Yellow 22, Orange 16, Green 19, Blue 6, Purple 5, Red 3 and Brown 21.

Cayman Islands Purple Dragon Martial Arts instructor, Sensei Floyd Baptiste, said he was impressed by the high levels achieved by all students.

“All students are to be commended for their hard work and perseverance duringthe grading process. In particular, we were really pleased to note that three students actually achieved a ranking higher than the recommendedlevel. Denise Corin, Francine Bryce, Elena Garcia-McLean all moved from White to Green Belt, which is a huge achievement for all three students,” he explained.

In addition, three students achieved the hard-fought elite warrior title. Cherie Branch was graded a Brown belt elite, Francine Bryce a Green Belt elite and Tahiti Seymour a Yellow belt elite, another impressive achievement for the group.