Years of dedication pays dividends

WANGANUI karate expert Natasha McKee could never be accused of being impatient.
The 30-year-old Japanese and Spanish teacher has just become the first New Zealand woman to achieve a third dan black belt in JKA (Japan Karate Association) karate, one of seven styles of karate worldwide.
But she's had to wait six years for the grading, as is the case for black belts who want to keep climbing the ladder.
"Once you get to your black belt, there's a few years in between gradings. The kids with coloured belts will grade every six months but I only graded to my second dan six years ago."
"And there'll be another six or seven years before I'm eligible to go for the next dan."
But that doesn't faze McKee, who took up the sport 18 and a-half years ago when she was 12 and achieved her black belt as a student at Kyoto University in 1996.
She spent four years in Japan and considers herself fortunate to have trained at one of the country's top karate clubs, along with teaching English and learning how to speak Japanese.
"The progress I made in Japan was quite significant, especially in the fighting. They train seven days a week whereas we would train two or three times a week."
"In terms of fitness it was hugely beneficial and I guess I had the best of the best coaching me. The best place to learn karate is in Japan."
More recently, she represented New Zealand in JKA, finishing in the top 32 at last year's World Cup in Sydney. McKee said JKA karate involved controlled contact, "but basically we hit".
The sport has 32 members at its two dojos at Durie Hill and Wanganui City College, and about 250 nationwide. Two new dojos recently opened in the South Island.
McKee, who coaches JKA twice a week at City College, said she was absolutely stoked to be the first woman in New Zealand to achieve the third dan black belt. Australia had two female fourth dan black belts and a couple of third dans, but it was a rarity in the South Pacific.
And she said it would be even harder to get to the fourth dan.
"It gets more technical now," she said. "It's not just about physical grading, you have to start thinking about what you're doing and demonstrate how you would apply movements."
She said a big part of karate was about spirit - "you have to have spirit to keep going" and competitiveness, which helped people get better.
It was those types of things that drove her to try and keep achieving in karate.
"I'm still doing it, so it's obviously a big part of my life," she said. "Because not a lot of women do it I sometimes train with the men which is kinda hard, but the gutsy girls stick with it." McKee certainly fits the bill.