About Us
Our Story
Kyoshi Karl von der Marwitz and Steve Johnson are both 7th Dans in Karate and 5th Dans in Kobudo in the Okinawan Style of Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate.
The S&K Karate dojo was kicked off in 1999 by two life long friends who had trained together since the ages of 4 and 5 years old under the instruction of Steve’s father, Kyoshi Claude Johnson, 8th Dan and president of Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate South Africa.
Originally, before Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan was brought to South Africa in 1994 via the States by, back then, Shihan Claude Johnson, the style practiced was called Funakoshi Karate.
At that time, pre 1994 many practiced this style across the country. Both Kyoshi Steve and Karl achieved a Black belt in Funakoshi before beginning their journey with Shorinkan.
Nearly 4 decades later the 2 sensei’s have taught 1000’s of students across South Africa as well as in the United States in multiple dojo’s including their own Karate Dojo’s based out of Port Elizabeth.
They have competed across the globe at the highest levels in many disciplines and have trained multiple students to reach world championship status.
Learning their love and knowledge of karate for the past few decades from Kyoshi Claude Johnson, Kyoshis Steve and Karl have been afforded the privilege of experiencing traditional karate and culture directly from Okinawa, Japan numerous times.
They have also trained with other Shorin-Ryu practitioners from across the world including, The United States of America, Canada, Australia, India and Vietnam.
Our Passion
Our passion is the practicing and teaching of Okinawan karate and kobudo and the practical application of it.
This includes growing confidence in students through the acquisition of various skills such as practical life preservation skills, listening skills, leadership skills, memory recall as well as all areas of physical development.
We promote a family-based environment where all levels of students are encouraged and motivated to pursue various goals while having fun and keeping fit and healthy at the same time.
Meet The Team
Karl von der Marwitz
Karate
- 7th Dan Karate (Graded in Okinawa).
- Shihan certification from Okinawa.
- 5th Dan Kobudo.
- Former Protea National karate team member.
- Former Protea National Martial arts team member.
- Protea National Martial Arts team captain 2016.
- WKC World Champ 2001 & 2005.
- WUKO Intercontinental Champion 2003.
- Commonwealth Champion 2008.
- Zone 6 Africa Champion 2008.
- TAFISA World Martial arts Champion 2016.
- Chief Referee & Technical advisor for Shorinkan South Africa.
- Member of the board of directors for Shorinkan South Africa.
- Arnold Classic Champion 2016.
Education
- B.Ed (IP) degree.
- ETA Personal trainer certification.
Teacher
- Grade 6 educator St Dmonic’s Priory School for 2 years.
- Grade 5 educator at Grey Junior School for 18 years.
Megan von der Marwitz
- Karate practitioner since 1999 until present
- Teaching karate since 2002
- 5th Dan in Karate
- 3rd Dan in Kobudo (1st Dan in Kobudo graded in Okinawa)
- Competed and medalled locally and nationally since 1999 until present
- Coach
- Judge
- Matriculated in 2005
- INTEC College – 2006 to 2009
- Au Pair in the U.K. – 2009 to 2010
- Corporate 2010 to 2016
- Administration
- Advertising
- Office Manager
- Human Resources
- Debt Collection
- Initiating a Disciplinary Hearing
- Conflict Management
- Supervisory Skills
- Chairing a Disciplinary Hearing
- Studio 3 South Africa: Certificate in Managing Challenging Behaviour for learners on the Autism Spectrum
- Harvest Kids Leadership Training: Excelling in Kingdom Leadership
- Kids church – 2017
- Higher Certificate in Adult Based Education
- 3rd Year B.Ed (FP) Student
- Assistant coach at Cape Recife High School
- Competed and medalled locally and nationally
Our Instructors
Anthea Rowe-Wilson
- Started karate in 1975
- Received my Shodan in 1980
- Joined SHORIN-Ryu in 1998
- Being doing karate for 47 years
- 7th Dan karate and 2nd Dan kubudo
- Achieved my Border and EP colours in my Goju days
- I have always done aerobics and gym to keep fit.
- Have done self defence and referee
- Started teaching at Elsen School about 11 years ago.
- Dealing with children with disabilities such as ADHD Dyspraxia and Aspergers
Jason Carter
- Started Karate at the age of 17 in JKA / Shotokan under Sensei Karl during 1996
- Took some time off after matric and in 2000
- Got back into Shorin-Ryu Karate learning from Sensei Karl and Sensei Steve.
- Had the privilege of testing for my Shodan belt at the same time as my Sensei’s testing for their Sandan belts at the end of 2002.
- Sadly, I was unsuccessful but returned at the end of 2003 to retest successfully for my Shodan belt.
- End of 2003 was also my introduction to Brazilian Jiujitsu by Andrew Garai.
- Stopped training Karate during 2005 but carried on training Brazilian Jiujitsu.
- Got back into karate after some years off in 2015 when my oldest son decided he wanted to start
- It was at this point that I began instructing under Sensei Karl and Sensei Steve and have been teaching with them since
- During this time off from karate between 2005 - 2015, I carried on training in Brazilian Jiujitsu and trained in Aikido for about 6-months. Our Jiujitsu syllabus also includes a bit of Judo.
- After 23 years in martial arts, I currently hold a Sandan in Karate, Nidan in Kobudo, a brown belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu; and am still teaching and training both Karate and Brazilian Jiujitsu.
Erica Maritz
Occupation
- Principal at Cape Recife School
Karate
- Renshi (5th Dan)
- KOBUDO: Sandan (3rd Dan)
Achievements:
- National Board of directors: Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan South Africa 2014 to present
- National Champion Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan – 2014 to present in both Karate and Kobudo
- Achieved MASA National Colours: 2016.
- Best Overall Senior Lady at SARMAF Nationals 2017
International Travels for Karate:
- USA – 2007
- OKINAWA 2011
- BRAZIL – 2012 Team Manager
- OKINAWA – 2019
Journey
Started my journey when my son joined S&K karate dojo in 2000. Three years later I joined with a group of 8 mothers wanting to give it a go. 2006 I graded for my 1st Dan.
This has been the best decision I ever made. Not only has karate enriched my life, but I also became part of a style that became a family to me. Together we have travelled all over the world enriching our knowledge. I had the wonderful opportunity to grade in Okinawa with my son in the Shorinkan Hombo Dojo of the world. This was a priceless experience.
As an educator of learners with barriers to learning (32 years) my karate philosophy has inspired me to go the extra mile in helping learners reach their goals. As a way of life, it teaches focus and stickability and the ability to carry on regardless. The five maxims of karate are something I live by every day.
- Character
- Sincerity
- Effort
- Etiquette
- Self-Control
Woman in karate has grown and I am proud to be part of the pioneers in this field.
Sensei Pieter W. du Randt
Karate has been part of my life from my early school days. I started training with Sensei John Burger when he opened a new neighbourhood Dojo in Walmer Downs Port Elizabeth in 1988. We could not wait for our karate classes on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. All the neighbourhood and school friends use to meet up and ride to class with our bicycles. Those days it was still Funakoshi Karate under the leadership of 8th dan Kyoshi Claude Johnson.
After a few years of training I decided to join Sensei John Burger at Central Gymnasium to train directly under the mentorship of Kyoshi Claude Johnson.
For reasons that I have forgotten already, I have changed Karate styles in 1992 and started training Shotokan Karate under the late Sensei Ronnie Hidge. I successfully graded up to 3rd degree brown belt in Shotokan Karate.
Being an all-round active person, there were other activities that caught my attention, and I started riding and racing off-road motorbikes. Karate took a backseat for this period. While racing off-road motorbikes, I became aware of core stability and strength, which is very important in racing. I wanted to strengthen myself to improve my racing and as a result started doing private pilates classes. Pilates emphasizes and promotes core strength, balance and posture. I soon realized that pilates actually forms a crucial foundation of all sports and activities and it drastically improves your baseline fitness. It also teaches you to correctly activate your core muscles. Breathing forms a major part of pilates training which promotes general good health.
After racing continuously for almost 10 years I decided to park my racing boots because it was something that was to time constraining with my son also getting a bit older.
When my son showed an interest in Karate in 2014, I decided to get back to training. I looked up my old karate family and started training Shorinryu Shorinkan karate with 7th dan Kyoshi Steve Johnson and 7th dan Kyoshi Karl von der Marwitz at S & K Karate at Grey Primary School in Port Elizabeth.
At the end of November 2016 I graded to my 1st Dan Karate rank in front of a national panel. After my grading I also started teaching karate at S&K Karate club. It was only after I started teaching karate that I really started to learn karate myself. In karate we have a saying that the “Teacher always remains a student”.
After starting to teach karate, I realized how much relevance my 13 years pilates training (and still going) had on my karate. It has given me the knowledge to help others and especially children to train posturally correct. It is becoming increasingly important due to the fact that people and kids spend so much time with electronic devises.
In July 2019 my whole family undertook an international tour to Okinawa Japan to train under our international leader of style Hanshi ,10th dan, Minoru Nakazato, where I was given the opportunity to attempt my 3rd Dan Karate and 1st Dan Kubudo (Weapons) grading. I am honoured that I managed to pass both my tests.
Karate to me is an endless, continues journey of learning and improving not only physical skills but also everyday life skills like character, humility, respect, discipline, mindfulness, hard work and perseverance.
Anarika Stander
- Doing karate since 9 years old
- Rank: 1st Dan
- Represented SA in 2008 at the KWF Europe Cup in Italy - 2nd in Kumite
- Represented SA in Norway in 2009 during the WKF World Cup - 2nd in Kumite
- Competed in the USSA (University Sport South Africa) karate tournament
- Placed 1st in Kumite at the WUKF Championships in 2022.
- Competed at 2022 Shorin-Ruy Nationals, where she placed 1st in the Women’s Open weapons division
Achievements:
- KWF Europe Cup April 27 th 2008, Torino Italy - 2nd place Kumite
- KWF World Cup Norway 2009 - 2nd place Kumite
- WUKF 2022 - 1st place Kumite, 2nd place Long Weapons, 3rd place Short weapons
- Shorin-Ryu Nationals - 1st place Women’s Open Weapons division (7 months pregnant), 1st place kata
- WUKF 2023 - 1st Place in Long weapons
- WUKF 2024 - Referee
- Civil and Structural Engineering Firm, working with a diverse group of people from all cultures.
- 2 years experience working at a playschool where motor skills was an important part in the children’s development.
- Also a Sports Massage therapist.
Anarika, age 32, started karate at the age of 9 in a small miner’s town, Fochville in the North-West Province.
Karate has taught her discipline, respect, increased her fitness level but most of all has improved her confidence immensely.
After she matriculated, Anarika moved to Potchefstroom to study, she continued her karate career where she formed part of an amazing team and for the first time truly learned the meaning of teamwork and spirit.
During this time there were many camps, travels and training with different individuals and Senseis to become the best karateka she could be.
Anarika also trained latin and ballroom dancing which complimented her karate training and fighting rhythm.
After an accident and relocation, she took a break from karate. When Covid hit, she longed to get back to karate and started searching for a new Dojo in Port Elizabeth.
Anarika started a completely new karate style, Shorin-Ryu which also has a Kobudo (weapons) category. Excited to learn, she was dedicated to using her previous skills and adapt to this new style.
Finding a remarkable Dojo and karate family within, she worked hard and took extra classes to quickly become familiar with a completely new style. Starting again as a white belt in Kobudo, it humbled her and gave her a new perspective of Okinawa karate and change her outlook on her technique.
After finding out that she was expecting, Anarika continued training carefully and graded as well as competed at the 2022 Shorin-Ruy Nationals, where she placed 1 st in the Women’s Open weapons division at 7 months pregnant.
Karate is a sport that can be trained by anyone irrespective of athletic skills or age. She has also given more focus into refereeing as this way she is able to share knowledge fellow students and new karate-kas.
Renshi Reiner
- 5 th Dan Karate
- 2 nd Dan Kobudo
- National Shorin Ryu Kata Champion – multiple times
- National Shorin Ryu Kobudo Champion - multiple times
- Member of the Protea Martial arts team
- 2014 TAFISA World Martial Arts Kata Champion
- 2014 TAFISA World Martial Arts Kobudo Champion
- 2016 TAFISA World Martial Arts Kobudo Champion
- 2016 TAFISA World Martial Arts Kata Cham
- Honour’s Degree in HMS
- Master’s degree in Biokinetics
- PGCE Diploma in education
- Teacher at Cape Recife High School
Sensei Liande
- Been doing karate for 5 years (started in 2019)
- Karate Rank: First Dan Black Belt
- Kobudo Rank (weapons): Brown 2
- Favourite weapon: Kama
- I have not missed a single competition since I've started doing karate.
- I enjoy putting myself under pressure and I hold myself to a high standard.
- I attend every Day Camp I can and I've attended three Gariep Black Belt Camps in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
- Teaching has always come naturally to me and I find great joy in breaking information down and helping people not only memorise, but understand something that they once found complicated.
- I’ve helped teach karate to lower belts in my home dojo since I was a green belt in 2020.
- Through teaching I have learned some of the most valuable lessons in karate.
- When I'm not in the karate dojo, you'll find me at road running races, cycling, swimming (pool or ocean), or at the gym doing strength / HIIT training
- I love gardening, camping, journaling, sunrises and sunsets and being active
- Marketing fitness studios and gyms globally for the past 4+ years. I work with gym owners every day and I thoroughly enjoy it.
- 15 years of experience in Gymnastics
- Rank: Level 9 Artistic
- Coached gymnastics to Beginners for 5 years
- Qualified artistic gymnastics judge
- I feel that gymnastics demands the same level of discipline, commitment, time and effort as karate which is why this transition was the most natural thing for me