10-year-old Omani wins karate championship in Scotland

A ten-year-old Omani boy won a world karate championship held in Dundee, Scotland, last month. Hisham Mohamed Abdullah Al-Busaidy took home the gold in the contest organised by the World Union Karate Federation (WUKF), which was held from June 14 to 17.
As many as 2,281 participants from 41 countries participated in the competition. Hisham won the kata category in the 10-year-old blue belt/purple belt competition. The silver medal went to Denmark and the bronze medal was taken home by an Italian competitor.
President of World Union Karate Federation, Romanian, Liviu Crisan praised Hisham and hoped that Oman would produce more great talent in the future.
The child prodigy, Hisham, took up karate as an eight-year-old. Coaches from Ahli Sidab Karate Club, Hilal Al-Abdali and Yusuf Al-Syiabi liked the way he took to the martial arts discipline.
He got his yellow belt after six weeks of training. Hisham was encouraged by his coaches to compete in the first ever national championship in Muscat and won silver at that event. He later joined the Inter Karate Academy and developed his skills further, with some basics and katas under the training of Coach Farid Al-Shahibi.
‘Pleased with win’
Hisham said that he had been very keen on karate from the very beginning, adding that he was pleased to win the championship. “To me, karate is learning, having fun and not being scared to try new things and being up to the challenge, and I feel that karate is part of me and it’s in my heart. Working with many coaches helped me learn new things,” he said.
“I advise competitors to never give up and it really doesn’t matter what belt you earn, as long as you try your best and always keep it in your mind that you are the best. Winning is not everything, gold is not everything or bragging that you are the best is not everything. All you have to do is just try your best and that is enough for you to be a real champion,” he added.
He never gives up: Coach
Hisham’s coach Farid Al-Shahibi said: “To me, Hisham has developed in class through perseverance and being faithful to his training and in his character. He never gave up and keeps trying. Another quality I see in Hisham during training is his support to other competitors, mingling well and respecting everyone in the class.
“My wish for Hisham is great success in the future and for him to be in the Omani National team representing Oman both regionally and internationally,” he said.
Much later, Hisham’s parents had added an extra private class to his training regime. Coach Ali Al-Raisi had accepted Hisham in his competition group and made him a part of his club. Hisham learned kumite and attained a black belt katas under Raisi’s training. This helped Hisham win many gold medals in national competitions, as well as in an international competition held in Oman in both disciplines.
Hisham also trained with acclaimed martial arts coaches such as Said Alaedin Nekoofar from Iran and Alexandra Ilie from Romania, who coached him through the recent competition that he won. Adrian Gherman from Romania was involved in his coaching.