Presenting, Amalya Ponna Handi!
Amalya Ponna Handi is an enthusiastic Year 10 hailing from Te Kanawa with a diverse array of interests and hobbies. She enjoys netball, immersing herself in books, experimenting with baking, building with Lego, playing table tennis, honing her sewing skills, and practicing karate. Amalya describes her experience competing in Sydney at the Australian Karate Open Championship 2025.
- What does your karate club do?
Our club -the Newzealandkan Wadokai- is one of the few Wado-ryu clubs in Auckland. Wado-ryu is one of the four major karate styles. The other 3 are Gojo-ryu, Shotokan and Shito-ryu. Our karate style is more power based than the other styles and is more known for kumite (fighting). It roughly has around 200-250 members of all ages. We compete in competitions and we sometimes do demonstrations at events.
- How did you get into karate and why do you do it?
I first started karate when I was 7 years old (my parents put me in for self defence). When I first started I was at a different club and once I moved houses, I moved to my current club when I was 10. I think the thing that drives me the most is the support I get from my family, friends and senseis. I always want them to be happy because my achievements have come from their hard work and support too. There was a period of time, where I had to drag myself to training, but that ended quickly. One of my favourite things about karate is kata (A kata in karate is a set pattern of movements that students practice to learn how to block, kick, and punch) and being able to spend time with my friends doing the sport I love. Kata is something that I’ve gotten into in more recent years and I am improving bit by bit everyday.
- Brief description of Sydney (tournament location)
The Sydney tournament was the first international competition I’d been to and it was amazing. I had been to Sydney earlier this year so it wasn’t my first time. We were there for roughly a week and most of our afternoons before the tournament were spent training. There were 3 tournament days and we spent all of them there at the venue the whole day. In the mornings we walked around, went to the city and even saw wild kangaroos. I created so many memories with my teammates and friends that I won’t forget.
- What did you need to do to get into the Australian Open Championship 2025 and how does it work?
To participate in the competition there weren’t any requirements to have beforehand. But to prepare overall, I had to train multiple hours every week and use any prior competitions as a chance for mat time before the real thing. The competition was held over 3 days. The first 2 days were mostly Kata and the final day was all Kumite. If you’re under 13, you would be placed in normal categories like 12-13, 10-11 and so on. If you’re over 14, you would be placed in Cadet, Junior or Senior based on your age and every event was open grade. You would compete against other competitors one on one (not competitors from your own country excluding the Australian competitors) and try to advance to quarter finals, semi finals, bronze medal matches and so on. In a Kata match, there would be 7 judges and in a Kumite match, there would be 4 judges and 1 referee.
- How did you feel while competing?
I was extremely nervous and excited. It was my first time overseas for a tournament so it was a whole new experience and aspect of competition karate. In my events there were other New Zealand competitors so it was really great to see familiar faces.
“I think the importance of your hard work is more valuable than a medal so you should never feel disappointed if you lose knowing you worked really hard.”
23rd May, 2025
Written by Amalya Ponna Handi
Edited by Bianca Hu
Thumbnail by Emma Li
