On Saturday, 14th of October 2017, a rather intriguing meeting of the college-student scholarship holders, a meeting quite different from the previous ones, was held at the premises of the ASA Prevent Group. Amila Mekic, our scholarship holder, expressed her wish to deliver a lecture on what has been her calling for more than twelve years and has earned her great recognition; karate. Amila became fond of this ancient martial art when she was a child and it earned her numerous accomplishments, medals and wonderful experiences.
Amila is a second year student at Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Department of Zootechnics, and has been the Hastor Foundation scholarship holder for seven years. The Administrative team of the Foundation together with Sakib Bitic and Inela Kavaz, scholarship holders who also practice karate, enthusiastically assisted her in preparing the presentation and delivering the lecture.
Amila put a particular emphasis on the fact that karate influences one’s spirit and mindset, not just the body, and in addition to presenting historical overview and basic terminology, she had also given a demonstration of this fighting style’s techniques. Sakib Bitic, a black belt holder, assisted Amila in these demonstrations during which the scholarship holders were given an opportunity to learn various stances, arm and leg techniques, as well as blocking techniques.
It was a particular honor to witness a kata demonstration by Inela Kavaz, a 6th grade elementary school student and the national champion in karate. Inela had recently returned from the Balkan Karate Championship hosted at Istanbul where she won a bronze medal.
Under the guidance of Amila and Sakib, all the scholarship holders had an opportunity to try out some of the moves and techniques they witnessed. The meeting and the lecturers did much to interest the scholarship holder and also encourage them to try their hand at karate, a martial art or perhaps sport in general. We thank our scholarship holders for holding this mini school of karate, and invite all others to share their knowledge, skills and experience at monthly meetings to come.
Sadzida Kosovac
