Not even super typhoon Rolly could stop James de los Santos from earning his 19th karate gold medal.
The world’s No.1 eKata player topped the eChampions Trophy World Series #2 by besting South Africa’s Silvio Cerone-Biagioni, the no.3 in the world, in the finals.
With Rolly arriving soon the tournament venue of delos Santos, which houses the Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines International’s dojo in Taguig, announced that it would be closing its doors to avoid the super typhoon’s fury.
“On the day of the finals, my student from MKKPI Fatima Hamsain and I arrived in the tournament venue at around 11:20 a.m. Then the mall announced that they will be closing at 12 noon for everyone’s safety,” said De los Santos.
“So we basically had around 30 minutes to finish everything. Despite the time pressure, we succeeded. But also because of the possibility of a brownout due to the typhoon, we rushed back home to upload our videos. And fortunately again, we succeeded.”
Even De los Santos’ students found success in the same tournament.
Hamsain eventually took the gold in the under-15 female e-kumite and the silver in the under-15 female e-kata.
Other students Christina Colonia took the gold medal in the under-18 female e-kata and Julia Ian Marcos settled for the silver piece in the female seniors e-kata.
De los Santos says he is able to handle pressure because he gets that extra dose of energy from delicious healthy and delicious drink of Kaffea.
“It gives me that natural energy that I need for my rigid workouts. It is known to have several health properties,” said Delos Santos.
He benefits from Kaffea’s healthy ingredients like collagen which strengthens the muscles, tendons, and joints. The coffee blend helps keep Delos Santos slim and fit.
Additionally, Delos Santos said that he simply loves Kaffea’s taste, which highlights the flavor of coconut sugar mixed with coconut cream.
“Kaffea wakes me up and gives me the energy to keep me active during training and competition. I love the taste and aroma of the coconut sugar. I would recommend it to people who have health problems since most cheap instant coffees have unhealthy ingredients. Kaffea is a very healthy alternative,” said Delos Santos.
