Order of the Rising Sun for Witsie with the Way of the Sword
- By Deborah Minors
A Wits alumnus and former lecturer in the Wits electrical engineering and business schools is the first South African practicing a Japanese martial art to be awarded one of Japan’s highest honours, the Order of the Rising Sun Gold and Silver Rays, for his contribution to kendo - the Way of the Sword - the modern embodiment of the sword-fighting arts of the Samurai warriors.
Wits benefactor Lynn ‘Buster’ Sefor (BSc Eng Elec, 1963) received the award from the Japanese ambassador to South Africa, His Excellency, Toshiro Ozawa on 6 August 2011. The Order is the second most prized Japanese decoration after the Order of the Chrysanthemum, which the Japanese reserve for politicians, military leaders and royalty.
Sefor now joins the ranks of a select group of recipients including FIFA President, Sepp Blatter and actor/director, Clint Eastwood.
The Japanese did not bestow the Order of the Rising Sun Gold and Silver Rays - established in 1875 - on foreigners until 1981, when Japan began acknowledging outstanding contributions by foreigners towards promoting foreign relations with the country.
President of the South African Kendo Federation, Sefor has been instrumental in arranging visits and workshops to South Africa by some 50 high-ranking Japanese and other Senseis. He has practiced kendo for more than twenty years and is the first South African to achieve a sixth Dan ranking in kendo. He has represented South Africa at a number of Kendo World and European Championships.
“The concept of kendo is to discipline the human character through the application of the sword,” explains Sefor. “In kendo, the practitioner uses a bamboo sword (called a shinai) and wears protective armour allowing for full contact. Points are scored by a cut to the head, the wrists, the torso and a thrust to the throat.”
Kendo is the most popular martial art in Japan with more than 3 million practitioners. More than 60 countries now practice kendo including South Africa, where it began in the 1980s. “[This] was when I joined,” says Sefor. “From a group of five, we have now grown to 150 members with dojos in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Witbank, Stellenbosch and Durban.”