Jennifer Milad’s sporting career continues to reach new highs, with the Box Hill local this time taking out a surprise gold in the recent GRK Karate World Cup.
The 45-year-old mother of two decided to compete in the 3rd to 1st Kyu division in kata, six weeks after surgery, mainly for the experience. However, Jennifer surpassed her expectations getting through tough rounds to capture her first GRK Karate World Cup title, beating many rivals in the 45-54 year women category.
The World Cup attracted competitors from Britain, New Zealand and Australia and was held in Sydney.
“I decided to enter the World Cup for the experience, and was not expecting much as I was six weeks post op for fairly major surgery,” Jennifer said. “Being a shift worker, I don’t compete often, although I had previously won a silver in team kata at a local comp, alongside my husband Pete and fellow sensei Stefie.”
A multi-talented sportswoman who attended Westfield Sports High School, Jennifer has represented Australia and NSW in futsal and also turned out for the Marconi women’s under-21 team in regular football competitions.
Jennifer is also no stranger to the tough competitive fitness sport of CrossFit – she competed for the NSW Masters League CrossFit team at the 2016 competition in Perth.
“After I had my first daughter, I discovered CrossFit, where I trained six days a week at RevX in Holroyd, and competed in a number of competitions placing on a number of occasions. As much as I loved soccer and CrossFit, I found it difficult to juggle with family and shift work.
“My two daughters began karate with GKR karate after getting a flyer sent home from school. When sport returned after the first Covid-19 lockdowns, my husband Peter and I decided to join our daughters and began training.
“After a while, we were hooked and training 4-5 days a week. We met so many great people and made some really good friends. GKR has dojos all across Australia, NZ, the UK and parts of the US. Our area, Region 22 has dojos in Rouse Hill, Riverstone and Richmond.”
Jennifer said after training with their region manager Sensei Charmaine, she began her sensei training program. Now, she and her husband Peter run classes at Rouse Hill, along with other instructors.
“My goals these days is to keep myself moving and fit, “Jennifer said. “I also want to pass on my passion for the sport to others, and help shape them in their karate journey.”
She is now focussing on the GRK Karate State Titles in November, where she plans to compete in both kata and kumite.
