A hyperactive 6-year-old girl in a pink tutu. A fluffy rabbit named Carrots. A 72-year old Sensei. We follow this rare, unseen world of competitive, women-led Karate sports in a community in Cape Town through the eyes of the school’s newest and youngest inductee, Nawar Taliep (6), as she prepares for her first tournament.

Sensei Flowers was first introduced to karate in the 1970’s by her husband, Sensei Nazeem Flowers, who became her instructor. When her husband passed away she took over the dojo and hasn’t looked back since.
Nawar Taliep (age 6) can’t sit still for more than one minute. Birds fly past and she wants to play with them. On most days, she spends her time in a pink tutu, talking to her fluffy toy rabbit ‘Carrots’. She religiously spends her mornings watching Dora The Explorer on Cartoon Network, while fighting with her older brother, Abdul (11), over the remote control.
Nawar comes from a family of committed karate-practitioners: her two brothers have been doing karate with Sensei Flowers at the respected the Surrey Dojo- Kyokushin Karate School in the Cape Flats and her mother has sent her to be inducted with the hope that the school will be able to help her hyperactive daughter focus.
This quirky and comedic film will follow Nawar on her journey as she undergoes training and prepares for her first grading. With Sensei Flowers as her mentor, we will see how she guides Nawar into a space of calm and discipline.

Read our review of Like Water on the Alchemiya Journal.