Published by the government of Zimbabwe
20 December 2008
Harare — SOUTH Africa-based Zimbabwean karate instructor Tawanda Mufundisi will today hold an upgrading session for fighters who were under his tutelage at the Kambuzuma Karate Academy in the high-density suburb of Kambuzuma.
Mufundisi, a third dan black belt, is attached as a student and trainee instructor at the Hannie Bosman Karate Academy in Cape Town, South Africa.
Shihan Bosman is a 7th dan black belt, who is also a movie stunt fighter and a highly rated instructor.
"Now that I am back home for the Christmas break, I am taking this time to give back to the Zimbabweans what I have learned during my stay with Shihan Bosman.
"Before I went to train further in South Africa in October last year, I used to coach at Kambuzuma and I am still attached to that dojo.
"We will be grading at least 38 karatekas who will be graduating into various categories.
"There are two fighters who will be graduating from the brown belt to a first dan black belt and one of them is Munyaradzi Chikova.
"My advice to these two is that they should strive to work harder and achieve as many dans as possible," said Mufundisi.
The dreadlocked karateka said 10 athletes will be graded from the white belt to orange and three are moving from orange to blue.
There are no candidates for the yellow belt from blue while 12 are going to wear the green belt from yellow and some from green to brown.
Mufundisi said he would be helped by veteran kyokushin instructors Tendai Marange, Tendai Mutikana and Farai "Ninja" Maniwa in carrying out the grading exercise today.
Mufundisi said his stint at the kyokhusin academy is ending in November next year and by that time he hopes to have reached the fourth dan.
"I have been to the European Championship after being invited as part of the African team to Russia in September.
"I was the only one from Zimbabwe in the African team that had fighters from Burundi, South Africa and Zambia and I lost in the preliminary round.
"Hosts Russia won the tournament and even beat the Japanese who are considered the masters of the game.
"Although I failed to get past the preliminary round, I believe I learned a lot and hope to do better next time," said Mufundisi.
The karate instructor said he would also take time to mobilise a crime-fighting unit of karatekas in the neighbourhood of Kambuzuma.
"We like to dispel the notion that karate is an activity for hooligans but that it is a sport that teaches self-discipline. All the dedicated fighters are well aware of the ethics of the sport and as part of a community service we are starting patrol groups that will help to thwart criminal activities like mugging and robbery in the area around our gym.
"We are hoping to work with local police to patrol the area, especially at night and this will reduce the muggings although not totally weeding out crime," he said.
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