Kwekwe brace for karate weekend Shepherd Ziwira
READY FOR BATTLE . . . Shepherd Ziwira is confident the Kwekwe Invitational National Karate championship will live to its billing

READY FOR BATTLE . . . Shepherd Ziwira is confident the Kwekwe Invitational National Karate championship will live to its billing

Sports Reporter
THE tatamis have been nailed on, the stage set, the gis ironed and the battle cries honed, as the countdown to the annual Kwekwe Invitational National Karate Championship to be held in the Midlands town this weekend reaches fever pitch. The semi-contact karate tournament scheduled for Saturday at Kwekwe Sports Club and hosted by Shotokan style under the auspices of the Zimbabwe Karate Union and Japan Karate Association of Zimbabwe, accords karatekas from dojos across the country an opportunity to put their skills to test.

The tournament, which has become synonymous with surprises, thrills and mettle has been growing in profile to become one of the “must attend event’’ for seasoned and upcoming karatekas alike, especially because of the prizes at stake.

More than 150 junior and senior men and women are expected to trade punches in both kata (imaginary fighting) and kumite (real fighting) in different age-groups and weight categories.

Participants will battle it out in the juniors category from the age of nine to 17, the cadets (14-15 years) and under 21. The seniors, both male and female, will compete in weight divisions from under-60kg, under-67kg, under-75kg, under-80kg and open weight category.

JKAZ chief instructor, Midlands Karate Union technical director and senior ZKU referee Shepherd Ziwira who is one of the organisers of the event said as has become norm they are expecting a thrilling outing as numbers have been growing over the years.

“The tournament has been growing each year in terms of numbers and quality. “It has been running for the past six years under the banner of Kwekwe Invitational Best of the Best Karate Championships with participants drawn from as young as six years, up to the veterans category, that is 36 years and above.

“This year promises to be a blockbuster since many karatekas from Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Harare, Gweru, Kadoma, Masvingo and Triangle have confirmed participation,” Ziwira said. Contrary to the belief that karate is a violent sport, more girls and women are warming up to the sport and debunking the myth, which has seen many schools, colleges and universities taking up the discipline.

“Karate has been looked down upon for a long time because most people think it’s a violent sport. But karate teaches discipline, effort and perfection of character. It is encouraging that most schools like Dominican Convent and universities like UZ, GZU, MSU (under Victor Bhunu) have karate teams,” said Ziwira.

However, the Kwekwe businessman and seasoned karateka bemoaned lack of sponsorship as the corporate world seems to shun the sport. ZKU president Joe Rugwete lauded the organisers of the tournament for bringing the sport to the people by decentralising it.

He said that the tournament brings entertainment and business opportunities to the people of Kwekwe as well as giving the national coaching unit a chance to assess athletes’ performances and levels of fitness ahead of international tournaments.

Reiterating the need to develop the sport from the grassroots as a way of encouraging uptake, Rugwete said the “desperate state of sport in the country as an industry” was disheartening mainly because of lack of funding in general, and karate seems to be one of the sacrificial lambs.

Some of the karatekas that are expected to shine are Tanaka Rusenga and Tafara Mangwaya from Masvingo, the Bulawayo duo of Prince Mhangwa and Julius Dzikiti, Harare’s Dean Ramsy and Innocent Ntini and Gweru’s battle hardened trio of David Dube, Hazel Chirima and Polani Kanyile.

The hosts’ hopes will be on the Ziwira siblings Tamuka, Tanyaradzwa and Tinashe and the Mukucha brothers Derreck, Eltone and Arnold, as well as Yemurai Muchenje. The Ziwira-Mukucha “grudge encounters” have always been the toast of the tournament since its inception. Last year’s veterans champion Monica Peters will be gunning for gold in both kata and kumite.

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