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Blessing Malinganiza 

Shihan Wilfred Mashaya, the reigning Kobudo World Champion, has set sights on the World Championship in Germany this October.

His sentiments come after dominating the International Martial Arts Corporation (IMAC) English Open Tournament recently held at the York Leisure Centre in England.

He clinched gold in the Traditional Weapon, Freestyle Weapon, and Creative Weapons categories, as well as the Mixed Weapon Category, and landed back in the country on Wednesday.

This will be the second time Mashaya will be taking the stage at the World Championship after he participated with  Vincent Fambira in the same competitions last year in the ICO Championship in England where they managed to bring 11 medals in total.

“I’m glad to be back home, but there’s no time to rest as we have the Germany World Championships where I will be defending my title,” he said.

“We are assembling a team of over 20 competitors for the German tournament and we are actively seeking sponsorship for the trip. We will also be hosting a selection tournament at the Zim Ninja Academy.”

Mashaya is hoping to have an overall success that will see his team perform well in all categories  

“My main target is at least to have medals from our children’s representatives as well as the women and men, and that will be amazing for us.

“It’s not an easy thing to represent the country, you need to be prepared and give it all, so that’s one of the things we are focusing on.

 “We are looking to have a well-balanced team in terms of having kids, women and men in our representation.

“We have a pool of 30 individuals whom I am already training ahead of the games and looking forward to having them all attend and participate at the championships.

“But due to financial constraints, we might see the number being trimmed to twenty people hence we are appealing for the sponsorship.”