Thirteen Zimbabwean karatekas leave for SA tournament

Thirteen Zimbabwean karatekas left on Monday for Cape Town, South Africa, for the Len Barnes Memorial Kyokushin Full Contact Knockdown Championships to be held over the weekend, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.

Samson Muripo, who is the technical director for the kyokushin (full contact) style, is leading the local team at the tournament which is expected to attract other kyokushin-practising countries such as Zambia, Angola, Malawi and the hosts South Africa, The Herald said.

The tournament is held annually in memoriam of Len Barnes, the first African to introduce the kyokushin style in Africa in the early 1960s when he was working in Cape Town as a student of Masotatsu Oyama, a founder of kyokushin style.

The Zimbabwe Karate Union president, Lucky Munkhodya, said they were expecting the locals to do well after working with the visiting South African instructor Bas van Stenis last week.

"Taking into consideration that van Stenis worked with the karatekas, fine-tuning their techniques and also that most of the guys are still bubbling with confidence after having passed their gradings, the team is expected to do well. It is our aim this year to win medals in every tournament we take part in, so the team should bring some medals," said Munkhodya.

Source: Xinhua