Oyama Kyokushin Karate on revival
MBABANE – It was back to action for the country’s Oyama Kyokushinkaikan Karate after two years in the cold due to COVID-19.
They held a joint training yesterday at Zakhele, Manzini whereby they did various physical exercises and katas. This was preceded by one session held in Mbabane last weekend.
In a bid to get the karatekas back to full fitness, in readiness for competition, they got together from the various dojos (clubs) existent in the country.
Oyama Kyokushinkaikan Karate Association of Swaziland (OKKAS) Spokesperson Sensei Bongani Ndzabandzaba, said he was impressed by the number of artists who attended the training. He said it had improved from the first one, which was held in the capital city last week Saturday.
Ndzabandzaba said the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on their programmes as they could not train together and also could not organise tournaments locally.
DEPRIVED US
“The pandemic has deprived us of the opportunity to attend the World Championships, which were to take place in Canada last year,” Ndzabandzaba said.
He said he was hopeful that the Matsushima Group would send a correspondence to them as to when the World Championships would be staged again.
“One of the reasons we are busy with the revivals is that we want to keep ourselves ready for such tournaments,” he said.
He also said they would soon host a bigger joint training for the artists from the four corners of the country to be held in Manzini. Meanwhile, Ndzabandzaba encouraged parents to allow their children to join the sport because it instilled discipline to them at a tender age.
“I would like to also encourage women to join the sport because it will teach them on how to defend themselves from abusive men,” he jokingly said.
He further said they were planning to host their next joint training in Nhlangano, but were yet to finalise the date and venue.