Story by Raynald Ngwarati
THE Zimbabwe Shaolin Wushu School is eyeing regional conquest after two martial artists confirmed their participation at the Africa Youth International Kung Fu Championships in South Africa early next month.
Glory is high on the agenda of the young martial artists set to represent the country at the Africa Youth International Kung Fu Championships scheduled for Capetown from the second to the third of next month.
The two-day Kung Fu extravaganza will see under-21 martial artists from five different countries battling for supremacy in the neighbouring country.
With regional rivals like Botswana, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia all confirming their participation at the games, the Zimbabwe Shaolin Wushu School’s athletes are confident of making an impression.
Wushu player, Todaishe Zinyemba said, “We started our training for the tournament back in December and now we are in the best shape to the extent that we cannot wait to show them what we are made of in South Africa.”
Another player, Praise Daniel said, “We’ve trained so well so far that if we were to go there, we would give in a fight because we have trained.”
Team Zimbabwe is bruised after only two martial artists secured funding for the games whilst the other eight were shut out by financial constraints.
“We would have loved to take ten athletes, but another constraint is financial resources. We do not have funding at the moment we are operating on out-of-pocket expenses which is not quite good for a sports association. As a result, we are limited to partake some of these invitations.” Zimbabwe Shaolin Wushu School President Gilbert Makowa said.
The team will depart for Capetown on Wednesday by road and are expecting to be in South Africa on Friday as they seek acclimatisation before the tournament begins, while after the tournament the Zimbabwe Shaolin Wushu School shifts attention to Kazakhstan where Jonathan Muvingi is expected to be Zimbabwe’s sole representative at the Jang Sanati.
Wushu is a martial arts discipline popularised by Chinese actor Jet Li.
