Hayashi-ha, Kofukan to settle argument

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Friday December 10, 2010 00:00

 

The event will be held at the University of Botswana (UB) Student Union Hall. The tournament is expected to attract over 150 karatekas from all six BOKA affiliates; Shotokan Japanese Karate Association (JKA), Shito-ryu Mabuni, Hayashi-ha, BKF, newly approved BOKA affiliate Ryushin-kan and Shukokai.

Hayashi-ha chief instructor, Mpho Bakwadi has said he is happy that the tournament that determines which karatekas are the best is finally here because he has been accused of bias in selecting national teams as the BOKA senior coach. In October, some BKF members complained that Bakwadi favours Hayashi-ha in selecting the team that represented Botswana at the World Karate Championships in Serbia. The members alleged that Bakwadi got away with biased selection as BOKA president, Gift Nkwe is his student. 'When selecting teams to represent the country, it is not about individuals but about how people function as a group. The team I sent to Serbia had three members from Hayashi-ha and three from BKF. But some BKF members still felt I was unfair,' said Bakwadi.  However, he stated that Hayashi-ha has better karatekas than BKF. He said the championship will demonstrate why Hayashi-ha has better karatekas. The competition will feature both men and women teams. It will be under the bunkai format - the application of fighting techniques extracted from kata moves. BKF spokesperson, Bose Caiphus said Moses Jones and Vicky Majama who were favoured to beat Hayashi-ha's Kaene Kago and Ofentse Bakwadi respectively would not take part due to work commitments. Nonetheless, he is optimistic that there are karatekas from his style who will do the job. Caiphus said currently, they are concentrating on finishing tactics. He said in their male kumite side, Maano Legae and Ndiye Motswakae only started training last week. 'We, however, have a surprise karateka we believe is going to be an asset to the team,' he said. He vowed that their men and women teams will be victorious.

Meanwhile, chief instructor for the newly-approved Ryushin-kan, Andrew Dobolo said he expects a good performance from his side. He said that his style has not been concentrating much on the senior team but has been focusing on developing young talent. 'Our objective is to nurture youth, and some of our senior team members are instructors at clubs,' he said. Dobolo said starting next year, they would be recruiting seniors into the style. 'Some karatekas from other federations have started joining us because they realised we have something to offer,' he said.