Otniel Hembapu
Windhoek-Namibia’s young karate sensation, Freddy Mwiya Jnr, returned home on Sunday from a successful training camp in Botswana, where he was vigorously taken through the ropes and shown the finer points of the martial arts by world-renowned sensei and African karate champion Shakes Bakwati.
Mwiya, an undefeated 9-time national champion in both Kata and Kumite, is a Region Five Kumite champion and silver medalist in Kata and continues to make waves on the local karate scene.
In karate, Kata is the choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs and the term Form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general.
Kumite is used to develop a particular technique or a skill and is the part of karate in which a person trains against an adversary, using the techniques learned from the Kihon and Kata.
Bakwati first took note of Mwiya during one of the regional championships in Botswana in 2012 and has since taken the young Namibian under his wing and continues to guide him through video-clips and training manuals.
In Botswana, Mwiya underwent intensive training. He would train for four hours in the morning and then another three in the evening. Not only was the training camp aimed at improving his personal prowess, but the young Namibian aims to make the country proud at next year’s Junior African Games in Algeria and the African Senior and Junior championships in Rwanda, with the hope of qualifying for the Youth Olympics.
Mwiya, who signed a four-year agreement with the Botswana sensei, which will see him receive all the necessary training ahead of various major games in the future, will return to Botswana in February next year for another training camp.