22 May 2018

A Francistown-based Shotokan club called Yun Genius Karate Academy will send 15 karatekas to participate at the Zone VI Shotokan tournament in Gaborone over the weekend.

Six countries that will participate at the tournament are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa.

Speaking in an interview, the club’s leader, Sensei Otsile Motsamai said the team, which comprised of four boys and 11 girls were ready to battle it out for medals at the tournament.

Sensei Motsamai said the team was selected during a tournament that was held in Gaborone on March.

“They scooped number one position; hence they were selected by national team coaches to participate at this upcoming tournament,” he said.

Since establishing the Yun Genius Karate Academy in 2014, Sensei Motsamai has been successful with his charges. One of the karatekas, Patience Stevens, who is a student at Francistown Senior Secondary School, took position three overall in the Botswana Games last year.

Two of his students represented Botswana at a Shotokan tournament in Zimbabwe in 2016 and won gold and silver medals.

He also led a national Shotokan team to Mozambique last year where eight of his club members grabbed 11 medals.

Sensei Motsamai, who is a black belt Shotokan karateka, pointed that most of the members of his club were students from schools around Francistown and attended training sessions from Monday to Saturday after school.

He said the club had seen a rise in new membership motivated by the fact that there was no joining fee.

He said he worked closely with the parents of the karatekas and the local education offices whenever the kids who range between eight to 17 years needed to travel for competitions. Ends