Belts are part of our dressing, mainly for fastening. Others, especially women, use it as an accessory.
However, some belts do more than that. They provide access to trips outside the country for the holder and serve as ranks for others in society. Humu Yusif Ziba is passionate about sports, her zeal for this quest has enabled her to survive in a male dominated sport – Karate Do.
The bronze and brown belt holder has participated in many tournaments where she placed third. But for the West Africa Championship that will be held in September, 2023, she wants to bag gold for Ghana. The main challenge she identified with the sport is lack of funding. Because Humu is so passionate about the sport, she seeks sponsorship or supports herself to reach her full potential in this sport.
Being a proud Karateka (a karate practitioner), she learnt about Karate Do from a master from the Ramahatu Islamic school. Having an encounter with this sport has been a life-changer for her since 2004.
In an interview with Humu, she said, the sport has facilitated her travels to many countries. Three of these occasions were to represent the country. According to her, although per diem is guaranteed during such trips, it is the exposure that motivates her to participate in the games.
“We need a lot of support from the Government, we need to be out there. Karate is a good thing it equips you with self-defense skills and gives you the opportunity to travel outside the length and breadth of the world,’’ Humu said.
The sport has been lucrative enough to sustain her and given her a meaningful source of livelihood. Besides that, she trains children in the art of Karate Do to supplement her income.
Another Karateka, Edmund Amoako Asante, a third-degree black belt holder and gold medalist, doing Shito-Ryu (a form of karate) has been a practitioner since 2004.
Edmund Amoako Asante said in an interview that, “the sport has changed me big time, because I used to be shy.”
Humu and Edmund are not happy that some parents think the sport is for riff-raffs. Others consider the training too intensive and fear their wards may be injured in the process. This deters them from patronizing the sport.
Edmund is currently training for first place in the West Africa Championship. The Karateka wants to improve on his performance since he placed third in the last championship, a position he found disappointing.
Comparing francophone countries to Ghana, government support is meagre though their colleagues see them to be a force to reckon with and really talented.
Edmund reiterated that,” Karate has helped me to be confident, self-discipline, self-defense, have a meaningful job and I am always yearning to learn more. Mostly the foreigners patronize our services to teach their kids. Our charges are not high. For foreigners, per kid the range is from GH¢400 to GH¢500 a month and Ghanaians, from GH¢200 to GH¢300 per child monthly.’’
He concluded that, “Most of my colleagues fell along the line, but I kept on going and that has made me who I am today”
Whenever you spot a Karate Do teacher, call him SENSI and he will response OSS! Especially when he is training on his carpet (Tatami) in white robe or uniform called GI.
By Tenisha Darryl-Lartey|3News TV|3news.com|Ghana