Kakamega Karate Club has formed a junior karate club to train and nurture the talents of young children who are interested in mastering the sport.
The club targets children from the age of 5 years and above who will be engaged during the school holidays for 30 minutes to one hour from Monday to Friday at 5 p.m.
The Chairman of the Club, Wilson Mutende, said they are also teaming up with parents and institutions to learn how to groom young Karatekas who can compete in national competitions and even international encounters.
He said they will hold Karate clinics starting next year in a bid to popularise the sport in primary schools, secondary schools, TVET institutions, colleges, and even universities.
The Secretary General of the Kakamega Karate Association, Christopher Ouma, said that by next December, they will unveil the first of its kind Junior Karate Competitions, once they recruit many Karateka’s in the category.
He noted that the Junior Karetekas are trained by qualified and seasoned coaches to im
part them with basic skills.
A coach with the Kakamega Karate Club, Musungu Ngaira, says the training of Junior Karatekas fits in the Competency Based Curriculum in the sports category.
He says that in Karate, they train on three aspects, which include Kihon, which is how one executes techniques in the sport, with the second one being Kata that refers to movements where a person fights with a shadow opponent. The third training part, which is Kumite, is where a Karateka engages with a physical opponent.
A parent, James Nganga Maina, who has already enrolled her three children in the Karate club, said he is optimistic that her three girls will acquire skills and also be physically fit.
Source: Kenya News Agency