Story by Anashe Murombedzi
Multi-award winner and reigning martial arts Sportsman Sensei Wilfred Mashaya recorded a remarkable year, with his superb exploits in martial arts and weaponry putting Zimbabwe on the global map.
Through his academy the Zim Ninja, Mashaya managed to get all ages into the sport and the positive response has seen the sport developing in the country.
The season began on a high note after Wilfred Mashaya Junior, son of Sensei Wilfred Mashaya made waves within a short space of time following in his father’s footsteps.
Mashaya Junior took part in various international and Virtual Martial Arts tournaments and the 7-year-old was awarded the Youngest Most Achieving Martial Arts African Kid and Multi-Award Winning Medalist at the Spartan Hall of Warriors held in Rome.
Together with his father Sensei Wilfred Mashaya they were inducted and honoured in the Junior Warrior Category and the Gold Category.
The duo received Hall of Fame certificates, the Spartan Hall of Fame Trophy and medals.
The young Mashaya has become the African Warrior who now holds more than 15 medals.
As if that was not enough, Zim Ninja sent a 30-member delegation to battle for honours in the 2022 Virtual World Martial Arts Championship in India and bagged 46 medals.
Loads of medals kept piling up as Mashaya was honoured on the Montenegro coast at the Sixth World Humanitarian Festival of Martial Arts Award Ceremony as the Montenegrin Master of the Year 2022 Award and the 2022 Best Martial Arts Police Instructor of the Year.
He was also handed A Shihan Certificate in Self Defense by the World Federation of Martial Arts.
Mashaya set an admirable enthusiasm for martial arts when he also conquered Russia in 2016 and became the first black man in Africa to perform the Martial arts Weaponry renowned as Kobudo in Zimbabwe.
In August, a new Russian style of Ninjutsu was introduced in the country, with 50 participants taking their first stage of grading under the guidance of Mashaya who is the first Zimbabwean to hold a black belt in the discipline.
Mashaya has also ploughed back to the community by teaching self-defence to the vulnerable, including children, women and people with disabilities, with the noble gesture attracting the eye of the international community.
