A local martial arts studio has embarked on a mission to aid residents with the highest of form of martial arts training to equip them with self-defence in tough situations.
Based in Sunninghill, QuanWessels Martial Arts began their community-based initiative called Tribe Martial Arts Foundation. It has expanded into a programme that provides women and children from areas such as Diepsloot, Alexandra, Orange Grove and Uthando, with high-level martial arts.
The programme deals with anti-gender-based violence for women and anti-bullying for children, which sees attendees taught self-defence and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu to mitigate serious GBV issues in their areas.
Director of the martial arts studio, Norman Wessels says there was a need to start the NGO due to the unfortunate levels of gender-based violence in communities around the country. “While a prevention approach is always preferred, we need to equip our women and kids with the tools to defend themselves. The foundation’s structure also provides opportunities to combat other social issues such as unemployment as the long-term plan is for benefactors of the programme to ultimately open their own businesses in their communities,” he said.
“We are mentoring ladies with leadership potential to become female coaches of a high standard to be able to start small training groups or schools within their environment to teach and coach self-defence and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in their respective areas, as well as the added benefit of running small martial arts school businesses.”
He added that community members can get involved with the NGO through funding. “We require monetary funds to keep this foundation going and help it grow. We have two main ways that community members can donate. Personally, they can donate a single amount or a subscription donation. We also are open to corporate donations and sponsorship,” he said.
QuanWessels will be having a number of events which community members are encouraged to join and attend, such as their weapon retention and disarming seminar on December 3. Other upcoming events at QuanWessels include their sixth and final in-house/affiliation Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament on November 26 and a blackbelt grading ceremony on November 11 where the Tribe Foundation will be involved as well.
“We are also raising funds to help some of our amateur athletes compete at the IMMAF (International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) World Championships taking place in Abu Dhabi towards the end of January 2023. We firmly believe that they have the potential to take gold and raise the profile of South African MMA on the global stage,” he concluded.
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