Banda shares her karate knowledge with karatekas

POLOKWANE – The 20-year-old karateka from Polokwane is one of the longest serving members of the Henri Eksteen Fight Club. She joined the club in 2007 at the tender age of 13 years after she was recruited by her brother, Sbo Banda.

She says with all the knowledge she honed over the past years, she is ready to impart it on the upcoming karatekas in the country. The first-year electrical engineering student at Capricorn Further Education Training College could have chosen other sporting codes but karate stole her utmost admiration.

“Karate is not only a sport, but an art with lots of integrity and it was also an opportunity to learn life lessons. I could have chosen swimming, soccer or chess but karate was the sport for me. It has taught me discipline, humanity and boosted my self-esteem. I had low confidence levels when I grew up but karate helped me in that regard.”

Banda boasts over 30 gold, silver and bronze medals she won in various local and national karate championships over the past years.

“I am sempai now and I hold a black belt which is one of the top achievements in karate. I am unable to compete nationally and locally because I don’t have an opponent in my age category. I spend most of my time adjudicating and officiating at the tournaments. It was not an easy journey, it took me 11 years to achieve those accolades. I learned a lot from my grandmaster Henri Eksteen. I want to be like him in the future and I think I am ready to impart the knowledge I gained onto the young karate talent in the city,” Banda says.

She says she looks forward to the upcoming 17th Battle in the Bush Contact Karate Championship in Polokwane on December 4. “Unfortunately I won’t fight because I don’t have an opponent in my category, but I will officiate which is equally as great and it will enhance my karate knowledge.”