Malawi Kendo invited to SA championships
Malawi Kendo athletes have been invited to participate in the South Africa Open Kendo Championships between October 16 and 18.
Kendo Association of Malawi (KAM) president Austin Somba said they have accepted the invitation and they will select five athletes to represent the country.
“We are in the process of identifying our flag carriers. We, therefore, urge our athletes to work hard in training so that they can make it into the squad,” he said.
The competition will be conducted along with the Annual South Africa Kendo Federation Summer Seminar at Bryanston in Johannesburg.
Countries such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Reunion Island will take part.
Kendo, or the “way of the sword,” is similar to forms of fencing. Two contestants wearing armour to protect the face, chest, and arms confront each other with bamboo swords called shinai.
This art, which combines martial arts practices and sport-like physical activity, is said to have been brought to Japan from China more than 1 000 years ago. But the other theory says it developed from Japan’s own brand of fencing.
