The Sunday Mail
Sharleen Amoda
HER day starts as early as 6am when she wakes up, laces up her boots and goes for a routine jog around the neighbourhood.
By 7am she is back home, playing the dutiful wife and mother to her husband and two kids.
Then it’s off to the gym for some cardio and dojo training.
All this she does listening to a Christina Aguilera rendition of James Brown’s classic “This is a Man’s World”.
“I do everything listening to that song,” she reveals.
“I am not particularly a fan of Christina (Aguilera) nor am I particularly fond of the song, but to me the song is a reminder that I live in a male-dominated world and I have to work twice as hard to prove I am half as good.
“It’s not really fair, but that is the world we live in and it doesn’t help that I am in a male-dominated profession.
This is the world of Zimbabwe’s highest-ranked female karaketa Sharleen Amoda.
Her First Dan black belt in Kyokushin and Third Dan black belt in Shorin Kempo makes her the top-ranked female fighter in the country.
Born on August 18 1987, Amoda showcased to the world what she is capable of during last weekend’s inaugural All Africa So-Kyokushin Karate Championships.
Competing in the Open ladies category, Amoda came second in her debut international competition.
“Well, I have been fighting since I was a toddler and doing karate since I was nine years old.
“Under normal circumstances I would be a seasoned fighter, but unfortunately due to financial constraints I have only managed to take part in a few local tournaments,” said Amoda.
To date, she has taken part in three contests. First in 2003 at the City Sports Center, then in 2010 at a local invitational at Queen Elizabeth School and more recently at last week’s All Africa So-Kyokushin Championships.
“I am hoping the All Africa competition is the start of something special. The main goal is to follow in the footsteps of Sensei Samson Muripo and become a world champion,” she said.
While this may seem to be a Herculean task, there is a fire burning within Amoda, urging her on.
Bruised and battered, she wears her scars and injuries like a badge of honour.
“Sometimes it seems I have been fighting my entire life. As a kid I didn’t get on well with others and had a very short temper and I got into a lot of street fights.
“It was only due to some influence from uncles Lawrence and Fanuel Amoda that I decided to take up martial arts as a way of controlling my temper.
“I have many scars and bruises all over my body and once dislocated my thump, but what those injuries have done is to inspire me to do more,” she said.
Having been nurtured by the likes of the late Sensei Tito, Sensei Marange and most recently Sensei Muripo, her confidence is in abundance.
Amoda is set to travel to South Africa this month for another world invitational tournament and her aim is to get a gold medal.
“I have been training with Sensei Muripo and have found both his lessons and last weekend’s competition as eye-openers,” said the 28-year-old.
“I want to prove that women, just like men, can thrive in contact sports. Put women first and make history, that’s how I want to define my international career.”
