The Sunday Mail
IT goes without saying that Samson Muripo is not long for the sport of Kyokushin.
At 40, the Mutare-bred fighter has taken on the mantle of “Shihan”, a Japanese term for senior instructor.
With it comes a less hectic schedule. He spends more time teaching and spreading Kyokushin across the country and beyond.
“Apparently, there’s time for everything under the sun. I am sorry about that, but unless God brings another World Kyokushin Karate Championships in the nearest future, I won’t compete on the continent,” said Muripo upon winning his latest world title a few months ago.
Muripo will this week lead a three-men team to South Korea for the International Karate Kyokushin 2018 Dream Cup tournament, slated for November 25.
He has been entrusted with mentoring two promising fighters, Justice Mutyoramwendo and Patrick Mangwiro — who will be fighting in Lightweight and Middleweight categories — as the Zimbabwe Karate Union begins its search for the next big thing.
Given that all three men will be making their debuts in the Asian country, Muripo’s hands will be busy as the other two fighters bring two sets of challenges for the seasoned veteran.
Mangwiro has idolised Muripo for the larger part of his adult life and brings a certain level of pedigree to the table, having been introduced to martial arts at very tender age.
Born December 9, 1997; Mangwiro’s sojourn into martial arts first began with Taekwondo, largely due to his father Togarepi Mangwiro, who was an amateur fighter. “I started training when I was in grade six and back then I dappled a little in Taekwondo as my father was a fighter and he encouraged me to take up the sport as a way to stay fit,” said the 21-year-old.
“I did not care much for the sport as I thought it encompassed way too much dancing and lacked the contact aspect.
“It was only when I heard about Shihan Muripo that I decided to abandon Taekwondo and take up Kyokushin,” he said. Mangwiro approached Muripo and started training, turning professional in 2014.
During his four years as a professional, Mangwiro is following in Muripo’s footsteps and currently has an impressive resume, both locally and regionally.
Among those are a plethora of local fights like the All Africa Karate Tournament (three bronze medals) and a silver medal at the IKOKU International Full Contact tournament.
Off the mat, the Highfield-bred fighter is a personal trainer and a Sports nutritionist. Sadly, the same cannot be said about his counterpart, lightweight fighter Justice Mutyoramwendo.
The 20-year-old fighter has a more laidback approach to martial arts, having fought for only three years.
“Well, I took up martial arts largely due to peer pressure,” said Mutyoramwendo.
“Most of my friends used to train Kyokushin and at first I would be left out of group activities.
“That is why I decided to start training myself,” he said. However, he has gold medals at tournaments from the 2016 and 2017 Champions of the Champions, the 2017 Champs of the Champions and a silver from the 2nd All Africa Karate Tournament held last year.
Both boys are likely to make an impact in Korea. “We have been in camp for five months now, training hard and so now is the time to reap the rewards of all that hard work.
“I do not intend to go and simply make the numbers, I want to bring back a medal,” said Mutyoramwendo.
“Obviously there are nerves, but that is a feeling we get before every fight,” said Mangwiro.
“We have put in the hours, trained every day from morning until night and with God’s grace, we will bring back medals,” he said.
