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Collin Matiza, Harare Bureau
THE Judo Association of Zimbabwe will today officially launch judo for the visually impaired by hosting a two-day coaching seminar at Rolf Valley Gym in Harare.

According to JAZ president, Smart Deke, the two-day seminar, which is scheduled to start at 10am, will be graced by three top judo instructors from Japan.

He said this was all part of their efforts to promote the sport in the country with one of their focus areas this year being the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Deke recently told our Harare Bureau that they were looking at equipping their coaches with the right skills before they can embark on the programme that will see them promoting the involvement of the visually impaired into the sport.

“We have a seminar on February 22 and 23. This programme is going to be run by international experts from Japan. We are going to focus on all schools for the blind because judo is trying to accommodate everyone in the coming 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. So we are now going around the country to promote judo for everyone,” Deke said.

This week’s two-day seminar will be conducted by International Judo Federation members from Japan — Kenichi Shoshida, Sensei Kubota and Maho Harada, the secretary-general for Sports for Tomorrow – and apart from a number of local coaches, it has also attracted three participants from Zambia and one each from Malawi and South Africa.

The three participants from Zambia are Mabvuto N’guni, who is the secretary-general of Judo Zambia, Humphrey Nyirenda and Malambo Malambo while Frank Msoliza and Sondisa Magajana will represent Malawi and South Africa respectively.

According to the International Judo Federation, judo is one of the few competitive sports that the visually impaired athlete can participate in fully without major accommodations.

Perhaps because judo has evolved as a martial art from ancient fighting systems, the blind athlete can attain a special sense of satisfaction from participating on an equal basis with sighted individuals.

In competition, both shiai and kata, blind athletes have achieved great successes against top sighted competitors.

World class competition for male blind athletes has also been available since the mid-80s when the International Blind Sports Association accepted judo as a Paralympic sport and for women beginning in 1995. The United States has achieved outstanding results in world class competitions for the blind such as:

l 1987 World Cup: two gold medals
l 1988 Paralympics: two bronze medals
l 1990 World Championships: one gold, one silver medal
l 1991 Kodokan Invitational: one silver, one bronze
l 1991 World Cup: one gold, one bronze
l 1992 Paralympics: three silver medals

Today, opportunities exist for local, regional, national, and international competition and training camps specifically for blind judo athletes.

While taking part in sports or competitions is a highly recommended pastime for everyone, such activities assume particular importance in the case of persons afflicted by physical or sensory handicaps.

Far and above the inherent objectives of all physical and sporting activities, it represents for them a means of escape from a sometimes sedentary existence and from the isolation often imposed by a disability. For blind persons and those with low vision, judo can be instrumental in (re)attaining independence of movement and in developing physical capacities which permit better adaptation to everyday life.

Judo can contribute to these objectives in three sectors: motor, psychological and social, the IJF said.

And JAZ have refused to be left behind in promoting judo among people with disabilities in Zimbabwe by hosting a two-day seminar for the visually impaired at Rolf Valley Gym in Harare today and tomorrow.