From his wheelchair, this karate trainer is making a huge impact

Latwell Nyangu

HARARE karate trainer Brian “Tiger” Chikara says being wheelchair-bound does not stop him from fulfilling his passion of training aspiring athletes.

The 39-year-old sportsman has been mentoring several trainees from his wheelchair.

His residence in Glen View is always filled with trainees of all age groups.

Chikara’s journey started without any disability but, as fate would have it, he had an accident at work.

H-Metro held an exclusive interview with him.

“I started training in karate in 1996, when I was in primary school. I just grew up in love with karate.

“People gave me the nickname Bruno or Tiger, the karateka,” he said

Tiger said he does not regret the decision he made to become a karate trainer.

“Around 2003, I started attending tournaments in Budiriro.

“The first tournament ended in a dispute before we had another one in Mbare, in which I came number two.

“There was a lot of cheating before I stopped attending tournaments,” he said.

Tiger said he got more exposure when he participated in a tournament in South Africa.

“In 2006, I went to Cape Town for a tournament in which I fought well.

“When I got into the semi-finals, I developed a knee problem after it twisted.

“I came back trophy-less while my other colleagues, including Sensei Admire, won.

“I went back again to Cape Town in 2014 when my leg had improved.

“I thrashed my opponent since I did not want to take much time fighting an opponent and I was disqualified for being too ruthless.

“Since then, I stopped doing fights, now all the juniors I trained have won trophies.

“I was the only one who never got a trophy and I felt embarrassed.”

Tiger said he started grading in 2014 after gaining more experience.

“In 2016, a Japanese Karate International practitioner came and he graded me with Second Dan at Morris Depot.

“In this stage, you have to fight 20 men, one after another. Some would be graded to third dan.

“I completed mine and excelled.

“It’s like I had fought over 40 men along the stages.”

On how he ended up in a wheelchair, Tiger said:

“For me to be in a wheelchair, an accident occurred at work.

“It happened last year and from August to December I was in hospital,” he said.

As a way of nurturing young talent, Tiger has since started a karate academy.

“We have registered an organisation called Kyodokushini Karate and one of the senior guys Ranch Jamali, a fourth Dan black belt, is chairman.

“He is among the pioneers of karate in Zimbabwe around 1980.

“The organisation attracts athletes from all parts of the country. I have people I trained, some of whom I started training around 1998.

“We are targeting everyone.

“This helps in different ways because many people are suffering from strokes.

“I do this almost every day. The youths come here every time. This is what I do since it’s my passion to train karate,” he said.

Tiger said karate helps to deal with different challenges.

“To me, karate is life, it gives confidence to people. If you get a problem, karate gives a solution.

“If you meet an enemy, you find a solution, that’s what karate is for.

“Karate enhances the brain, it teaches you to be ahead of your enemy. We build people’s minds.

“We are also keeping the youths away from drugs. It’s part of raising awareness as well as instilling discipline among the youths.”