Online Reporter
THE death of prominent karateka and fitness trainer, Sensei Mugove Muhambi, who died in a horrific crash in Harare on Saturday morning, has touched a lot of people in this country.
Sensei Mugo, as he was affectionately known, died on the spot when the Honda Fit he was driving was involved in a head-on collision with a Toyota GD6 along Borrowdale Road in the capital.
There has been an outpouring of grief from across the nation and beyond our borders as the country mourns someone who left a huge mark on the local karate scene and transformed the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people, with his fitness training sessions.
Last year, he was elected the Zimbabwe Karate Union vice-president.
After years of doing business in the dojo, training others and competing, Muhambi was thrust into a very influential post in the administration of karate in this country.
It was in honour of his great contribution to a sport which places a lot of emphasis on discipline.
He said it was inevitable that after retiring from competitive action, the next step had to take him into administration.
Sensei Mugo said he had always wanted to lead, impart wisdom and knowledge to upcoming athletes using the experience gained as an athlete.
He said when one grows older and is no longer an active athlete, the only thing left to do in the sport one loves is to lead.
He was a fourth dan black belt holder and revealed that his passion was in getting a lot of youngsters to take up karate.
He said his hope was to bring in new ideas which would make karate get more recognition in the country and reach out to as many youths as possible.
He started practising karate (Seido Kan) at primary school with Shihan Misheck Chiwayo as his Sensei.
Mugo later switched to Kyokushin, which is a full contact style, under the watch of Shihan Tendayi Marange.
From there, things started to roll with medal after medal and trophy after trophy and he became a fourth dan black belt branch chief for Kyokushin Kan.
It’s sad that Sensei Mugo died before he could fulfill his vision to transform the sport of karate in this country.
He had a lot of ideas which he wanted to implement but all that is now gone.
But, he will never be forgotten both in the karate and fitness trenches.
He was always a symbol of love and with many of the monyas having crafted a reputation as people who bully others and even harm them, Sensei Mugo was cut from a different cloth.
He was a humble man despite all his achievements as an athlete and an A-List client base, which he trained in his fitness classes.
Both the local karate and fitness constituencies in this country have lost a pillar of strength.
Bongani Ndlovu