Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WILFRED MASHAYA received a hero’s welcome upon touching down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport late Tuesday afternoon as the Kobudo weapons’ expert returned home from a successful trip to Poland.
The multi-award-winning and former world weapons champion was in the European state where he was honoured and inducted into the Poland Hall of Fame last weekend.
Better known as the International Budo Bushi Hall of Fame, the event was organised by the International Martial Arts Association and the International Self-Defence Association through their president, Grand Master Stanislaw Majchrzak.
Inductees were considered after having made a significant contribution to the martial arts way (bushido) and demonstrated great discipline and character.
Mashaya was one of the inductees who were drawn from countries like Romania, Israel, India, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Nepal, Turkey, Montenegro, Portugal, Ukraine, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Czechia, Indonesia, Switzerland, the United States (US), and Belgium, amongst others.
He was presented with the sixth Dan certificate in Kobudo in front of Grand Masters from around the world.
Speaking upon his arrival, Mashaya described his trip to Poland as a surreal experience.
“It was indeed an experience, there in Poland,” said Mashaya.
“I received a warm welcome from the organisers of the event, and they treated me very well for the duration of my trip there.
“You don’t always get that when you are in a foreign land, and just the way they treated us all was just something special.
“I was one of two Africans there (the other being a fighter from Egypt), but never did I feel out of place for one moment while there.
“The biggest surprise for me was the fact they actually went out of their way to show me that they do know me and have been following my work and reading about me.
“The night was a really eye-opening experience.
“We were united by martial arts, and I got the opportunity to mix and mingle with a lot of masters and grandmasters from all around the world.
“I absorbed as much as I could and parted with whatever knowledge I could.
“We were given time to do exhibitions, to show justification for the honour, and it was a really good experience for everyone present,” he said.
It has been quite an eventful last couple of months for the Kobudo fighter who only last August was in England for the English Open Tournament and brought home five medals (four gold & one silver).
In November he went on to win four more medals in Wales (Welsh Open 2024)— two gold and as many silver — and received a humanitarian award in Montenegro.
These and other previous achievements were among the reasons that Poland inducted him into their hall of fame.
Mashaya doesn’t seem eager to slow down as he revealed his plans for 2025.
“Funds permitting, 2025 is going to be a very busy year.
“We have a tournament we intend to send fighters that will be held in Columbia in March and another one in Malta the very next month.
“It all depends on our ability to secure funding for us to attend these two tournaments.
“Securing visas has been a challenge for us so far, and we are praying for a miracle that we get some sort of sponsorship to fulfil both trips.
“The World Championships are being held in Wales later in October, and I hope to send as many as 10 fighters.
“It is the main fixture on our calendar, the Kobudo World Championships, and I have already identified and started working with the fighters that we are grooming for big things in the future.
“The team has fighters as young as five years old and some senior open men and women, and the goal is to bring back lots of medals and represent the country well”.
