Out of over 20 karate teams participating in the seventh edition of the Ambassador's Cup Karate Tournament, held on Saturday, March 15, at the NPC Gymnasium in Remera, Champion Sport Academy and Agahozo Shalom emerged as champions in both 'Kata' and 'Kumite' presentations. The Embassy of Japan in Rwanda, in partnership with the Rwanda Karate Federation (FERWAKA), organised the competition, which consisted of Kata, where players demonstrated combinations of various techniques, and Kumite, where two players fought against each other. At the ceremony, Minister of State for Sports, Rwego Ngarambe, highlighted how Karate can boost Rwanda's sports industry, boosting sports tourism, and improving athletes' livelihoods. Damien Niyongabo, the president of the local Karake federation, FERWAKA, officially launched its software, a database holding personal data to identify all karate practitioners in the country. As we prepare to attend the African Karate Championships in July, it is helpful to have all identification information for our members to plan for the future consistently, he said. ALSO READ: Rwanda's Commonwealth silver, bronze medals signal 'so much potential' The Ambassador of Japan in Rwanda, Isoa Fukushima, expressed his gratitude to FERWAKA for its efforts to promote Karate in Rwanda. He highlighted that karate is easy to practice, which is one of the reasons why there are so many people practicing it in Rwanda, a country that is far from Japan. We noticed the rising level of Rwandan karate practitioners. In fact, at the Commonwealth Karate Tournament held in South Africa, Rwanda showed us how capable they are at the international level, he said.
