ZIMBABWE martial arts expert Shihan Wilfred Mashaya, also known worldwide as the Zim Ninja, was honoured in Montenegro over the weekend.
He walked away with the Weapon Champion of the Year award at the World Humanitarian Martial Arts Festival. The prize was handed to him by Grand Master Predrag Lazarevic, the Festival Director.
Mashaya did not stop there. He also received two more awards. A Ninja Award from Poland. A Martial Arts Friendship Award from Portugal.
These honours mark his mastery of Kobudo, the ancient Okinawan weapon art. But Mashaya is more than that. He also fights in Ninjutsu, Kyokushin Karate, and Self-Defense. His skills have taken him across the globe, Russia, Spain, Italy, Germany, England, and beyond.
At home, Mashaya runs the Zim Ninja Academy. He trains children and adults. Girls and women too. He believes in balance—in sport and in life. Some of his students are already champions.
His record is long. World Champion. Hall of Famer. Zimbabwe Sportsperson of the Year. Regional Sportsman of the Year. Four black belts. And the man who brought Kobudo and Ninjutsu to Zimbabwe.
This year alone, his academy won five gold medals in England. In January, he was added to the Poland Hall of Fame Budo Bushi. Now he dreams bigger. In October, he hopes to take 20 students to Wales for the ICO World Championships. If the money comes, the team will go.
Mashaya was the only African master at the Montenegro festival. The theme was “Stop Suicide”. He called it a noble cause. A fight for life. He said the same spirit that drives a fighter through pain is the spirit needed to overcome despair.
