By Moses Nyirenda
Lilongwe, July 22, Mana: Lilongwe based man, Andrew Dimanja has indicated that through his Chinese Kung-fu Academy dubbed Daylight Modern Wushu Academy is committed to promoting the among children and youth in the country.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Monday in Lilongwe, he said he wants to change peoples perception about Kung-fu as some people believe that the sport was all about fighting.
“Some people believe that Kung-fu is there for fighting, for this reason I want to promote it and change peoples mindset about the sport,” Dimanja said.
He added that, with Kung-fu he wants to inculcate good health and the spirit of discipline among children and youth in the country.
Currently, the Martial Artist, 22 is providing the Kung-fu lessons to youth and children of five to 15 years age bracket with permission from their parents at a fee of K20, 000 per student.
Some of the lessons which he is providing include; flexibility exercises (tong zi gong), tai chi chuan, broadsword techniques (dao shu) and five basic stances (wubu chuan).
Dimanja who was trained by various Kung-fu masters including at Don Bosco Youth Centre and Kamuzu Institute for Sports in Lilongwe said that his dream was to drill children and youth that would represent Malawi during international Chinese Kung-fu championships.
He said he envisions of expanding his Kung-fu academy and reach to the standards of renowned China based Kung-fu schools such as; Beijing Tai-Chi and Kung Fu Academy so that his students would be invited to participate in international competitions.
The Artist encouraged more youth and children to join his classes and enjoy the benefits of Kung-fu sport.
“Kug-fu- has a philosophy whereby it teaches children good behavior such as respecting elders, it improves their mindset as well as making them to spend their time training which help to prevent them from roaming around that may lead them to start practicing bad behaviours.
“While for the grown up youth, kung fu is good for self-defense and it promotes good health, therefore I encourage youth and children to join my classes in their large numbers and benefit from it,” he said.
One of the parents whoe children are participating in the Kung-fu classes provided by Dimanja, Joseline Muhili applauded Dimanja for his lessons saying that it has helped her child to be physically fit, flexible and well disciplined.
Ministry of Youth and Sports spokesperson, McMillan Mwale hailed Dimanja saying that what he was doing was in line with governments efforts of diversifying various sporting activities in the country.
