Interviews with Martial Arts Leaders

-  Four participants of the 2024 African Women Martial Arts Leaders Workshop -

★ Professional Taekwondo Athlete / Taekwondo

Q1. Could you please briefly introduce yourself? 

Okay thank you. My name is Faith Ogallo Olympian. I represented Kenya in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that was held in Japan. I played Taekwondo and I'm also a woman who is practicing martial arts from Kenya. Currently I am an intern coach at Kibabii University, practicing Taekwando and I have enrolled in a Higher Diploma in Sports Science at another university in Kenya.

Q2. You have had an incredible career in international competition, including the Olympic Games! As an African women martial arts athlete, what are some of the challenges you and your colleagues have faced?

I love martial arts. I've been practicing martial arts for almost five years now. I've had a lot of challenges, and my team has also encountered a lot of challenges.

One challenge I would mention is gender disparity. Women are not so many in the Martial arts and you will often find that the men dominate the sport.  This is also reflected in coaching and training, where there is still a noticeable gap that needs to be addressed.

Another challenge is infrastructure. We have limited infrastructures for martial arts, which hinders our ability to train. Most of the facilities are located in the city, so those of us from rural areas must travel long distances to access training spaces. Many people prefer to train within their locations at the rural places, but the lack of centers in rural areas makes this difficult. This is a major issue. 

Financial constraints are another challenge. We have limited funding to support ourselves, attend international competitions, and participate in workshops. You know, when you're exposed, you learn more, build networks and advance in your careers. Unfortunately, you find that those opportunities are very limited not only in Kenya but also across Africa.

The government only sponsors athletes for two major tournaments: the Olympics, World Championships, and African Games. These tournaments are limited in scope and only a few countries in Africa have access to all the ranking tournaments and higher-level competitions, such as the Grand Prix. For instance, I had qualified for the Grand Prix, but I missed the opportunities to represent the country because of lack of funding. 

Another challenge I would like to talk about is cultural stereotypes. We find that some of the girls fear that when they do Martial arts, they won't be married which is just a stereotype because we have many, many women who are doing martial arts and married. I have learned this from my exposure to the sport and other practitioners. 

Lastly, there is a lack of martial arts centers in rural areas. Coming from a rural region where few people practice martial arts, its’ difficult to teach or train without proper facilities. Without these centers, it’s very challenging to grow the sport and provide opportunities for others to learn. 

Q3. What are some of the barriers that prevent young girls in your community from participating in martial arts?

Yes, if I had an opportunity to do martial arts when I was a young girl, I would have done it.  I started to study martial arts in my second year of university, around the age 21, because before that, I was doing basketball. Unfortunately, martial arts were not available in public schools. They were mainly offered in private schools and were centralized only in urban city. This was a significant challenge. Martial arts are slowly growing in schools but those who are teaching martial arts prefer to do it in private schools, which have the necessary facilities. However, I have been in public school and I have experienced the challenges. Public schools, especially in rural areas, lack both the infrastructure and the opportunity to practice martial arts. This creates a huge gap, as children in these public schools are underprivileged and do not have access to sports like martial arts. 

I think, if we get that empowerment opportunity like those offered by ICM, which provide us knowledge, education, and establish partnerships with organizations worldwide we could make a real difference. By collaborating and reaching out to schools in rural areas, we could help young girls, in particular, gain access to martial arts. I think we will be able to help young girls to get access to martial arts. The major problem is that they don't have access to martial arts or sports while they are growing up. And another hindrance could be cultural beliefs, as some view martial arts as a sport primarily for men. In my African communities, there is also a preference for European sports, which further limits the spread of martial arts. However, with education, empowerment, and better integration in to society, I believe martial arts can become widely accepted. Even in the western regions, where martial arts are still growing and new, the situation is improving. When I first qualified, very few universities offered martial arts programs, but media coverage-especially around the martial arts like karate, Krav Maga, and taekwondo- has spread the world and shown that martial arts are achievable for everyone. This led to a significant increase in interest, with participation growing by almost 20%. 

We're also facing increased competition. For example, when I was in university at Kibaba University, we used to dominate university games, winning all 16 gold medals-8 for women and 8 for men. Now we can only win about 5 to 8 medals, which shows that other universities in the region have picked up martial arts programs. I believe that if martial arts could be introduced in a university as a course to study in partnership with ICM and other organizations from Korea, it would be a great step forward.

Q4. What have you learned from this workshop, and how do you plan to apply the experiences and knowledge gained to your work?

I've really learned a lot in this leadership seminar that ICM have conducted and I'm really glad for the opportunity. I did not expect to get this chance, but as an athlete, who is passionate about Martial arts, I feel privileged to be part of it. Martial arts have helped me  overcome many challenges, and I would love for other girls and women to also get involved in martial arts.

ICM has equipped me with valuable knowledge and taught me how to ignite the fire within myself. Leadership starts from the heart - through passion. You must have that passion, and when you do, you connect it to your mind, and then your brain, and finally, you act. Once you do this, everything becomes doable; everything becomes possible. 

We have also launched first aid courses, which included high quality CPR classes. Additionally, we've learned about new martial arts such as Krav Maga, and practiced Taekkyeon, a traditional Korean martial arts. We also had the chance to learn about Korean culture, including cooking Korean dishes like Gimbap. It was a great experience to make  Gimbap and enjoy the food, while also immersing ourselves in the culture and having fun. 

We also visited villages in Chunju. We saw how the Korean people live and interact with each other. It was inspiring to see how humble they are, how they love and care for each other, and how deeply connected they are to their culture. It was clear that they promote peace and development in their country.

As a woman, I’ve learned so much about leadership, and I now believe that nothing is impossible if you have passion in your heart. I am committed to returning to my country and teaching every girl and woman that anything is possible. We must continue to move forward with determination and hope. 

2. Nankya Madina (Uganda)

★ Police Officer / Karate 

Q1. What motivated you to participate in this workshop?

Thank you so much. My name is Nankya Madina, and I’m from Uganda.

I am a police officer. What motivated me to attend this workshop as a woman in martial arts is that in Africa, it was so hard for me to pursue my career and dream as a martial artist. I encountered so many hardships, but I remained determined and motivated myself not to give up. I was able to break the barriers that I faced and became one of the first women in Uganda to achieve what was once considered impossible. I am the only qualified judge and referee for kickboxing, and the only qualified referee and judge for mixed martial arts in the Uganda Mixed Martial Arts Federation. Additionally, I'm the only woman in the Karate Federation of Uganda.

I thought about many women who really want to practice martial arts but are unable to because of the barriers that I also faced. I see this workshop as a great opportunity for me to learn about leadership so that I can inspire and motivate more women to achieve their goals and become who they want to be.

Q2. As a police officer in Uganda, what are the key challenges faced by women and youth in your country, and do you believe martial arts has the potential to address these challenges? 

As a police officer, the main problem we have seen women facing is gender-based violence. Women are severely harassed in my country. There are many cases being reported, but they often go unsolved. I see women coming to report cases of violence, but the cases aren’t resolved, and they end up resorting to violence themselves. Sometimes, you find a woman killing a man because he has been harassing her, and despite reporting it multiple times, she doesn’t receive justice. As a result, some women end up committing crimes. They are arrested and some are killed or sentenced to life imprisonment, among other consequences. Additionally, there is a major issue with social media misuse among the youth. They are are using social media in harmful ways, which leads to imprisonment for some, and even causes others to commit suicide due to cyberbullying.  And yes, I believe martial arts can help them because it teaches self-confidence, mental awareness and focuses on mental health. Through martial arts, I believe we can solve these problems by changing mindsets. There are a lot of issues, especially when it comes to women who are constantly harassed, often without having done anything wrong. This is due to stereotypes and gender-based violence. 

Q3. What are some of the barriers that prevent young girls in your community from learning martial arts? 

The first barrier is cultural beliefs. In Uganda there is a belief that a women’s role is primarily for marriage. From a young age, girls are groomed to become wives, and they are not expected to practice martial arts. They believe martial arts is for men and when a women practice martial arts, it is often seen as difficult for her to get married. Another barrier is the limited opportunities available to women. The opportunities for women in martial arts are very limited. As I mentioned, I am almost the first woman to overcome these barriers. Many people feel that if you practice martial arts, you won’t get anywhere. There are also limited opportunities for girls as they are often seen as weak, and incapable. 

Q4. What have you learned from this workshop, and how do you plan to apply the experiences and knowledge gained to your work?

I thought these problems were only in Uganda, but after interacting with my peers, I found out that they are widespread across Africa for women. So I felt like I really need to do something about it but I wasn’t sure how to begin. I ventured into leadership, but I really didn't know how and where to start. Now, I feel like empowered, and the first solution I see is women empowerment. I believe that by empowering women, girls and children, we can address the root cause of many of these problems. I also plan to engage the community and starting with my superiors, as I have recently been appointed the manager for the Karate team. I plan to appoint more women to the karate team as the first gesture that women are empowered but this feels like a very big achievement for me.

3. Nayombe Muliyunda (Zambia)

★ Founder of Girl Kicks Foundation / Karate

Q1. Could you please briefly introduce yourself? 

I am the founder of Girl Kicks Foundation, the national team coach for women in Zambia, and also the head coach at Titan's Gender Kaito. Most recently, I have been appointed as the Vice General Secretary of the Union of African Karate Federations. I am also a member of the Zombie Marshalls Federation.

Q2.What do you believe is the power of martial arts in addressing challenges, especially for women and youth in your community?

Martial arts teach us a lot of things and one of them is discipline, respect, being resilient and I think mastery because you repeat the movements several times. So for example, in my community and in my foundation, I use Karate as a tool for education. We mainly use it for the underprivileged girls. There's free education in Zambia but there's still some communities and families that cannot afford to buy uniforms, shoes and books. When we recruit the girls to train in martial arts, we set a goal: if they can stick with the training for three months and develop the discipline and respect that come with it- because martial arts is not easy- we know they are ready to go back to school. We believe that they will gain the discipline and resilience needed to sit down, read a book, and just continually focus on their studies mastering subjects like Math and English, and improving their reading skills.

So we use martial arts as a tool to keep them away from social vices like alcohol abuse, drug use, and early pregnancies. When teenagers or young people don't have anything to do, they often turn to negative influences, so we use it for that. I think this approach is very beneficial.

Once the parents or guardians see how the girls are changing, they become more involved. They come to ask what we’re teaching the kids, saying they’ve seen positive changes in their child.

Some of the girls that I have worked with have shown improvement in their schoolwork, passing exams and advancing to the next grade. I have students who have progressed from the 6th and 7th grades to the 10th grade. So there are many benefits to using martial arts as an educational tool, and I think it's a great approach.

Q3. What role can African women martial arts practitioners play in bringing about positive change in the community?

I think women in martial arts should be role models. I consider myself a role model. When I first training the girls, they would say, ‘Karate is for boys.’ I said, ‘No, it's not for boys. I'm not a boy you know, and if I can train, so can you.’ Seeing me in action motivated the girls to it themselves. They realized that there are women out there who can break barriers and thrive in a world that is predominantly male. 

We need more women to serve as role models to encourage young girls to train and to strive for greatness in everything they do, including education. I emphasize education because I feel it is the great equalizer. It doesn't matter where you come from. Once you attain education, you can break any barrier.

This also applies to coaching. Sport has become so technical that coaches need to continually acquire new knowledge. Once you attain education, then you can be anything you want. You can be a coach, a doctor, a lawyer. Education breaks the barriers and helps lift people out of unfortunate situations. Most recently over the past four months, I've been building a center. This center will be a sports education center. We are planning to have a library, a computer room, and more. Why a library and computer room? First, we want the kids to get back into reading books where they can gain knowledge from that. But we also cannot forget the fact that the world is changing, with AI and ICT becoming increasingly important. I believe they need to have access to this knowledge, because that’s the direction the world is heading.

But how can they do the computer survey if they don't have access to a computer? So, this center will be free for kids from underprivileged backgrounds. They will have free access to ICT education, reading resources, and basic knowledge to supplement what they are learning in their official schools. 

Q4. What have you learned from this workshop, and how do you plan to apply the experiences and knowledge gained to your work?

What I've learned is that the problems that women face in Africa when it comes to the stereotype of being a martial artist, are the same across the stories that I've heard from Kenya, Nigeria and Botswana. They are absolutely similar. I believe that if we come together and stand for what we believe in, we can create real change.

I love that the women that I've met here are driven to make a positive impact using martial arts. They are great women and I'd like to stay in touch with them. Together, we can organize events, collaborate on seminars, and share the knowledge we need to continue driving our passion and helping the younger generation.

4. Venisha Gooriah Jugnarain (Mauritius)

★ Educator-psychotherapist / Karate

Q1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and share with us what motivated you to participate in this workshop?

Hello Korea! I am Dr. Venisha Gooriah Jugnarain, from the beautiful island Mauritius in Africa. I am here because I was motivated to inspire other women to excel in martial arts and to show how martial arts can help you all to become the best version of yourselves. So keep shining all the women out there! Just like I got the opportunity to be here and martial arts can empower you to become your very best. Thank you Korea, for the opportunity and it is just the beginning.

Q2. As an educator with 20 years of experience in the field of education, why do you believe education, especially the physical education is important for children in Africa? or in your country/community?

Well, I started my career as an educator in 2004, when I was only 21.  Over the past 20 years, I've seen the evolution of students, and one thing that stands out is how important it has become for kids today to be more physically active than they were two decades ago. Why? Because that small rectangular thing, called the Smartphone is killing the essence of what it means to be human. We have to be human first. 

We all have 24 hours in a day, and if we subtract 10 hours for sleep, you have 10 hours where you have to be active. From that 10 hours, 7 hours are spent in class. So what do you do with the remaining hours?  

You need to go out to climb trees to do physical things because you know, according to great scientists, I'm not the only one saying it the evolution of human being is happening in such a fast way that we are losing our very essence of what it means to be human.

What is happening? Our muscle memory, which were meant to do movements, to do actions, to climb trees. What is happening?

We are losing that because we are not like a human this is a Robot. So be human, do action, do martial arts because martial arts help you to develop your focus, your social memory, your muscle memory.

And finally, you open yourself more to reality than virtually. It is very important to see the world in a very real way.

Q3. What are your thoughts on the physical education policy and curriculum in your country?

Well, in my country, children typically start to go to play school at the age of three.

At the age of three, they learn how to sing they will clap they will see colors they will understand fruit. They will start to develop socially, gradually moving out of the protective cocoon of their family. From the family cocoon, they begin to go out to interact with the outside world. From ages five to eleven, they are in primary school, where they typically have three hours of physical activity per week. However, if we count only the time spent at school, this is not enough. As they grow older, the focus shifts more towards academic subjects, leaving less time for physical activity.

This is why, from my point of view, I am advocating, I am passionately requesting, that we implement one hour of physical activity per day, not just one hour per week. When you tire yourself out physically, your focus improves. If children spend hours looing at their mobile phones and passively consuming information, their brain gets tired, and muscles weaken. So there is no balance at all. What you need to do is go outside, run, kick, and scream. Then, after being physically active, your return to class, calm down, and be ready to focus, listen, and absorb the best quality education

Q4. What have you learned from this workshop, and how do you plan to apply the experiences and knowledge gained to your work?

Well, this workshop has been one of the greatest learning experiences in terms of discovering, understanding, seeing and experiencing martial arts. Over these five days, we have gained valuable knowledge that will stay with us.

Five days might be a short time, but during these days, we have exchanged so much energy. We have also learned about different types of martial arts, how they can be applied in schools, and their benefits for children. 

For example, I have a Karate background, but through this workshop, I have seen how Krav Maga and Taekkyeon from South Korea are well-suited for growing children in schools. Why? Because they are not violent; they teach you how to defend yourself and maintain control. Taekkyeon is more like a dance. It is just like being in harmony physically and mentally with yourself. And this kind of training will definitely help in personal development. Understanding other cultures is what is important for our children. It is not enough for them just to notice differences or tolerate them. Tolerance is definitely not the solution. What is important is truly understanding, becoming part of it, applying what you’ve learned, acquiring new skills and sharing that knowledge. This is the secret to everything.