Africa's Kyokushin Karate ambassador, Shihan (master) Bas Van Stennis, applauded Zimbabwean and world middleweight champion, Sensei (teacher) Samson Muripo for his great achievement at the international tournament held in Osaka, Japan, last month.Muripo who won the world middleweight championship title at the prestigious tournament, made history by becoming the first ever African to reach the highest achievement possible in full contact karate. Never before has Africa produced a world champion in the toughest form of karate, Kyokushin. Africa and Zimbabwe can be truly proud of its son Sensei Samson Muripo, said Shihan Bas.
To grasp the significance of his achievement, one has to understand that since the first International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan 1st World Karate Tournament in 1975, Africa has never produced a world champion until now! Sosai Masutasu Oyama, founder of IKO Kyokushinkaikan Karate, would have been proud of our fantastic accomplishment.
29 years after the great karateka, Sosai Masutasu visited South Africa in 1980, telling the world that Africa was capable of producing a world champion, Muripo proved him right.
Muripo who was full of confidence before he left the country for the world tournament told The Zimbabwean he saw nothing stopping me from achieving what I aim for as long as I’m not challenged to the level above my third dan grading and so nothing did.
Sensei Muripo has received the guidance and encouragement of Shihan Bas and Shihan Daigo Ohishi, who have for long entrusted him as a determined karate teacher in Zimbabwe.