Crime fighters to be armed with Taekwondo

An ambitious programme by the Namibia Taekwondo Federation (NTF) and the Namibian Sports Commission (NSC) with support from the African Taekwondo Union (AFTU), could see police officers and members of the National Youth Service being trained as Taekwondo Instructors before March 2025.

“We had a discussion with Chief Inspector Kenneth Mwatara, the head of Sport and Recreation of the Namibian Police. He would like to see us taking this assignment to an estimated 1000 police officers in all the regions of the country. This project will be coordinated with the president of the NTF,” Freddy Mwiya, the Chief Sports Administrator of the NSC told a delegation led by Dieye Balla the Secretary General of AFTU.

Mwiya explained that the idea is to provide transportation and to have training sessions at the police college at a time when it is empty so that the facility can be utilised for accommodation. “I believe this is my project and commit myself to it. Before I retire, this project must become a reality in our country,” Mwiya vowed.

He said that having close to 1,000 police officers being trained at once, will ensure that the sport of Taekwondo grows in the Land of the Brave. “This will be a proper foundation for the sport and its future. The trained police officers can also provide training to police recruits.”

Mwiya added that he also intends to approach the Minister of Sport, Agnes Tjongarero about training members of the National Youth Service. “We have colleges and an estimated 2,000 members who need this type of training. Those recruits are usually available for six months and can be trained for one week. When they leave, instead of them looking for jobs, they can open Taekwondo schools as a source of income.”

Balla, a Taekwondo World Champion, seven times African champion and Olympic Games participant, said that he was happy to see the fruition of a process which commenced with discussions in Ghana, Accra during the All Africa Games. “ It is very important that we start something in Namibia and I am happy to be in the country to initiate, conduct and participate in the first training program. Taekwondo is an Olympic sport and it is used to educate (discipline) and protect (self-defence) the young. We are one of the biggest competitive sport codes in the world with 213 countries practicing Taekwondo.”

He emphasised that the program which saw various Taekwondo demonstrations with training sessions conducted for children at Hope Village and SOS Children Village in Windhoek, is only the first step. “It will not be the last for the NTF. We brought in three experts namely Gladys Njoroge (Botswana Coach and AFTU Women Commission chairperson), Manqoba Motsa (Eswatini Coach) and Phillip Molapo (AFTU Technical Committee Member and Olympic Referee) to kick start and strategise on the way forward of the process in Namibia. Next year, with the support of the national federation, we will return and bring some equipment for training the youth, military and members of the police.”

Sieggie Veii-Mujoro, the NTF president, welcomed the support from the international body and southern African countries.

Taekwondo is a combat sport which was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as Karate and Chinese martial arts. In addition to its five tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit, the sport requires three physical skills. Poomsae are patterns that demonstrate a range of kicking, punching and blocking techniques, Kyorugi involves the kind of sparring seen in the Olympics and Gyeokpa is the art of breaking wooden boards. Taekwondo also sometimes involves the use of weapons such as swords and nun-chucks.