Canadian Karate instructor, Denis Houde, will visit Rwanda where he will lead a Karate training seminar that will take place at Ecole Notre Dame des Anges Remera, Kigali from August 18-20.

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Organized by International Gasshuku ISKF Rwanda, one of the Karate associations in the country, the three-day seminar is expected to attract over 200 Karatekas.

Houde is a seventh Dan expert in the Shotokan style of Karate. He last held Karate seminars in Rwanda in 2006 which is one of the reasons ISKF Rwanda chose to invite him again.

Sensei Eric Mbarushimana, the ISKF Rwanda spokesperson, told Weekend Sport that the Canadian Sensei arrives in Kigali on Friday, August 11, just a week before the seminar takes place.

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"The seminar is open to all karatekas in all categories from the white belts to dans. It is an honor for us to have such a renowned instructor like Houde with us. He had been here twice before in 2004 and 2006 and now, after 19 years, he is back and he was excited too for this chance of returning here in Rwanda,” said Mbarushimana.

Mbarushimana, who is a Fourth-Dan holder, is optimistic that the seminar will help to formalize the Karate Shotokan techniques in Rwanda, which he sadly says that some Karate clubs in Rwanda have been practicing a bit differently from the original one.

"When you look at the Karate Shotokan techniques being practiced in local clubs, it seems to have lost its identity and it is being instructed differently. With various clubs across the country invited to the seminar, I hope that Houde will help us to formalize the techniques so we can adopt the universal one,” he said.

Karate has four major styles developed in Japan, especially in the island of Okinawa. The four main styles are Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Shito-ryu, and Goju-ryu. Many other styles of Karate are derived from these four.

At least 40 Karatekas have so far registered for the seminar but registration is underway at Rwf20,000 to persons from white to brown belts, Rwf30,000 for black belt holders and USD30 internationals.

Houde will lead the sessions which Sensei Jean Vianney Nduwamungu, the Chairman and Chief Instructor of ISKF Rwanda will, among others, attend.

Karate, a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom of Japan, has steadily grown in Rwanda over the past three decades. In Rwanda, Shotokan and Wado-Ryu are the most common styles.

The year 2018 particularly left a mark for the nation’s Karate when Rwanda hosted the 2018 edition of the African Karate Championships. The country’s first ever gold medal from an international tournament was won by Maic Shyaka Ndutiye, a then 17-year-old Senior Three student who was at the time making his debut on the international competitive Karate scene.