by Ontiretse Motingwa

Traditionally a dojo is a place for learning or meditation, most often in the field of martial arts, and the Mbada residence on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Mahikeng Campus have embraced this philosophy.

The residence recently hosted a women’s dojo at the Great Hall, where they invited boxing and karate sporting codes to give lessons to the ladies who attended on how they should defend themselves against perpetrators.

Gender-based violence, sexual assault, rape, and other crimes against women have increased over the past several years, and the statistics show that this trend is continuing. Taking this into account, Mbada residence sports officer Shanti “Chantell” Moraka thought about bridging the gender gap and empowering female students on campus through martial arts participation.

“People often think that heavy contact sporting codes are only for men, but female athletes can also excel in these sports,” says Shanti.

In addition to coming up with solutions for the problems that women encounter every day, Shanti noted that the celebration was also to honour female students for their bravery, fortitude, and achievements in completing their first semester successfully.

“As much as we can march and focus on petitions, we should find other mechanisms that women can use to help themselves feel safe, and I believe martial arts is one of the many ways to go,” Shanti concluded.

The women’s dojo hosted by the Mbada residence on the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus was a great success.