- Recognise it for promotion of peace, which drives it
THE ideal martial artist is cast as an upstanding citizen, a humanitarian, invoking Knights and Samurai or philosophers of Ancient Greece as experts in wrestling as they were in logic, despite, according to historians, being largely murderous mercenaries rather than valiant gentlemen.
With significant justification, some have also attempted to recast the Ngoni commander Nsingu, who fought Rhodes and the colonising forces in Zambia, as such a martial hero.
This echoes a similar admiration of Shaka Zulu’s victory over colonisers, held throughout Africa.
However, discourses ignore the suffering of those under these great men.
After attending a mixed martial arts class and then heard a Copperbelt University lecture on ‘Family and gender-based violence (GBV)’, I started reflecting on the male-dominated nature of this seemingly violent sport.
Family and GBV is a widespread problem, even here in peaceful Zambia.
Statistics have shown that rates of family and GBV have risen, despite the commitment by Government to address the issue through a landmark Anti-Gender-Based Violence Act 2011.
In fact, according to reports from Government and non-governmental organisations, Zambia has reported some of the highest rates of GBV in southern Africa.
Of course, family and GBV is a product of a specific cultural and moral outlook, namely that women and children should be controlled through physical force.
This could be seen as a reinforcement of patriarchal values by further concentrating power in the hands of men.
In terms of martial arts, they are really about the honing of violenceand the moulding of unruliness into discipline, focus and purpose.
A martial artist is supposed to be capable of violence, but holds back.
At Buchi in Kitwe, the mixed martial arts team, the Kopala Warriors, has in fact started a campaign against GBV on a weekly basis.
For some, it would seem paradoxical that the difficult and sensitive work of GBV prevention, requiring trauma – and feministinformed practice – was being
addressed by what some would see as the martial arts known for, among other things, its violence as exemplified in cage-fighting.
Currently, martial arts are spread throughout the country, with clubs for martial arts such as taekwondo, judo, wing chun, karate, boxing, Brazilian jiu jitsu, and mixed martial arts.
According to coaches of such clubs, martial arts, much like sport, is meant to be a positive outlet that ameliorates violence in society.
For Master Jathel Simwinga, for example, Zambia’s national taekwondo coach and founder of
the Zambian Taekwondo Cadet Academies, the greatest strength of martial arts, is its positive impact on both himself and others.
Students without means have been able to apply for scholarships,competing overseas, break records
and win medals for Zambia. For Master Jathel himself, martial arts provided a community of respectful equals and helped him channel his violent behaviour that once made him infamous among family and schoolmates.
Further, Master Jathel finds that it mitigates interpersonal violence and so opines that the discipline instilledcan help create an even more
peaceful Zambia.
In his work as a coach, he also seeks to dispel the fear of some that martial arts are ‘unchristian’ or even ‘witchcraft’.
Instead, he contends that martial arts help to raise the level of discipline in his students, who sometimes emerge as role models.
In agreement is Malachy McAllister, head coach of Kopala Warriors, the first mixed martial arts team on the Copperbelt.
Coach Mal, as he is called by his students, speaks emphatically of martial arts.
Growing up in Northern Ireland during a conflict with the British, and despite the violence of society around him, he found peace through boxing as a child and, later, through martial arts involving freestyle fighting.
After years of hiatus, he indicated that martial arts became central again to his family’s life after moving to Zambia.
In agreement with the traditional Asian martial arts of Master Jathel, Malachy holds dear the same traditional values, discipline and morality.
Many of coach Mal’s students were once unruly bar brawlers, unemployed and/or struggling through life, but after continual interventions alongside Master Jathel, he was able to help them find a better path.
In short, martial arts should not be seen purely as a promoter of violence but, instead, should be recognised for promotion of peace, which drives it.
The author is a visiting Australian PhD student at Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Copperbelt University.