Highflying Zimbabwe Republic Police martial artist Wilfred Mashaya was recently crowned and presented with the 2018 International Master of the Year Award during a ceremony hosted by the city of Podgorico in Montenegro.

The award becomes the third high-profile international accolade to be claimed by the pint sized but talented Morris Depot cop. Mashaya’s first major achievement was the 2017 Russia Gold Medal Award, which he scooped, becoming the first African to win the World Kubudo Championship. His second honour was the 2018 Barcelona Hall of Honours award that was presented to him in Spain.

While in Montenegro, Mashaya was the only African representative who attended a ten-day training seminar on security, self-defence and Ninjitsu that drew about 120 participants from all over the world. Predrag Lazrevick; the 15^th Dan Ninjutsu, highest-level expert was the host and trainer.

After the seminar, Mashaya took part in an exhibition and was adjudged the Best Participant at the Third Humanitarian World Festival of Martial Arts overcoming a host of other athletes from Germany, Serbia, Portugal, United States of America, Bosnian Herzegovina, France, hosts Montenegro among others. The festival presented a platform on which a total of 40 participants were afforded an opportunity to showcase martial arts styles and skills in Kubudo, Karate, Ninjitsu and self-defence.

He believes the sky is not the limit but the beginning of great things to come.

“At first in 2016, the environment was frightening but now used to the situation. The good thing is that Martial Arts unify people and each time we converge for a tournament, we are now more of brothers and sisters. Some call me by my first name while others Zimbabwe.

My wish is to work even harder and continue winning accolades for the country while promoting the sport was once a preserve for whites mainly from Asia, Europe and America locally and in the entirety of the African continent”, said Mashaya

Mashaya said his vision is to become an international actor featuring in action-packed films and has great respect for the legendary Bruce Lee; a martial artist and actor whose inspiration has taken him this far.

Apart from personal glory, Mashaya believes with the rich reservoir of knowledge and skills gained from the international martial arts exposure, he has a duty to plough back into the ZRP by imparting self-defence tactics to fellow police officers since they at times deal with dangerous criminals.

For Mashaya to get this far, the Zimbabwe Republic Police has been sponsoring him since 2016 while Rio Zimbabwe made the 2017 trip to Russia possible through Zimbabwe Karate Union.