{"id":188607,"date":"2021-05-12T00:01:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T22:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=102390"},"modified":"2021-05-12T00:01:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T22:01:32","slug":"mapitiza-chases-the-next-level-at-african-judo-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/mapitiza-chases-the-next-level-at-african-judo-champs\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapitiza chases the next level at African judo champs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Madibaz judo exponent Lwazi Mapitiza will be attending his sixth African Championships in Dakar, Senegal, from May 20 to 23. Photo: Anathi Dzanibe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Madibaz judo ace Lwazi Mapitiza is ready to move up a gear when he competes in the African Championships for the sixth time in Dakar, Senegal, later this month.<\/p>\n

The continental event has been moved to Senegal after originally being scheduled for Morocco and will take place from May 20 to 23.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old, who is studying sport management, is fresh from a bronze medal at last year\u2019s championships, held in Madagascar in December.<\/p>\n

He said he wanted to move up a level with plans to \u201cchange the colour of the medal\u201d in Dakar.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was a milestone for me to have made it to the podium and since then I have been working hard to improve on that performance,\u201d said the Nelson Mandela University student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal will always be to go for gold, but, at the very least, I want to make the podium again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my opponents will be ready to challenge for that as well, so I feel it\u2019s going to be an interesting tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his preparations, Mapitiza, who will fight in the under-100kg category, said he had introduced some changes to take the step to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have adopted a slightly different approach to my fights this year and hopefully that will work going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe training has been quite tricky because of the restrictions during the lockdown periods when the gyms were closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of that, whereas previously I did a lot of strength work, this year I have focused more on my technique and it will be interesting to see how that works out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever he is faced with, Mapitiza knows it will come down to mental strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen fighters are close, this is the one thing that can differentiate you from the rest, so the mind is very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will work hard to make sure nothing disturbs my mental plan for the goals I have because any distraction will take away from your performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though these are his sixth African championships, Mapitiza said he was delighted to be in the South African squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing selected for any national team is a huge honour and wearing the green and gold at a prestigious event like the African Championships really means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Madibaz star paid tribute to his trainers Mthobeli Vena and Andile Bailey for their hard work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to thank the Nelson Mandela Bay Judo Association for all the support they have given me and my senseis for all the training we have done together \u2013 they have really helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His aim this year is to compete in several international tournaments to try to earn points in the world rankings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy aim is to get into the top 30 and the reason for this is the dream to become an Olympian,\u201d said Mapitiza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a new Olympic cycle and the more tournaments you enter, the better for your experience and exposure.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that obviously comes with a high cost factor so I am looking for sponsors to support me in my ambitions. Any help I get will be greatly appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madibaz judo exponent Lwazi Mapitiza will be attending his sixth African Championships in Dakar, Senegal, from May 20 to 23. Photo: Anathi Dzanibe Madibaz judo ace Lwazi Mapitiza is ready to move up a gear when he competes in the African Championships for the sixth time in Dakar, Senegal, later this month. The continental event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":188608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,3330],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-188607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-port-elizabeth","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/mapitiza-chases-the-next-level-at-african-judo-champs.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}