By Nikeisha Adams
“KARATE is not just about violence; it is a way of life and helps with discipline and self-control,” says Sensei Nadia Rohoma, who is the president of the Guyana Karate Association (GKA). This ambitious 32-year-old single mother, who has been a Sensei for 10 years, is also a representative of the World Union of Karate-Do Organisations (WUKO). Additionally, Sensei Rohoman works as a Refractionist at the Diamond Optical in the City Mall.

Rohoman told the Pepperpot Magazine that many people have the wrong ideology about karate. She, however, explained that karate is not merely focused on fighting, but teaches one to have discipline and self-control. “A lot of people run away with the wrong idea about karate. People would ask, ‘What is the sense of learning karate when I can go and get a gun?’ But that makes no sense because karate is not just about violence,” she said.

Sensei Rohoman started to practice karate at the age of seven. When asked what motivated her to start practising karate, she replied that she wasn’t given a choice; it was a path that her parents chose for her. Despite this fact, however, she said that she grew to love karate as it became a way of life for her.

Sensei Rohoman is an international karate judge and referee and has been nominated for national sportswoman for three years, but did not receive this position due to misplacement of documents. However, the karate body proposed a national award for the Sensei to make up for this loss. She was awarded a national karateka. “I held both female senior and junior [positions] for more than a decade,” she said. In addition to her positions, Sensei Rohoman was awarded silver and gold medals at the International Shotokan Karate Federation /Japan Karate Association Pan American championship (ISKF/JKA). She is also an international karate judge and referee.

The karate expert is also now an instructor at the Guyana Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO, after being approached by the MYO which requested assistance in teaching some karate classes to some children. According to Sensei Rohoman, the organisation felt that youths in society have lost discipline and respect for persons thus, they felt like practising the sport would help in this regard. She stated that thus far the classes have been successful.

Sensei Rohoman stated that she teaches karate classes three days per week, for one hour, to prevent karate from affecting the performance of their academics. “The reason why I do it on that small range; I don’t want it to hinder any the of kids’ school work,” she explained, adding that she respects and understands the importance of education.
Asked what are some of the challenges that she faces in her position she said, “It has never been hard because I have always been in this [practice of Karate],” she explained. She says, however, that she faces challenges with having cooperation since martial arts is a male-dominated sport.

OTHER VENTURES
Working as a Refractionist, Rohoman explained that she was motivated towards this field, due in part, to a comment made by a classmate in high school. She explained that when she attended high school one of her classmates commented to her that “Athletes and Sports stars have no education. They are not smart; all they can do is get by their ability to do sports.” She explained that this comment stayed with her throughout the rest of her life, especially during that time of her young adult years where she had come to lose some interest in karate.

It was at that time that she had begun to question which professional field she would be interested in. Subsequently, with the help of a friend, she applied at the University of Guyana to pursue her Diploma in Optometry.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that after she had sent in her application to the University of Guyana, she was accepted. She also added that at the beginning of the programme she was not much interested in Optometry since she had no clue as to what it entailed.

However, when she was given an opportunity to have a hands-on experience in the field, she began to love it. “A patient could come in here with all loss of hope, they can’t see, and you just speak to them and you are able to help them out,” she said. Rohoman explained that some people may not have patience in this field of work but thus far this field has been very satisfying to her. She also added while studying and working, she would always remember the comment of her classmate and that it was that comment which had made her more determined to pursue her education.

Rohoman had planned to, later on, pursue a Degree in Refraction but took time off to care for her son and ailing father. When asked if her children also practice karate, she replied, “My older son never understood why mommy is that popular. He tended to drift away from it when he was smaller,” she said. She, however, explained that her son is now practising karate, adding that her reason for not pressuring her son into the sport was because she was pressured by her parents to do karate.
She said that she could have been more successful in the path of karate but she ensured that family life was more important.