Mariëtte van de Werken "What started off as a dream and distant vision of a young teenager has unfolded into reality," says Sensei Henri Eksteen, martial arts expert. Eksteen began his individual journey pursuing martial arts as early as 1978 and recently took a giant leap forward by branching off completely on his own within the National and International field of Karate Do art as well as the mixed martial arts. At this stage he is the only South African instructor ever to be accepted into the Martial Arts Masters Hall of Fame by its founder World President, Dr Ted Gambordella of Dallas, Texas in the USA. This great compliment came in recognition of 32 years of outstanding contribution and devotion to the promotion of the martial arts and culture within South Africa and on the African continent. Eksteen has developed his own unique Karate Do/Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) system which will function as The Africa International Bushido ("The Way of the Warrior") Freestyle Karate Do and MMA Institute, throughout the globe. Being the sole founder of this system and specific style, Eksteen has qualified for the title ‘Soke’, which in Japanese refers to being the founder of a system, and received his eighth Dan accordingly. He is also one of the first instructors in South Africa to develop his own unique system and go international with it. Eksteen has multiple Dan grading achievements behind his name, including a fifth degree black belt in Shorinjiryu, third Dan in Shotokan, first and second Dan in Freestyle, first Dan in WAKO and first Dan in Shukokai. Furthermore, Eksteen was recently nominated as the South African delegate for The World Kubokan Federation, a non racial democratic world wide organisation that enables karate do organisations to come together and host All Styles World Championships under the auspices of The World Kubokan Federation. "My mission will be to allow South African organisations whom are unhappy with the current world Karate governing bodies’ political ways and thus be direct strong opposition," Eksteen added. The World Kubokan Federation is also linked to The World Union of Karate Do Organisations. The World Kubokan Federation is growing rapidly world wide and will eventually be a force to be reckoned with in South Africa under Eksteen who is also the South African representative for various international Martial Arts organisations in the MMA fraternity. For MMA events, his organisation is affiliated to the South African Sport Combat Association whereby allowing his students to partake in sanctioned cage fighting/MMA events. With a long list of achievements and the will to go beyond national borders, this top instructor is set to continue to achieve whatever goals he has set for himself.
