Sports Commissioner Inaugurates Italian -Built Dojo

The Rivers State Commissioner for Sports, Boma Iyaye has inaugurated the  world-class dojo in Port Harcourt built by Chief Marco Purgatorio, an Italian and board member of the  Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN).
Tidesports source gathered that a dojo is a hall or school where martial arts are practised.
Represented at the inauguration yesterday in Port Harcourt  by the Permanent Secretary in the  Ministry of Sports, James Enebeli, the commissioner  said the dojo was “ a giant stride achieved by a sacrificial heart.’’
“It takes the heart of somebody that sacrifices to assemble dignitaries as we have here for an occasion like this.
“So, I congratulate Chief Purgatorio for this giant stride because it is not easy for even indigenes to develop a gym and dojo such as this.
“It shows the level of love you have for sports development because this is coming from an individual, a sacrificial heart,” he said.
According to Iyaye, sports  is not like road project that if you commit a billion naira, you would see the road, but you can even commit N2 billion into sports and you will begin to wonder where the money has gone.
“As a ministry that is conferred with the opportunity to enunciate policies and coordinate sports in Rivers, we assure you that in any area our attention is needed, we will not fail to step-in to ensure that the gym gets to another level,” he added.
Dave Jegede, the Technical Director of KFN,  said the dojo  is one of the best in the world .
“In karate, a full mat is eight by eight meters and may be two extra meters for safety areas and this dojo is eight by eight meters.
“It has a serious component for karate and martial arts  training which is the conditional aspect.
“When you take a look around, you will see the gym;  that gym is complete with all types of muscular articulation training, flexibility training and cardiovascular training,” he said.
The technical director also commended Purgatorio for rendering assistance in martial arts and strongly supporting the federation  in karate.