It's BBotswana Defense Force training in Chinese Kung Fu.

Kung-Fu replaces guns at BDF
Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Staff writer

The Botswana Defense Force(BDF) seems to have learnt a bitter lesson during the brutal shooting of John Kalafatis in 2009.



That blunder may never happen again when the BDF finds themselves having to use guns. They have turned to the Chinese army to teach them marshal arts tricks so that when duty calls they would rather over power their victims with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and Drunken Master tricks than face the fury of the public for using guns on unarmed civilians.

So instead of multiple bullets that shocked the nation during the Kalafatis scandal, in the near future victims of the Police and BDF operations may be nursing blue eyes, broken arms, or bleeding noses and broken teeth, all thanks to the agility of the nunchakus, kicks and punches from our kunfu masters at the army.If the pictures from the BDF are anything to go by, even without guns, the BDF men could just be as effective. In one of their pictures taken at a training session and used in the army magazine, national karate champion Ofentse Bakwadi, now a captain in the army, is shown teaching tricks that include leaving the victim sprawled on the ground and helpless. The BDF is now busy establishing a new unit for instances such as these when they will have to face a situation similar to the John kalafatis one. The Monitor can reveal that through the BDF's Directorate of Sports Administration, the army is busy establishing an unarmed combat training team made up of martial arts instructors. The instructors were sent to training in China to impart their knowledge to other members of the BDF.

The aim is to train all soldiers, including recruit privates and officer cadets during their basic military training
Since President Ian Khama took over one of his initiatives has been to cause the army and the Police to collaborate in crime fighting missions, such as patrols, resulting in regular joint operations by the two institutions.

The Director of Sports Administration at the BDF major Montwedi simon is quoted in the army newsletter, In & Around, saying BDF officers and men may find themselves in situations where the use of weapons would amount to excessive force hence the need to use unarmed combat.

He said that is usually possible during Joint law Enforcement operations with other national security organs such as the Police. Major Simon says the use of guns could be perceived as excessive when victims are unarmed.