 Good afternoon and welcome back to the touchline on Y25, my name is Maxwell Waseke, we are now three on the set and our guest has joined us in the name of Michala Baraza, she's a bodybuilding athlete and we're going to speak about the development of bodybuilding as a sport. It was in the village of public domain some time back but it is standard dwindled in between what happened, of course we will be getting into that to see what happened and going forward what is the expectation like in terms of revival of the sport that you know a few people are passionate about. Good to see you, Christine. Lovely to see you, Celestine. Celestine, oh my goodness, because I'm getting problems pronouncing Michala. Michala Baraza, I actually quite like Michala Baraza. It's a good name, a very beautiful one. Thank you. How is it like outside there though? Bodybuilding wise? Yes. It's tough, it's extremely, extremely tough. We just completed our last tournament of the year last Friday, it was supposed to be held on Saturday but turns out with the presidential address we couldn't hold it on Saturday so it was rushed and we did it on Friday evening. By the standards it was a success, like we did our best, it's called the annual Kamukunji annual talent search. It's done by this bodybuilder called Christopher O'Keech, he's the world's strongest man in Dubai and Kenya and he's also a bodybuilder who's performed very well in the international bodybuilding association competitions. How was the talent search? Did you get a few people the upcoming potential? Definitely, definitely. It was very beautiful, like it was a lot of talent considering the short time span and considering the pandemic times. The guy that won is I think 26, a 26-year-old guy and he packs a lot of muscle for his age and for his physique. He's I think at most five foot seven and is in the 90 kgs. I wish I could show you a picture. He's actually very big and very good. So I know Ken is wondering, because bodybuilding is not a sport meant for, there's a perception that it's a sport meant for men. You sought to demystify this myth by joining the sport. What was the driving factor, what's the inspiration behind you starting to love bodybuilding as a sport? So this is a question for Ken. No, maybe we read it on the same screen. I come from, I always come from a place of what is it that I cannot do. Like the human body for me is limitless. So you cannot just tell me, by the way I'm an advocate of the High Court of Kenya by profession. So what you guys call a lawyer, those are two very different things, but that's a story for another day. And most of the time they'll tell you a lawyer cannot do ABCD. A lawyer cannot be seen walking on stage in what is most likely just their underwear. And for me that was actually one of the motivating factors. I was like no, you can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you want to be. But the fact that it's a very masculine sport, it's really not about just how we've been conditioned to think. Because women are a bit scared to get on stage in their underwear. But when you think about it, there's nothing big to eat. My inspiration has always been what a man can do, a woman can do better. And what is it that I cannot do? But there's a lot of things that women can't do or I can't do as a person. But if there's something that I can put my foot out there and try my hand in, I will always try and poke that hole as long as it's of interest to me. Ken? My question to you would be, you said you're a lawyer and you're also into bodybuilding. And both of these things require complete immersion into the trade. Law is very serious and bodybuilding, to follow a routine daily is very serious. So sometimes you have to pick one of the two and if you have to pick one, which one would you say this is my go-to thing, if it's law or bodybuilding? So let's start by saying law pays my bills. Law enables. So any day, any time, I'm sorry bodybuilding community, but any day, any time my fallback would always be the law. But that being said also, you being in sports and you being a player as he has said, you know training maybe is two, three hours a day. You're up 12, 13 hours a day. The rest of those hours I'm doing my law thing. I'm doing whatever my side hustle is. Because bodybuilding does not take your whole day and that's the other misconception people have that you'll be the whole day in the gym. No, it's not humanly possible for me to be the whole day in the gym, but it's possible for me to take two hours out of my day. There may be one hour that my friends go out drinking and the other one hour that they spend in bed. I take that one hour for the bed and the one hour for drinking and I immerse it into something that I love. And that's how I balance the two. So you don't drink. Well... You won't disclose publicly. No, we'll talk about it anyway. We'll talk about it off the set. So has it been like in terms of the experience and journey since you joined this sport that needs and relating commitment and in terms of journey, the experience, has it been very difficult, the challenges you've come across and even the beauty about it? When I started, I really struggled. I really struggled with the balance and I also really struggled with where I draw the line of what people say and who's going to give me support. And initially when I said bodybuilding I never used to put... I would never come to this platform and told you I'm an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. That was always out of the question. So I used to treat them as two complete opposites and that's one thing I struggled with for two, three years. Then after I gelled into it and the legal community started being accepting towards my bodybuilding journey because I'd been consistent, it became easier. Commitment wise, I will not say the struggle was too much because it's something that I've actually liked doing and the beauty of the journey is actually what you were just talking about with you before I came on set. The competition in India. So I go to this competition. I am the only person with black skin and tough hair in the whole room. Everyone else is light, white and even the dark Indians don't have this kind of skin. But you get on stage and you do your thing because you're given one minute. I did my one minute, I did my posing, I had practiced, I had dieted, I had gotten my suit, I had gotten my shoes and I came in second. Which was a very big deal for me, a very big deal for my gym and actually a very big deal for Kenya if you're listening to this, I'm in a Mohamed. It was a very big deal for Kenya and I feel that is one of my highest moments in bodybuilding because it was something that I did for myself, for my gym and for my country like it was good. So after girl and show overseas in India during the international competition where you say you are probably the only African who was taking part in the competition did you feel appreciated having back the medal of course a margin second overly? By the country? Yes. No, by my gym very much. Why not by the country? Because you know me from social media so I'm not asking you. Did you know I had a silver medal in India? No. Exactly. That's exactly why. Like there's a very small crop of people that one know about bodybuilding, two know about women in bodybuilding and three know about even the international competitions that bodybuilders go to. So I guess it's just what it is for a lot of women in sports. That's just what it is. We want better. We hope our sports ministry does better but no I did not feel. By the country no. By my gym, by the pole in bodybuilding very much appreciated. Good. And the question is has there ever been a private person who's like walked in and said I'm going to support something between all the gyms or it's just every time there's a competition you guys look to the government or is there a private body or investor who does, who shakes things and makes these things happen? Aha. So that is the question I was actually waiting for. For me all the competitions that I've gone to have been supported by my coach in my gym. So my gym is called Ultra Fitness Gym. It's in Kilimani. Any time I go for a competition anywhere be it local, be it international they'll brand me, they'll pay for my ticket they'll pay for my supplements, they'll pay for my training like they'll make sure I actually go out there and do my thing. And it's like that with a lot of bodybuilders. The competition that we just completed in Kamukunji, the guy is sponsoring six athletes I believe to go and compete in Romania. And this is one of those things that I wish and I feel that the sports ministry should be looking at and saying actually these people are going for an international natural bodybuilding competition because there's a lot of issues around doping in bodybuilding and probably that's one of the reasons why the sports ministry might not want to associate itself with a lot of bodybuilding but this person is taking people to a natural it's actually called the International Natural Bodybuilding Association. So this is where they can come in and actually help Chris with some of the sponsorship for these athletes. There's been a concern over existence of briefcase federations in the country. Lack of activity has been witnessed from Kenya bodybuilding federation. I don't know where you sit objectively speaking as a player. Do you think much has been done in terms of even enlightenment putting in place structures, policies to ensure that these sports grows from where it is right now to another level? Not to rain on my federation's parade but I think we at the moment might be the sport with the laziest federation and I say this with a lot of pain but also a lot of love because I know I see the heart and commitment that bodybuilders put into training for a competition. If we took even just half of that into building what kind of federation we want would have an amazing federation because when you look at it objectively the way you're putting it in 2018 is the last time we had an international Miss Kenya bodybuilding competition which again is a title I still hold to date so the people that held those titles in 2018 those titles have not been challenged so if you ask who is Miss Kenya Bikini right now they'll tell you mihalais simply because in 2019 and 2020 there were no competitions and in 2021 it's looking like there's not gonna be another competition but we have to wait and see who will come up and say oh well I want to run for the federation elections and be the chair and probably do another competition which in my opinion will be another 2 or 3 years I don't see it even happening in 2022 honestly I see it starting from maybe 2023 onwards Maybe as players do you think you should take the challenge in your hands and why for these positions rise to the mantle be in charge and do whatever you want to wish you want it done for the sake of the growth of the sport I feel like that's a very small percentage of players because when you look at it and Ken will agree with me on this I hope a very small percentage of players want to actually be involved in the politics you just want to go to the field or to the stage and just play and just do your craft and just be the best at what you do unless the time has come for you to exit the sport and actually take a more active role in the leadership you just want to play and if you're being a leader like me I try to be a quote-unquote leader from just being a bikini athlete that I let the bikini athletes that are coming up look up to me I help them with 1, 2, 3 things but I'm not running to be the chair of the federation tomorrow honestly because I still want to play this sport Of course we're talking to Mihala Baraza the bodybuilding athlete talking about the development of the sport in the country she's also an advocate of the high court and she's put things into perspective saying that there is a difference between being a lawyer and an advocate of the high court and it looks like she was addressing me because I've been misusing the two thanks for coming through in terms of that rectification and of course she spoke very well with regards to how she's been juggling between the two good question from Ken and multitasking she says hasn't been that a concern of course between law and between the sport she loves now let's talk about the way forward of these sports even olympics is around the corner we've seen how those perceived to be small sporting disciplines are preparing we've seen even badminton guys preparing to go to Tokyo Japan to take part in this global sporting extravaganza you think if there were concrete association in place locally bodybuilding would also be taking part in the qualifiers for Tokyo so I'm not sure bodybuilding features in Tokyo but our olympics is called Mr and Miss Olympia so I feel like if we had a solid federation solid federation that would help us get points because I think it's just like any other sport it's point based the more points you have the easier it is for you to be able to qualify for Olympia I think we would get there because when you look at it we have had bodybuilding athletes like Crashid Gift Issa Evelyn Okini Oala Meshako Ching Shital Kotak Farah Ismail that have actually gone out and performed exceptionally well in bodybuilding events different bodybuilding events around the world so if you put all of these athletes together and say well we won't have a team of say 10 athletes to take to the Olympia if we had a solid federation yes we would actually be preparing for something close even if it's not Olympia something very close to it this year Ken are you seeking joining bodybuilding because you said age is not a factor and anyone can enroll even at 40 but you are too young engineer I don't think I joined bodybuilding but I do work out bodybuilding is something really serious proper emotion but I had a question like you said the federation is defant it's not working it's not there does that mean that are there lesser gyms who are willing to step up and hold these competitions or there are a lot of gyms apart from your gym which other gyms are really stand out when it comes to competitions and stuff so my gym is in fact exclusively a boxing gym so the good thing that they did we have two bodybuilding athletes myself and some the current Mr. Kenya physique but there's different gyms that are actually very willing to support and bring up talent in bodybuilding there's a gym initially called fitness empire you'd be surprised it's actually a gym initially that is very big on bodybuilding it hosts the two time Mr. Kenya Rashid gift ISA there's a gym called hood gym and that's all the way in Kawanguare it supports bodybuilding there's colosseum fitness center that is the gym that my mentor goes to that is also another gym that supports bodybuilding in terms of them coming together to hold a competition that's something I'm not sure they've ever considered I'm not sure they'd be close to it but it's not I've not seen them consider it in the past before so bodybuilding is classified under fitness sports and there are plenty boxing wrestling what's the relationship what's the similarity and compare and contrast for someone who is a boxer can they comfortably become bodybuilders or wrestlers well I think for anyone that has played as sport before it might be easier for them when they join bodybuilding because you really know the commitment discipline that goes with it that being said also I think another thing I have appreciated about bodybuilding which is similar to every other sport is you get to do the same thing over and over every day like it's monotonous but it's structured so I feel like the relationship comes in the commitment and the discipline that comes with it the difference comes with the skill because they say bodybuilders are very stiff so I'm not sure if is it true? I don't think so I move quite well but the skill is the difference but the discipline, heart and commitment is where the similarity is at how many people you've enrolled yourself after talking to them especially for ladies who think that probably this sport is not meant for us and you've spoken to them or they have watched you in the gym playing even overseas have you managed to leave a few? I think I could say maybe five or so but the one that I have actually gone through the journey with and taken her up to the stage with me is one and that was in 2018 and that was a very proud moment for me standing next on stage with someone that I have actually mentored and trained with for 12 to 16 weeks it was a very proud moment for me and she was 39 at that time and on that note let's just take a short commercial break it's 2pm then we will back to continue with development of bodybuilding as a sport in the country