Dozens of young men have been learning to master the martial arts at a school run by the secretary of former Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef in New Cairo, Al-Masry Al-Youm has reported. Coaches, aged between 20 and 40, gather at around 6 p.m. to train youngsters in Kung Fu and Karate. Young men can also learn how to fend off attacks with bladed weapons, the newspaper said. Al-Masry Al-Youm reporters managed to record a video of one of the training sessions, which clearly shows one trainee attacking another with a wooden stick. The other man defends himself from the attack. Training sessions were hosted on Tuesday and Friday last week at the Aal-Yasser charity centre in New Cairo, which was opened last year. The centre comprises a school, mosque and clinic. Ahmed Gouda, who heads the centre, has meanwhile denied any knowledge of martial arts training at Aal-Yasser. He acknowledged he once worked as secretary for the Brotherhood's former Supreme Guide but claimed he left the Islamist organisation years ago. Speaking via telephone with Al-Masry Al-Youm, Gouda claimed it was “impossible” that these lessons were being taught at Aal-Yasser. Children come to the complex to learn Karate while some adults play football there for light exercise in the evenings, he said. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
