Karate comes kicking on their door

A joint cry of "heeya" rises up in the air as legs kick out in the Gujarat Vidyapith gymnasium. A total of 230 children have participated in the three-day karate camp being held at the Gujarat Vidyapith from February 9.

The "Karate Training Workshop,' organised by Shito Ryu Karate Do India, invited grandmaster Shihan Kazuo Matsumura along with his team of five from Japan for the camp. Three of the five are young girls.

The workshop was a first-of-its-kind for the city. Sensei Kamlesh Patel, who has organised the camp, says that his main aim was to expand the awareness about karate in Ahmedabad, especially among young girls and boys. Today in his batch 70% are girls. "If they start young, they can develop better. People cannot recognise fake karate teachers. Anybody can fool the parents by dressing the kids up in karate uniforms and teaching them things," says Patel.

"The response is better this year, the numbers have increased," he added with a smile.  

There are four batches of students, divided according to the knowledge that they already have. All were seen practicing the moves taught by the grandmaster. He is ever smiling but needs the help of an interpreter to communicate properly. "The level of seriousness for karate is more in the children here than in the current group of Japanese kids." The kids are learning faster by practicing harder. The grandmaster added, "The girls are now at par with the boys here."

With the basic knowledge already evident in the kids, the camp is concentrating on teaching the techniques of kata and kumite.  Neerja Kothari, a student of Amrit Jyoti School said," They are teaching really well, making us practice each move individually. Maaza aata hai."

The six-member delegation from Japan is overwhelmed with the talent of the city, but not with the traffic. Used to silence, Matsumura is horrified by the level and the noise of vehicle horns. But that does not prevent him from saying, "If my health allows me, I will like to come back next year!"