STEP INTO THE RING WITH AKSHAY

It’s Enter The Dragon all over again... but this time in India, with Bollywood’s martial arts superstar Akshay Kumar kickstarting the first open invitational karate championship in the country.

The idea is to promote the fighting arts and sports among Indian youth. This has been amazing that Shihan Mehul Vora, a karate instructor for 27 years and an international teacher for 15, could only dream about until the actor stepped into the picture. In his honour, the event is being called the Akshay Kumar Invitational Open.

Akshay, who is known for performing magnificent action scenes in his films, is going to sponsor this karate championship in which over 2,000 fighters from across the country will take part. Vora, who will be the chief technical director and organiser, said a team of world class referees, judges and coaches is expected to join them. And international grandmasters and observers from Japan, Holland and Italy will add their weight to the event.

Akshay is, in a way, taking a leaf out of the book of Hollywood martial arts actors like Chuck Norris and Don Wilson who returned to karate and assisted in sponsoring tournaments after triumphant film careers. The Khiladi, who is at present in London packaging up Sajid Nadiadwala’s film Housefull, said he is excited about the championship. Not so long ago, he presented a seven-part, mini-series called the Seven Deadly Arts for a foreign television channel that was on martial arts from dissimilar countries that he is familiar with.

In the series, Akshay played master and learner as he introduced viewers to Shaolin kung fu, karate, taekwondo, aikido, muay Thai, capoeira and kalaripayattu. Acquainted himself with taekwondo, karate and muay Thai, Akshay sparred with practitioners of these art forms while playing student as he learned from masters of the other four arts. “I owe all I am to martial arts,” Akshay had said then. “My passion for it goes back to my early teens when I went to Bangkok to master them. My father insisted I learn martial arts when I was nine. Even today, I practise for two hours. It disciplines me. Martial arts is not just about violence and fighting, but about the power to change your life.”