BENGALURU: Pooja Harsha, chief of Karnataka Chess Boxing Association, is the first woman from south India to become an international referee in chess boxing. She has been awarded her fourth Dan Black belt in karate and second-degree Black belt in kickboxing (K1 style). She is a 14-time national champion and has won more than 38 medals at national-level champion ships and 53 medals in state and district championships. She is also a kickboxing national medalist.
Pooja was also the first south Indian woman to become a national coach and the first woman to introduce kickboxing in schools. Sharing her joy with City Express, she says, "Now that I am qualified as an international referee/judge in chess boxing, I will start promoting this challenging sport throughout Karnataka."
In the coming years, she has plans to introduce it in schools, colleges and at offices. She says, “I will be organising a state and national-level chess boxing championship in Karnataka. Mysuru has a special connection with chess boxing because of the ASD Fight Club, founded by Harsha Shankar, which is the first academy to train chess boxers. Every day, hundreds of chess boxers are trained at the academy.”
Pooja, 28, got in to martial arts at the tender age of seven. She says, “When I was seven, my dad would walk eight kms with me to my martial arts class. My mother would get tensed and worried about my fights, but my father encouraged me to participate in all championships.
After marriage, with the support of my husband Harsha Shankar (a bronze medalist) I was able to achieve more.” “India has the biggest chess boxing team in the world. It is the ultimate test of the mind and body. It is not new in India, and has been accepted with great enthusiasm by people here. I feel blessed to be part of the Chess Boxing Association of India (CBOI). Without the support of Montu Das, president of CBOI, I would not have been elected as the state head of Karnataka for CBOI. It is thanks to his leadership that India is in first place in chess boxing,” she adds.
Brains and brawn
Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, founder of chess boxing, organised the first real chess boxing event in 2003. Two people compete with each other in eleven alternating rounds of chess and boxing — starting with three minutes of chess and five boxing rounds. The game ends when an opponent is either knocked out or on the board.
International referee seminar
The International Chess Boxing and Referee seminar was conducted by Iepe Rubingh, founder president of the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WBOI), and was organised by Montu Das, president of the Chess Boxing Organisation of India, from July 23 to 29 in Kolkata.