Despite the popularity of kung fu movies, Gajanand Rajput, general secretary of Wushu Kung Fu Federation of India, is trying to promote traditions of Shaolin-style martial arts in Gujarat.
“At the 9th International Shaolin Wushu Festival in China’s Zhengzhou in 2012, Rushika Puwar, who was then an XI grade student of Divine Child International School, Ahmedabad, won bronze medals in the Chángquán, Daoshu and Tilu Chang Chuan events. She also won a bronze in the 12th World Chin Woo Martial Art and Cultural Competition 2012 in Tianjin,” says 37-year-old Rajput. “In Gujarat and many other states, parents rarely encourage girls to take up contact sports and martial arts. This was a milestone in the path to promoting Shaolin-style martial arts in India.” Chángquán is ‘long fist’ kung fu while Daoshu largely uses a sword as the main element.
Rajput says Chinese martial arts, which are collectively famous as kung fu or wushu, developed over centuries into numerous distinct styles, each with its own techniques, tactics, principles and methods. “I was introduced to Chinese martial arts by an instructor, Lucky N Chan Thakuri, when I was 12 years old. After that I went to Nepal to learn wushu. I organised a wushu festival in Gandhinagar in November 2001,” he says.
In 2006, he went to China to learn the Shaolin style of kung fu, which originated in the Buddhist Shaolin Temple in China’s Henan province. It is one of the first institutionalised Chinese martial arts and uses a variety of traditional weapons and unarmed combat styles. At the temple, Rajput learnt empty-hand techniques and weaponry through predetermined movements called forms.
Rajput is now working as an official of federations for martial arts, and as a coach and fight choreographer for staged combat scenes in regional movies. “We at the Wushu Kung Fu Federation of India and Martial Arts Authority of India have been travelling overseas with an Indian team to compete at the Zhengzhou China International Shaolin Wushu Festival, Singapore International Wushu Competition, Hong Kong International Wushu Competition, International Martial Arts Games and World Traditional Wushu Championship. Some of these events attract over 1,500 athletes,” says Rajput. He has won medals in events like sword play and long fist at International Shaolin wushu festivals.
After teaching wushu in schools Rajput started his own academy in Ahmedabad. “I am also trying to promote Chinese martial arts in other cities of Gujarat. In August, we organised a workshop on self-defense in Surat for 500 girls. In October, we are organising an exhibition on Chinese, Japanese and other martial arts at one of Ahmedabad’s largest malls to raise awareness about them,” he says.