HYDERABAD: What does it take a taekwondo champ to set a Guinness Book of World Records for doing 59 side lunges in 60 seconds, that’s (almost) one side lunge per second?
"63 hours of practice. Three hours every morning for three weeks," says Bode Sai Deepak, the 23-year-old Yousufguda resident, who is currently revelling in his new record setting spree (a couple more last year). Flush with this success, he has decided to give something back to the city where safety and security of women is of prime concern.
"In the last week of November, I was on my way back to Hyderabad after winning a silver in the Manchester British Open Taekwondo Championship and I heard about Disha’s brutal rape and murder. The news was being flashed in international TV channels too and I decided that if I do set a world record, I need to do something for my country, out of gratitude," he remarks.
"Now that I have actually set this recording beating the Pakistan record for 51 side lunges, I have decided to impart free self defence classes to the women of Hyderabad. I am yet to work out the modalities of it. I am talking to a few NGOS that work closely with young women and will be doing this project from February. In fact, I am open to any kind of collaboration where I can use my art to make a difference," he adds.
Deepak says his next target is to create at least five Guinness records and one of them is breaking concrete blocks using abs kick, considered to be among the most challenging kicks. But why is setting records so important for him?
"Creating a record is a far superior feat than perhaps winning a tournament. In tournaments, you compete with those around you who have made it to the finals. But when you set a world record, you are performing a feat that none has done before in the entire world," he says.
He attributes his success to the confidence that his coaches Grandmaster M. Jayanth Reddy, Master Moinuddin and Ashish Taneja had put in him.
Deepak says that record setting has challenged him professionally and has won him sponsorships for many previous international events. "Some athletes lose out on good opportunities in tournaments due to corruption or nepotism or other such reasons. All that you need is to work hard with confidence. Records are for real champs," he concludes.
The writer can be contacted at kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @mkalanidhi