BENGALURU: Akhilesh Kumar, a full time musician and a martial arts trainer, plays for four bands. One Girl Shy, one of his bands, is releasing their debut album very soon. He spoke with City Express about how martial arts changed his life and contributed to his music career growth.
When did you get into martial arts?
A: When I finished college, my friend told me about martial arts. At that time, I thought that it was all about hitting someone. I used to be ragged and bullied a lot and there were many people I wanted to extract revenge from. So, I jumped right into it.
Did you hit people or take revenge?
A: No. During my first class, my trainer looked at me for a while. He then took a drawing of a boy and marked certain parts with a marker. ‘I want you to do a 1000 punches.’ By the time I reached 400, my muscles started bleeding. He still asked me to go on, so I did. It was only when I finished 750 that he asked me to stop. He never let me take an off, even though my muscles bled and were sore, he asked me to do punches everyday. It was only after two weeks he started my actual training. I realized that martial arts isn’t about hitting people, it’s about disciplining yourself.
How did martial arts help you to grow in music?
A. As a kid, I had terrible anger issues. I would get angry at small things. I would be a little controlled around my parents but even that stopped. It came to a point where I would attack my parents, my brother and even my pets. Martial arts gave me that discipline to sort out my anger issues and the discipline to pursue music. Later, there came a point where my first band asked me to take a break for a month. It was hard because I believed that this band was all I needed to get through into the music career. Martial arts taught me to keep going. I imbibed learnt that to expect defeat is to get defeated itself. After a month, I was already performing many gigs and by the end of six months, I was an independent artist. Martial arts taught me how to be an independent artist.
How important is martial arts to you? Can you give it up?
A. It is very important to me. There was a point where I felt indestructible. That is when I made my worst mistakes. I pulled my hamstrings and I was in hospital. I came back only to get injured a week later. The doctors told me I could not go back to martial arts again, and I didn’t for four years until my friend got me a doctor who sorted me out in three months. But those years when I didn’t do martial arts, I felt like a part of me was missing. Like I was losing my identity.
What would you suggest an average man to do to control anger issues?
A: Learn to ‘follow and train your breath.’ Breathe in and out first for five seconds, then 10, then 15. Learn to regulate your breathing. We’re impulsive beings. For the mind, his or her breath is a form of meditation where one moves from a state of impulsiveness to a state of thought.