Students from Chennai have garnered a eight titles at the 2013 IWKA, Isshinryu World Championship Tournament which concluded at Akron, Ohio, USA last week.
Anesh Ramesh Raja (10), Jonathen James (8), Keziah Nithya (13), and Varun Vijayakumar (6), were the participants, who bagged the championship titles in the Kata, Kobudo and Kumite categories. Anesh Ramesh Raja, a black-belt holder and a class five student of Chinmaya Vidhyalaya, won the gold medal in Kumite (real fighting) and silver in Kobudo.
Keziah Nithya, a class nine student of CSI Ewart School, won the gold medal in the general category Kobudo (weapons). She also won two bronzes in the Kata and Kumite events. Varun Vijayakumar walked away withe silver in Kumite and a bronze in Kobudo. Jonathan James clinched the fourth place in Kobudo.
All the four winners hail from BTF, Born To Fight, a Chennai-based Isshinryu training foundation led by Renshi Ayyappan, a fourth Dan who holds various esteemed awards and titles to his credit.
Ayyappan said that his students competed against participants from 17 countries .
He added that, for kids, it was an excellent medium to transform themselves into strong and disciplined adults and for the adults, it was a perfect way to increase fitness, flexibility and stamina.
For women, it is needless to explain the benefits of martial arts as self-defence is very essential for empowerment.
Isshinryu, a form of martial arts that combines the best of several classical styles, has its roots going back over 500 years. It was founded in the 50s and has been taught ever since to American Marines stationed in Okinawa. Isshinryu World Championship Tournament attracts thousands of experts from across the globe vying for the most coveted titles in the martial arts arena. It is organised every two years.