BENGALURU: A city-based kickboxer, personal trainer and fighter Girish R Gowda was recently awarded a doctorate by the National Virtual University of Peace and Education in Bangkok, Thailand. He was also awarded the best kickboxing athlete of the year at the GT World Summit 2019 organised by Global Triumph Foundation. The 33-year-old is on cloud nine. He said, “I can’t explain how I feel. I am so happy. In India, kickboxing isn’t a much-recognised sport.”
He said the Global Triumph Foundation had been following his work and reviews that he receives about his training on social media. One day, he got a call from the foundation asking if he could visit Bangkok and he couldn’t refuse the offer. Gowda has also been training women and visually-challenged, hearing-impaired and physically-challenged people in self defence all over Karnataka.
“When I started kickboxing, there were only two or three kickboxers representing Karnataka. Today, there are over 150,” he said proudly. Gowda has taken part in more than 170 fights including karate, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Muay Thai and kickboxing. He has won 10 gold medals in kickboxing and participated in 10 world championships. He has been supported by his sponsors, Alka and Satish Mittal.
He recalled he won his ninth gold medal in national championship held in New Delhi in January 2018 soon after his treatment for blood cancer. He has gifted the medal to the Cytecare Cancer Hospital in Yelahanka where he was undergoing treatment. He says, “It’s to show that the doctors who treated me are the real heroes. Hopefully, many patients will feel motivated when they see it.”
Fighter Girish, as he is popularly called by his fans, says he was practising even when he was undergoing chemotherapy. “I wanted to challenge myself and give a trial at the national championship on the 43rd day post the completion of my treatment, to see if I could fight or not. Luckily, I won the gold medal, which also broke my record. The minimum time I had taken to finish a fight earlier was 1 minute 23 seconds but I completed this fight in 45 seconds,” he said.
Seeing his personal victory, even his doctor and family were convinced. “My mother had asked not to fight anymore but I had to get back because I have to take care of my family. My sisters were supportive though. I would also send videos of my fights to my doctor, Dr Hari Menon. He had advised me not to fight for at least two years but he was confident later. He said it’s almost like magic for a patient to fight after undergoing 103 sessions of chemotherapies,” he added.
Gowda has started many kickboxing clubs across the state. He is also launching his training centre Radiant Fitness Club, with 15 trainers next month on Bannerghatta Road.
Gowda initially took to fighting to take revenge from a politician who slapped him for accidentally stepping on his banner which had fallen off the board. He started off with learning boxing and karate and began his training in kickboxing in 2011. But he has realised that if martial arts is taken in the right spirit, only then he’ll learn the discipline. If taken in a wrong way, one will end up in prison, he said.