Kozhikode: The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has officially approved Karate as one of the sporting events and here is a Kozhikode man from Elathur who has devoted his entire life to the sport and willing to push further to foster and strengthen fighters from India for the great event.
Saj Nalakath is a Kyokushin Black Belt and dreams to give an Indian presence to the sport. But what is Kyokushin which may sound funny by name and interesting to pronounce. It is a form of `harder style’ of karate or rather a stronger karate which allows full body contact and allows kicks against an opponent head, body or legs. To familiarize with this sport Saj explains: “Kyokushin karate is a kind of martial art and is real fighting. And people of Kerala is yet to identify this event to its full potential.”
A training camp is being organized at the Indoor Stadium in Kozhikode on November 19 wherein experts in Kyokushin will participate to give training and classes to bring about a platform for further development. Kyokushin experts from Hungary and Oman will be the masters who will conduct training classes.
39-year-old Saj, with a burning desire to learn Kyokushin, left India during 2000 to Kuwait. Those were the days when the martial art was not even known on Indian shores. He joined for Kyokushin class in Kuwait and was trained by Japanese men, who were the real masters of the game.
Will India be represented in the game for the 2020 Olympics? Saj only wishes that an Indian representative would find place in the event so that the dignity of the game makes its presence felt. Japan, Russia, Brazil, Denmark and Holland have trained kyokushin people who will vie against each other for the remarkable title. “But I only wish, an Indian finds a place for the respected event, which is renowed as a traditional cultural aspect of Japan.”
Saj conducts training class for students in many schools in the district and wants to show to the people that kyokushin is for building character and training the mind, based on the founder Mas Oyama’s spirit. It is a combination of yoga, meditation, kalaripayattu and boxing. Signing out, he says on a lighter note, ”you don’t have to learn about each sport separately instead kyokushin is a combination of all.”
