YOUNG GUNS: School children display their karate skills at the AP State Invitational Inter School & College Karate Championship - 2006 in Vijayawada on Sunday. — PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

VIJAYAWADA: The shrieks of Hu... Ha... . reverberated the Madhu Kala Mandapam as hundreds of young karatekas exhibited their firepower in the one-day AP State invitational inter-school karate championship - 2006. Students from Krishna district as well as those from Guntur and Hyderabad descended on the venue in their sparkling white uniform with the belts they secured in martial arts tied around their waits.

The one-day competition witnessed youngsters performing Kata (demonstration of kicks) and Kumite (fights) in front of referees representing the All India Karate Do-Federation.

"This one-day event is held primarily to provide a platform for young karatekas to give them a feel of competition. This will also give them an opportunity to assess their performance," said Srinivas Manju, karate teacher at NSM Public School. Mr. Srinivas said the awareness among schools about including martial arts as a curriculum was increasing as more and more schools had made karate a compulsory activity. "NSM Public School, St John Public School, Gannavaram and Vishwa Shanthi at Vuyyuru are some of the schools that have introduced karate," he pointed out.

Parents cautioned

Sensai J.S. Kalaimani, a black belt holder and chief referee of the tournament, felt that though Andhra Pradesh was emerging stronger in martial arts, many unrecognised institutes were cropping up, doing great disservice to youngsters. "Only a recognised institute can provide platform at the recognised national and international competitions conducted by the federation. Only those certificates would be helpful in future. Parents should exercise a lot of caution before admitting their children in martial art schools," he said. Explaining the growth of karate, Mr. Kalaimani said Malaysia topped the list, followed by Japan, Iran and Taiwan. "India figures in the list some where below 10," he said.

VGTM-UDA chairman Malladi Vishnu, who inaugurated the meet, emphasised the need to teach martial arts to youngsters, especially girls, as a measure of self-defence.

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