The Hindu : Sport / Karate : AIKF felicitates Sensei Tomoki Kishi

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AIKF felicitates Sensei Tomoki Kishi

Special Correspondent

— Photo: M. Vedhan

PROUD MOMENT: B. Sivanthi Adityan (second left), Vice President, FIVB, presents a shield to Tomomi Kishi, at a felicitation function on Tuesday. Also present are (from left), Karti P. Chidambaram, actor Napoleon and Karate R. Thiagarajan.

Chennai: Sensei Tomoki Kishi, Grandmaster and founder of GI TOKU KAI, Japan, was felicitated by the All India Karate-do Federation at the conclusion of an international conference at the Santhome High School on Tuesday.

B. Sivanthi Adityan, Vice-President, International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and a former president of Indian Olympic Association, presented a memento to the 67-year-old Japanese who kept the audience spell bound by a kata demonstration.

Mr. Adityan lauded the efforts of ‘Karate’ R. Thiagarajan, President AIKF, for being the torchbearer of the legacy left by Sensei R.V.T. Mani, a pioneer in the state.

While appreciating Karate Thiagarajan for reviving the sport at the all India level, Mr. Adityan pinpointed how consistent work would bring in rewards. He particularly referred to the remarkable performance of Abhinav Bindra in the current Olympics and emphasised that India had the potential to achieve bigger things in the world of sport.

Karti Chidambaram, Chief Patron of AIKF, stressed that “karate is not just a sport but a way of life,” and appealed to the authorities to make sport a compulsory subject in schools. He was distressed by the fact that India was lacking a sports culture, and remained only “a land of spectators.”

The function was preceded by a demonstration of the art of kata and kumite featuring the Japanese, Sri Lankans and locals. Film star Napoleon and P.R. Ramessh, Secretary, AIKF, also spoke.

Karate Thiagarajan welcomed the gathering.

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