Sixty-three-year old Shihan Percy Bahmani, who is a 7th degree black belt holder in karate, was recently awarded 4th degree black belt in kudo, the first person in India to be so awarded, informs Rustom Jasoomoney in an email to Parsiana.
Kudo is a full contact martial art that "combines elements of karate, judo and aiki-jujitsu,” he states. The presentation took place at an event organized by Kudo International Federation India (KIFI) in Surat. The award was presented by Shihan Akshay Kumar, chairman of KIFI. Bahmani becomes the "senior most kudoka-kudo practitioner in the history of the sport in India,” states Jasoomoney.
Percy Bahmani with film star Akshay Kumar
Speaking to Parsiana on the phone on February 4, 2016 from Dahanu where he is an agriculturist growing chikoos, and also running the Nihonden Goguryu Koushikai Do, India where he teaches martial arts, Bahmani stated that there were 4,000 participants (at the presentation) and 300 officials, with Kumar and Tiger Shroff, Bollywood stars adding glamor to the event.
Kumar, a practitioner of the sport himself, announced the executive board of Kudo India, which includes Bahmani as technical director, Mehul Vora as president, Vispi Kasad as secretary and Vispy Kharadi as treasurer.
Bahmani was scheduled to leave for Japan in early March for three weeks to further his knowledge in both kudo as well as karate.