At the VIII Akshay Kumar Kudo (full contact in karate and judo) tournament held in Surat from October 26 to 28, 2016, Shihan Percy Bahmani, Renshi Vispi Kasad and Sensei Vispy Kharadi were awarded international referee licences in kudo, the first from India to be conferred this honor, according to a write-up sent by sports enthusiast Rustom Jasoomoney who was specially invited to the meet. In lay parlance, a sensei can be equated to a junior teacher, renshi to a teacher, shihan to a headmaster and hanshi to a principal or grand master, explained Jasoomoney. Over 4,300 students from 22 kudo registered states and units of India participated in the tournament.
Clockwise from left: Sensei Vispy Kharadi; Renshi Vispi Kasad; Shihan Percy Bahmani
takes a punch from Ranveer Singh as Akshay Kumar (center) looks on
Bahmani who has been conferred 8th degree black belt in karate, is the first in India to be awarded the 4th degree black belt in kudo where he enjoys the rank of hanshi, technical director and examiner. The chairman of Kudo India, Shihan Akshay Kumar invited Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh to give Bahmani hard punches on his stomach. Singh ultimately gave up and bowed in acknowledgement of Bahmani’s physical strength.
Kasad and Kharadi too displayed their feats of strength: Standing opposite each other with the two ends of a steel rod placed at their throats, they bent it by pushing against one another. They also broke cement blocks which were put on fire with a karate chop and ripped fresh green coconuts with bare hands, Jasoomoney provided the details.
Their skills so impressed the guests, Rajendra Trivedi, sports minister of Gujarat and Jitu Vaghani, president of Bharatiya Janata Party — Gujarat, that they announced they will extend all support to establish a Kudo Institute in Surat with special emphasis on promoting self defence among women.