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| A kickboxing class in progress abroad |
Kicking and punching have always been a part of school but now they’re part of the curriculum.
Kickboxing recently became a part of the sports curriculum at Heritage, DPS, Sunrise and MP Birla, and more schools are thinking of following suit. Students of both senior and junior classes practise the full body contact martial art for 30 to 45 minutes at least twice a week.
The children have taken a natural liking to the bouts of kicking, punching, flying and dodging. “I love the moves our coach taught us. My father bought me a sandbag so that I can practise at home,” says eight-year-old Kabir.
His school, Heritage, has two specialist coaches for the sport and emerged champion at the All Bengal Inter-School Kickboxing Championship in MP Birla.
The health benefits have made the sport attractive to the authorities. “Kickboxing is a complete package for physical and mental agility during the growing-up years. It boosts strength, flexibility and reflexes and increases attention span. The children also learn to defend themselves,” says Montu Das, the secretary-general of National Kickboxing Federation. He and coaches trained by him take classes in the schools.
The results are showing, according to parents. Eleven-year-old Yash was not the fastest in his class at Sunrise and shied away from sports. After six months of kickboxing, he has started taking part in other outdoor games as well.
“I was concerned that my son was overweight and not very active. His attention span was also very short. But kickboxing has had a remarkable impact: he has become fast and attentive,” says Yash’s mother Avantika.
Star parents Sourav Ganguly and Prosenjit, too, have enrolled their children for kickboxing lessons.
The martial art came to Calcutta only about four years ago, though it was being endorsed by Bollywood stars from long before that. More than 2,000 now train at various kickboxing centres run by Das.
The popularity of the sport in the city has prompted the World Association of Kickboxing Associations to organise its first seminar in India in Calcutta. The president of the association will inaugurate the event, to be held from August 8 to 10.