Runa Mukherjee Parikh (Ahmedabad)

Kairav Sanghvi (12), a class VII student of Ahmedabad’s highly-ranked St. Kabir School, is among a growing league of promising practitioners of Karate, the mentally and physically demanding Japanese martial art. Last month (June), he was crowned e-Kata champion in the Under-14 category of the Ahmedabad-based International Shotokan Karate United (ISKU) online Kata Championship, a substantial improvement over last July’s championship when he bagged the bronze.

Competing in karate tournaments is routine for this pre-teen Black Belt. Thus far, he has won 13 district, state, national and international-level Kata and Kumite — solo and duo techniques of self-defence — tournaments with a medals tally of 24. “Covid has changed everything. I never imagined attending online school, let alone participating in an online karate tournament. Neither tasks are easy given our poor connectivity. Kata i.e, solo tournaments have also moved online with participants required to make video submissions,” he laments.

The only child of Rasesh Sanghvi, a private firm executive, and mother Ruhi, a naturopath, Kairav was introduced to this traditional Japanese martial art at age six when his father enrolled him in the Navrangpura centre of the Black Dragons Karate Academy under the tutelage of Shihan (master instructor) Altaf Saiyed, a certified coach and technical director of Shobukai India.

Since then, this star striker with lightning-fast reflexes has been on a roll. In 2016 at age seven, he won a bronze at the National Martial Art Games, Mumbai. Two years later, he won his first gold in the Under-14 category of the district-level Shito Ryu Karate championship. In 2019, when he turned ten, the Black Dragons Karate Academy awarded him a Black Belt. The same year, he won gold and silver in the Under-14 category of the 10th Independence National and International Karate Championships held in Vadodara.

“Kairav’s dedication and hard work are exemplary. He is the youngest Black Belt of our academy. His achievements and conduct will take him a long way,” says Shihan Saiyed.

Over the past six years, this karate champ has conscientiously developed the discipline and mental toughness required of this sport. “I am ready to work hard at my studies and karate. My dream is to win an Olympics medal,” he vows.
Don’t rule it out!

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