The 58-year-old Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), K.M. Abraham, is a tough Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He can fight back, even physically. After earning his taekwondo first degree black belt 16 years ago, Dr. Abraham is appearing for the test to earn his second degree black belt on May 1 at the annual back belt tests of the Taekwondo Association of Kerala (TAK).
Dr. Abraham’s appearance at the event, to be held at the Laxmi Bai National College of Physical Education at Karyavattom in Thiruvananthauram, will be unique because the majority of aspirants there will only be in their 20s or 30s. Finding time from his hectic schedules at the Secretariat, he had been preparing for the test by practising every day at the University Stadium in the capital.
His qualifying drills will be graded by the international grandmaster Lee Wan Yong and the grandmaster Lalit Tirkey. The high-kicking IAS officer says that taekwondo got triggered in him when he was doing his PhD in the United States.
“What attracted me to taekwondo was its underlying spiritual essence based on the Buddhist philosophy of cultivated detachment”.
On his return, Dr. Abraham along with Indian Police Service officer Desmond Netto designed and created TAK along with a few practitioners of the art.
“The temperament that is advocated for a taekwondo student is one of calibrated release of inner force. In my own official life, I believe that my training in taekwondo has helped me face many challenging situations calling for difficult decision making,” he says.
Dr. Abraham also believes that taekwondo is a martial art form in which people from Kerala can excel because the use of both legs and hands in the art makes it comparable to kalaripayattu.
He thanks his coach Ratheesh for giving him the confidence to appear for the second degree black belt test. “And if I succeed in getting the second degree black belt, I will dedicate it to my mother Mercy Mathew who passed away last month.”
