After a five-year-long struggle, four students from Puttur Municipality are all set to pack punches and kicks on their opponents at the II International Taekwondo Championship scheduled to be held from June 11 to 16 in Hyderabad.
These students from the Ganesh Taekwondo Academy, aged between 15 and 18, perfectly know the pangs of struggle – lack of nutritious food, track suit, shoes, and injuries in the absence of training equipment. The academy saw its birth in Puttur in 2010 with 30 students.
Its founder, V. Ganapathi Das Ganesh from Rajasthan, owner of a ‘chat bhandar’ and a karate master himself, started teaching the rudiments of martial arts to his daughter Arthi, who started bringing her classmates and friends to the house.
Humble beginning
Lack of space prompted Ganesh to shift the training to the open grounds. Soon, the academy took its birth, and B. Srinivasulu, trained in the National Institute of Sports, New Delhi, joined as coach. The coach then completely focused on taekwondo. In a couple of years, a permanent venue came up for the academy on the fourth floor of a building near the bus stand.
As the academy’s objective is never to collect any fee from the students, the building owner allowed its operation on a token rent. In 2011, about 20 students participated in various competitions at the district level, but did not get a single medal.
The situation has changed for better since 2012 with the students making their mark at various levels. Mr. Srinivasulu told The Hindu that 90% of the students were children of daily-wagers, autorickshaw drivers, hamalis and roadside vendors.
“During the last nine years, we have faced harrowing situations, but our kids received the best training. Our patron could arrange equipment worth over ₹15 lakh from his hard earnings. We are also thankful to some donors. Several students quit due to poverty, but some persisted,” the coach said.
Mind over matter
Bhavya Sree (17), daughter of a lorry driver, who scored 9.8 GPA in Class X and Intermediate, opted for an Arts degree to concentrate on taekwondo.
“There were occasions when I and my classmates took to trekking hillocks, cross country running, cycling and hard practice, followed by half stomachs. Our patron, the coach, and martial artist Bruce Lee are the biggest inspirations for us,” she said.
Arthi (15) is excited to participate in an international event for the first time, along with Bhavya Sree, Pratap (15) and Teja (18). Ganesh said that when he started training his daughter, he never thought that an academy would be coming up.
“We have imparted training to over 500 till date without taking a single rupee from them. I feel I have a very big family,” he said.
