Delhi, 2 January (H.S.) : In today's time, the trend of martial arts and karate education is increasing rapidly. The most important reason for this is self-defense. Along with self-defense, people also take training in sports like karate to keep the body healthy and disciplined. Through this sport, many legends are making the country proud all over the world. One of them is Shihan Paramjeet Sewa Singh, referee of the World Karate Federation and medal winner in many international competitions. He spoke openly about the game of karate in an interview given to Hindustan News, here are the main excerpts of the conversation ----

How do you remain aware and up-to-date about the rules of the game?

The World Karate Federation updates the rules from time to time. Seminars are also organized for this. In which the officials of the Indian Karate Federation participate and tell about the changes or upgrades in the rules.

Do you think that players are able to win medals in Karate in comparison to its popularity?

Karate is an individual event. Indian players are winning medals in Asian Games and South Asian Games. Our players have won laurels in World Youth.

Is Karate getting any help from the government to progress in the country?

We are getting a lot of help from the government.

We are not able to take full advantage of the budget and programs given by the government for sports. Since we have two or three other federations, we are not getting direct help. If we are recognized by the Indian Olympic Association and the Government of India and get a 10-year preparation opportunity from the government like Olympic athletes, then we have good players, they can do even better for the country at the international level.

Have you ever felt that like cricket or other sports, there is a lack of spectators for Karate?

Awareness about Karate has increased a lot among the people. As far as the audience is concerned, yes, the audience is ready to spend their time and money for it. There was a Karate event in Tokyo and the number of people watching Karate online was the highest.

Karate has not yet gained as much popularity on TV as other sports, what is the problem?

Just like there is only one ring in boxing, cricket is played on a ground. But this is not the case with Karate. Karate is played simultaneously in different rings in many age groups in a short time. Perhaps this can also be a reason for the audience getting divided. Recently, in the National Karate Championship, we had to set up four rings, due to which the parents or spectators who came got divided. By the way, in the Khelo India University Games, the Karate event got more viewership on Doordarshan than other sports.

Fake competitions are also held in the name of Karate. In such a situation, many times the organizers and medal winning players feel cheated and later leave the sport. What should be done to stop this?

If we get recognition from the Government of India and the Indian Olympic Association, then no one will be able to organize any competition as per their wish. Just like there are gharanas in music, there are many gharanas in Karate, which are called styles, and all the gharanas have their own events, if children are not made to participate in those events, then they will not be able to play well in the main circuit. However, parents should also research the level of the event before sending their children to any event. How does the sport of Karate secure the future of its players? Actually, like all other sports, medal winners in Karate also get government jobs. Not only this, Karate players also get benefits under the sports quota for admission in colleges. How do Indians look at the hopes of winning medals in Karate? Karate is a sport of youth interest. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that every work done from the heart is successful. At present, Karate is not in the Olympics, but it is in the Asian Games. If Karate is added to the Olympics, then our players can win medals in this game too.

Apart from the development of Karate at the national level, how do you see its reach among the youth of small cities?

Karate has reached all over the country, there is no difference in this on the basis of state, district or city. Recently, the Commonwealth Karate Championship was organized in South Africa. Shivesh of Varanasi won a bronze medal in the global level event. In the tournament in which many countries participated, we were at the top in the medal table there too. This shows that we are improving the game at the international level.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar