Karate kids

Mehta,a black belt martial artist who had been training children from many schools before he joined the Trident as the security incharge,says: “Trident has been associated with St. Catherine’s as part of its corporate social responsibility activities. A few months ago,I got the idea to put to use my martial arts skills to train the girls of the orphanage. The objective was not only to teach them self-defence but also to instill discipline,self-confidence and courage in them through the karate training which would help them a great deal in the future. Keeping this in mind,my colleague Mehul,who is also a black belt,and I decided to train volunteers from the orphanage in Goju-Ryu karate,which is a Japanese style of karate.”

Goju-Ryu karate was started in the late 1920s by Chojun Miyagi. ‘Go’ means hard and ‘Ju’ means soft,hence Goju-Ryu is translated as ‘hard and soft style’ and is a blend of Okinawa-te (hard) and Shoalin kung fu (soft).

Mary’s elder brother Raju,the only boy at the practice sessions,is another equally enthusiastic student. Hovering protectively around his kid sister while she practises her kicks in between grinning cheekily at her audience,Raju at 12 is the eldest in the group. “I want to learn karate and become a black belt like my teacher,” he says.

The two martial artistes have been training around 20 children from the orphanage every Monday for an hour for the past seven months. The duo also plan to gift them karate uniforms after they complete a year of basic training and will also help them participate in karate championships.

“Raju is the only boy in the training programme and was included because he was very insistent about learning martial arts. All the children are from various age groups,with the youngest being just five years old and the eldest being 12,” said Mehta,who doesn’t look like a typical security professional with his slight build and a genial smile,though his blackened knuckles (after countless knuckle push-ups and punches) give him away.

About St. Catherine’s of Siena

Formed in 1957,St. Catherine’s of Siena is a charitable organisation that gives free shelter and education to orphans and children from deprived backgrounds and has adopted over 250 children. St. Catherine’s was established by Father Anthony Elenjimittan,a friend of Mahatma Gandhi. Committed to the physical,spiritual and emotional well-being of adopted children,the organisation offers healing and hope through a holistic programme of counselling and therapy using art,dance and music. Upon completion of their schooling,kids are assisted with job placements in the community or empowered to seek higher education.