Martial artist Bodla to train women in self-defence

Guinness World Record holder to start programme in August in Lahore


Bodla, who is also a student at the University of Lahore, said his pilot classes will be held at his university and he is expecting 50 to 100 women in the opening sessions. PHOTO COURTESY: AMIN BODLA

KARACHI: Pakistan’s six-time Guinness World Record holder martial artist Ahmad Amin Bodla is working hard to incorporate martial arts in people’s lives, starting with a two-week self-defence training programme for women.

Bodla’s latest record was approved by Guinness World Records two days ago; he has now been inducted in the men’s list for the most martial arts kicks in three minutes using one leg. He landed 801 kicks in August and only just received the recognition after the Guinness officials scrutinised the evidence of achieving the record.

Now Bodla feels that as a martial artist, his next step is to make discipline more accessible to others and help them understand its benefits.

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“Martial arts are not about picking fights, neither it’s just about flying kicks,” Bodla told The Express Tribune. “I feel it’s critical for every individual to be physically fit and to be acquainted with the basics of self-defence techniques at least.”

Bodla said he plans to start instructing women first, and is designing a two-week programme for self-defence training that will launch in August. He is also writing a book regarding the subject.

Bodla, who is also a student at the University of Lahore, said his pilot classes will be held at his university and he is expecting 50 to 100 women in the opening sessions.

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Meanwhile, the 23-year-old is also sharing his ideas with American martial artists. “I’m in contact with different martial artists who I’m friends with, as I want this programme to reach Karachi and Islamabad as well. For Lahore, my university director has allowed me to start the training sessions later this year,” he added.

Bodla also emphasised that self-defence is a domain which people in Pakistan do not understand well.

He said he has been testing most techniques for the last two months and found most of the commonly written text to be theoretical and seldom applicable.

Meanwhile, most taekwondo or karate academies only teach the sport aspect of martial arts, which is generally taught in a controlled environment.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2016.

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COMMENTS (1)

aluchana | 7 years ago | Reply Best post I have seen so far. Great step.
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