Confuse-Us Speaks #27

A yes... our very own old Grandmaster of martial arts weirdness, Confuse-Us, is back with another edition of stage diving into the mixed-up world of martial arts lunacy!

Confucius - Illustration image from fotopedia.com/Google

This time he's found a piece from timesofindia.indiatimes.com, where you will find some (let's called them) "rather interesting" bits and pieces of information.

According to Devadanam, Aikido or mixed martial arts is the best form of self-defence and is generally taught to commandos of special forces.
Sailesh Varma of Association of Mixed Martial Arts India said, "Aikido is an effective self-defence technique that focuses on dislocation of joints and nerve points. On mixed martial arts, Varma said that it was a combination of several martial arts such as Judo, Aikido, Muay Thai and Karate.

Okidoki - It really is good finally to be informed about aikido! Being obviously uninformed, I thought (silly me) that aikido was something totally different. I guess it just goes to prove how little I actually know...

And that aikido is being a part of MMA ... wow, who would have known! These sneaky folks are good to keeping that a secret for so long. Most be some ninja activities for sure.

Or could it simply be that the good folks - here a martial arts instructor - of India knows something which has simply passed the rest of the world by?

Lost Match - Killed Herself

India -- Police said a 19-year-old female student, holding a "black-belt in martial arts" (duh), hanged herself after losing a karate match.

The tragic incident occurred at the young woman's home in Begum Bazaar, Hyderabad on Saturday evening, according to ibnlive.in.com.

Family members reportedly said the young woman was very depressed after she lost a karate fight during the annual sports competition at her college.

Karateka Died

India -- In what was called a tragic accident, a karate fighter from Jharkhand reportedly died minutes after winning the National Championship in Pune.

The black belt competitor allegedly complained of chest pain after a blow from an opponent during the competitions. Despite the injury, the victim went on to win the title, according to daily.bhaskar.com.

The fighter collapsed minutes after winning the tournament and died on the way to hospital.

Assault on Taekwondo Team

India -- Thirty-seven Jharkhand taekwondo students were on board the Moori Express when they tried to stop a large group of students - alleged to be hundreds - from harassing their female team members.

In the melee - where articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com reports that 11 girls were harassed by the large crowd - eight individuals, including six of the taekwondo students, received serious injuries.

Too Young to Teach

India -- When an argument between two groups of youngsters in west Delhi turned violent, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death.

Two young men, among them an 18-year-old individual said to be a karate teacher, was arrested following the murder.

Apart from the obvious tragedy, there is another thing that stands out.

I don't know about you but I do find it very strange that an 18-year-old can be a karate teacher. I mean, come on... it's a teenager for crying out loud!

Stripped of Medal

India -- As a consequence of a positive doping test, a taekwondo fighter has been stripped of a third place medal the man won in the National Games.

He is also banned for two years after he was found guilty of using Methylhexaneamine, according to telegraphindia.com.

Confuse-Us Speaks #22

The belt! It's the belt! ...or how quality martial arts belt can help you "defense yourself better" - a reasoning I always suspected could be somewhat flawed, but hey ... what do I know?

One thing I do suspect should be considerer a fact, is that before you send out a press release in any language, it might be a sound business principle to have it proof read by someone who speaks the language at least somewhat fluently... I really can't see this being the case here.

I'm kind of "con-fused" by expressions such as "martial art is an ultimate self defense technique"; "high quality martial art product will support you to set the combat in your side"; "to perform well , you will need highest quality custom handmade and hand-embroidered martial arts, karate belt"; "every step taken by the martial artist is meant to accomplish a target during the martial art combat"; or "martial arts can be subdivided on the basis of skill and technique you want to learn."

Oh well, I can't take any chances.. I need a quality belt, just to be on the safe side. I do wonder if I can have "Confuse-Us was here" embroidered on it? :-)

Martial Arts Website Fraud

India -- Timesofindia.indiatimes.com reports about a 40-year-old man from Nainital - a science graduate - who has been arrested for fraud.

The man is suspected of hacking into the website of a Japanese martial arts association, and using it to trick martial arts' tutors across India, Sri Lanka and other Asian countries over the past few years.

A Trained Karate Black Belt

India --A 44-year-old man, described as a "trained karate black belt" has been arrested by police, suspected of being one of the men behind the Mulund train blast that killed 13 people in 2003, according to thaindian.com.

"His role in the Mulund train blast has been clearly spelled out in the charge sheet. (...) Besides him, six more accused in the case are still absconding," a police source said.

Robbery Gang Busted

India -- Following the arrest of five men, Delhi Police have allegedly solved a large number of cases of robbery, snatching and car theft , according to sify.com.

The gang leader is reportedly a 35-year-old former karate national champion. The gang also includes a 27-years-old MBA graduate from a reputed university in Pune.

Karate Trouble in India

India -- The All India Karate Do Federation dismissed its former president (Karate Thiagarajan) on December 28 2009, for allegedly misappropriating funds.

The annual general body reportedly authorised the secretary general to take what was referred to as "appropriate legal action" against the former president as well as the former treasurer.

Accused of Rape

India -- A taekwondo coach is wanted by Madhya Pradesh Police for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl from Chhattisgarh, police said.

The alleged victim said she was raped by her coach at the TT Nagar Stadium on August 21, according to ptinews.com.

According to reports, when the girl asked for the instructor's permission to go to her hometown of Korba, the coach asked her to come to his room.

From Instructor to Thief

India -- A 51-year-old black belt with the nickname 'Judo Karate', is known for his martial arts skills in Nagpur. However, the martial arts expert is unfortunately also well known for his vehicle theft skills.

The man is now reportedly behind bars with more than 20 offences against his name, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

The former instructor claimed he began his criminal career after meeting some unscrupulous students in his martial arts classes.

Judo Kidnapper

India -- A three-year-old child would likely have been taken away by kidnappers on Monday night in New Dehli, had it not been for an alert auto driver.

A teenage recovery agent was been arrested in the incident. However, his accomplices, including a martial arts (judo) trainer, managed to flee.

The child was allegedly kidnapped from his house on Monday night. His three abductors bundled him into an auto and headed for a bus terminal. The child's constant weeping made the driver suspicious and he stopped his vehicle to alert the police.

While the 19-year-old recovery agent was arrested, two others - a 25 year-old judo trainer and a 25-year-old man, got away.

The arrested man said the judo trainer needed money. So, he hatched the plan to kidnap the child for ransom, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

Demanding Justice

India -- A Human Rights committee is demanding justice for taekwondo competitors who allegedly were beaten up by officials during a national taekwondo comptetition in Nanded in May.

According to timesofindia.indiatimes.com, two Indian national taekwondo players, Rakesh Devkule and Balaji Pawar, issued a letter to sports officials and national sports bodies.

The couple claimed that some officials had beaten them up, abused them and then tried to cover up the matter during the event held between May 17 and 23.

Karate for Protection

India -- Chennai sex workers are learning karate as self-defense to protect themselves from violent customers, according to medindia.net.

Deprived of legal protection -- prostitution is illegal in India -- they often have to put up with violence and harassment at the hands of their customers.

By equipping themselves with karate skills, the female sex trade workers feel can protect themselves from being assaulted by violent pimps and customers.

Karate Teachers Worry Police

India -- Darsgah-Jihad-o-Shahadath (DJS) is a nondescript organisation which has been in focus by the Gujarat police for a few months, according to timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

Several agencies is reported to be looking into its association with the new radical wing of SIMI (The Students Islamic Movement of India). SIMI is considered by Indian officials to be an Islamist fundamentalist organisation.

DJS offers training in self-defense to its cadres. It operates from the Hyderabad and Secunderabad region.

"The organisation trains youngsters in martial arts especially karate and 'lathi'," a senior police official said.

In November 2007, a training camp for SIMI cadres was organised in Kerala. Police sources said many at this camp used pseudo names, hiding their real identity from one another.

The purpose of the training was allegedly to select individuals to be sent for further arms and explosives training outside the country. Also, another group would supposedly be set up to become involved in "mass murder" operations.

Martial Arts in School

India -- (Chennai) Timesofindia.indiatimes.com had an article on August 29 about the obvious benefits of having students do martial arts such as karate and taekwondo in school.

And all though a School Education minister stated that "any form of physical training was good for students" -- something which hardly can be objected to -- I have to make one thing absolutely clear:

Martial arts, properly taught, stands head and shoulders above other sports in one particular area - its inherent discipline.

Here are some of the sentiments from the above mentioned news article:

Revathy Bonns, a higher secondary school principal: "About 98% of the parents of children who signed up for the martial arts classes say their children have become more mature and confident. They have more self-control and are able to cope with everyday pressure. They also say that training has improved their personality."

J Abraham, a physical education teacher in Manali, said, "Now around 40 students are enrolled in the karate class. After joining the class, the students are well behaved and more focused. The parents are also happy seeing their children disciplined."

B Purushothaman, the principal from a higher secondary school in Kolathur: "The confidence level of students has increased. My students (...) tell me that the one hour of physical activity rejuvenates them when they get back to their books." He said 322 students had signed up for the taekwondo classes this year.

Even More Politics

India -- The Taekwondo Federation of India has cancelled its invitation to a Pakistani team for a friendship match that was scheduled for a December 19-21 championship in Lucknow.

The decision is said to come as a consequence of the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, according to newspostonline.com.

The Indian governments has been very clear about accusations of a Pakistani link to the terror attacks, and so the Lucknow organizing committee and the TFI called off the invitation.

Judoka Raped

Update (January 2009): After the victim backed out from her complaint, a judge acquitted the four men -- amongst them a former coach of cricketer Yuvraj Singh -- accused of raping a national level judo player, indopia.in reports.

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India -- In Haryana, a man claiming to be (international cricketer) Yuvraj Singh's coach was arrested - charged with rape of a national-level judoka, according to freshnews.in in mid August.

The man was accused by the young judoka of raping her in July 2008. The victim claimed that four people - three men and a woman - sedated her and brought her to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh on July 17.

According to police, the girl was allegedly raped in a room of faculty house of the Haryana Agriculture University.