At the age of nine, Gargi Dushyant Kulkarni has achieved the distinction of becoming a judge in a form of martial art.
Gargi, a student of Prahar Military School was awarded the certificate of recognition as Judge-B in Kata (TSKOI) on September 29. The recognition has been granted by Traditional Shito Ryu Karate Organisation. She is the youngest referee in the form of martial art in Vidarbha.
Daughter of Dushyant alias Parag Kulkarni, Gargi started practicing Karate at the young age of two and a half. Parag stated that just as a part of socializing, he took Gargi to a centre, where he was practicing Acupressure Therapy. Gargi was introduced to a Karate trainer and was allowed to play casually. Within a very short time, she started picking up nuances of the form of martial art. She later participated in various demonstrations and competitive tournaments and won prizes and more than that accolade for her mastery over the martial art, which was essentially used as the art of defending.
Gargi is a step nearer to getting Black Belt in Karate. Upgradation in black belt levels will then begin. She is a Brown White Strip holder now.
Her commendable performance cane when she was about six years of age and participated in a 10-year age group national competition held in Pune. Even when the opponent was 10-year old, she came victorious to win Gold medal. Moreover, her match started barely one and a half hours after she alighted from the bus at Pune.
The victory was another feather in her cap, from where she did not look back and continued training. A frill-looking girl has acquired skills to defend herself. Within a couple of years, she would be trained in yoga and meditation for better concentration and physical flexibility.
Besides expert in the field Gargi’s father, who is a Master in Physical Education from RTM Nagpur University, with specialization in Sports Medicine, is now practicing as a trained Acupressure therapist, are guiding her.