Crouching Tigress! Mayor Kavitha Sanil all set for Nat’l Karate Championship

Crouching Tigress! Mayor Kavitha Sanil all set for Nat’l Karate Championship

Crouching Tigress! Daring Mayor Kavitha Sanil to Shine in National Level Open Karate Championship to be held on 4-5 November 2017 at Nehru Maidan-Mangaluru.

Mangaluru: She has shown her daring and feminine power through impromptu raids single-handedly on illegal massage parlours, shops with no trade licences, evicting illegal street vendors encroaching footpaths and public property, forcibly removing No Parking signs erected by shop owners on MCC property and so on- thanks to her Karate and Power-Lifting techniques! For her daring acts Mangaluru City Corporation Mayor KavithaSanil has been nicknamed as “Lady Singham”- and for that matter she is a black belt holder in both Indian and Budokan styles of Karate.

As of now, she has bagged 58 gold and 18 silver medals at the local, regional, State and national level Karate meets- the only woman to secure black belt in Indian Karate and Budokan Karate styles. Presently a mother of two children, she had won gold for India against Japan in February 1999 at an international Karate championship conducted in Mumbai- and now after taking a break for nine years 36-year-old MCC Mayor is all excited and anxiously looking forward to take part in National Level Open Karate Championship to be held on 4-5 November at Nehru Maidan-Mangaluru. Even though Kavitha clinched gold, but she could not participate in the international meet in Turkey- and later she ended in politics.

When asked how she got interested in taking up Karate, the Mayor said, ” I was in 5th standard when I first got acquainted with karate, looking at other children practicing the martial art early one morning. I lived with my family in Marakada-Mangaluru, and while looking at all these children doing some karate moves, I jumped up and down and was eagerly waiting to learn Karate like them. I begged my mother to enroll me in the karate classes, and she did, and then it was all history. I am happy that I have many gold and silver medals in karate to my credit”.

“I got married in 2007, and in 2008 even though I was 2.5 months pregnant, I participated in a karate Championship I won a gold in it, and that was my last championship. I had also won each national championship between 1992 and 2008. Later having quit for a while after this, given my pregnancy which was followed by a cesarean surgery, but I am once again eager to reclaim my passion for karate- and I hope that I will do good in the forthcoming karate championship in town. My main intention in learning the Karate was for self-defence, and I urge other women also to learn this art. Once these women start learning Karate they should not give it up, because I was seen women after they get married or have kids they discontinue it. You should know that Karate which is a self-defence is a must for women these days, since we see lots of rape, kidnapping, harassing etc happening to women ” added Mayor.

It is also learnt that Kavitha Sanil is the only woman to do a stunt of having 350 cc Bullet run over her stomach. She was trained for Indian Karate under Surendra and Suresh Shetty in Mangaluru, and she also got trained under Grand Master for Indian Karate -B M Narasimhan from Chennai. And in Indian Budokan Karate, she was trained under Padmanabha and Grand Masters – Richard Choo from Australia and Parameshwar. Even though her Mayor duties keeps her busy till late evening or nights, she says that she spares every day two hours for Karate training from 5 am-7 am.She even takes karate classes every Sunday.

When asked what would be her hopes in winning in the forthcoming National level open karate championship, she laughingly said, ” My desire always is to win but this time, I just want to participate and get back in the game. We’ll see how it goes from there. Making a comeback is always a challenge. I am trying my best and working hard to win a medal. But I am not sure if the energy level and strength will be the same, since I am now a mother of two children. Wish me luck”. The mayor has also participated in powerlifting and weightlifting competition and has a national record to her credit.

So there you go, after a gap of nine years, Mangaluru Mayor Kavitha Sanil is all ready to pack a punch again at the forthcoming Karate Championship. Team Mangalorean wishes her all the best so that she may win few more medals to her credit.