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 Karate kid -
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 | | 'I love karate': Varsha trains for more than two hours every morning / Photo: Sajith Babu |
Meet India’s youngest black belt
By Vinu Abraham
She has never watched a Bruce Lee movie, or even heard of him. She would be hard-pressed to name any karate or kung fu movies. But try a karate chop or kick on Varsha Vinod, 5, and you won’t know what hit you. Varsha is the youngest black belt in India and is due to star in an action film produced by Catherine Philip.
Hailing from Ambalapuzha in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, Varsha was busy breaking bricks when her peers played with dolls, thanks to her father and coach, Vinod Viswanathan, a Sensei. From age two, she accompanied him to his coaching classes at Ko-In-Chi Academy of Martial Arts near their residence. “Seeing her interest, I began taking her regularly to the classes,” says Vinod. “With unflagging enthusiasm, she imbibed whatever I taught her. When her talent for martial arts became evident, I began giving her advanced karate lessons a year later.”
By age four, Varsha was a brown belt, the first degree in karate. After that began her quest for the black belt, which she was awarded in May.
London-based PR firm Taylor Herring and martial arts video game producer Eidos invited her to England, where her performance set the stage for the launch of Eidos’s new video games. Even as the British media went ga-ga over her, British karate champion Juan Moreno, 36, who will represent Britain in the European championships described her as “the ultimate karate kid”. After a mock fight with her, he said: “It is hard to remember that she is just five, her skills and concentration are amazing.” Taylor Herring has initiated steps to register Varsha as the youngest black belt in the world with the Guinness Book of World Records.
For all the adulation, Varsha is just like any other girl her age. The class I student at Taxila English Medium School loves to snack and watch Tom and Jerry cartoons and Malayalam movies. Varsha dotes on her year-old brother, and is a class topper whose favourite subjects are general science and maths.
She plays hard, but works hard, too. On weekends, she undergoes karate training for almost four hours. On other days, it is two and a half hours. Doesn’t she find this too rigorous? “Except on very rainy mornings, I wake up at 5.30 a.m. and start training by 6,” she says. “There is no problem for me to go to school after training hard.” Never having sustained injuries in training, she has also been free of ailments so far, save for a runny nose at times.
Varsha is already a local celebrity. She is sought by many organisations and clubs to demonstrate karate. But this is just the reward for her dedication. “There is no end to learning in this sport,” says Vinod. “I hope what Varsha gets at such an early age now would propel her to far higher peaks of excellence.”
Varsha herself is determined to attain great heights in martial arts.
“I want to study karate all my life,” she says, munching a potato chip. “I just love karate.”
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