Mother – son duo win karate titles

Gitanjali JB had to wait for over 30 years to realise her childhood dream of becoming a karate exponent and she accomplished it in style, combining with her son Aryan Bhattacharjee to win in the Isshinryu Karate World Championship held in the US.

The 36-year-old Gitanjali, an executive in a publishing company here, won both the advanced Kata as well as Kubodu (weapons) events after a fierce competition in the event held in Pittsburgh from June 18 to 20.

Aryan won the trophy in the 6-8 year advanced category of Kata competition, overcoming over 20 competitors.

He also finished third in Kubodu event in the 9-11 years category, which he competed despite being underage, Ayyappan Mani, Director and Instructor of BTF Isshinryu Karate School, who trained the mother-son duo, said.

“It was my childhood dream to learn karate. I used to watch my uncle perform karate and got attracted to the martial art. But due to various reasons I could learn karate only two years back when my son started learning it,“ Gitanjali said.

“We felt great when we won the titles in the world meet. There were over 600 competitors from 35 countries. We were not expecting to win the title, but my teacher told me that we could do it,” she said.

Talking about karate, she said it was a misconception that it was a violent sport.

“It trains one to be poised and concentrated not just in stillness but also in action,” Gitanjali said.