Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
With Inputs from Media Release
Mangaluru, May 28: Martial arts may not be very popular in the city, but here's one Mangalurean who has not only taken it up but even got selected to represent India at the international level.
Mangalurean Kaushik Boloor is one of the team of six selected to compete in the 2015 IMMAF World Championships of Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to be held in July this year in Las Vegas, USA.
The team comprises athletes with amateur MMA experience as athletes with pro records are not allowed to participate. The athletes representing Team India are Kaushik Boloor, Kantharaj Shankar, Bhoopendra Kumar, Navin R S, and Shashi Kumar N from Karnataka and Mohammed Sohail from Telangana. The MMA World Championship will be held at Las Vegas from July 6 to July 11. It is touted as the world's largest mixed martial arts celebration, guaranteeing high-energy, all-star entertainment and concluding with a weekend of action-packed fights including the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 189 on July 11. Ultimate Fighting Championship is a famous show telecast in Sony Six which is widely popular among the youth.
The All India Mixed Martial Arts Association conducted tryouts at all four corners of the country and selected some of India’s top amateur athletes.The AIMMAA tryouts for the 2015 IMMAF World Championship began about 8 months ago. SIx were chosen to represent India in the world championship in Las Vegas.
This is the first time India is participating in such a a big format of the game, where Indian athletes get to meet top officials and fighters of UFC. The Indian team will be charging forward led by Alan "The Bull" Fernandes (Team India head coach). He is the first ever MMA fighter from India to fight internationally.
About Kaushik Boloor
Kaushik was born and bought up in Mangaluru. At present, he is a Muay Thai trainer at Ground Sport Fitness in the city. He first started training in Muay Thai just as a hobby, and later travelled to Thailand to elevate his training to next level. He practiced under some of the world's best and toughest fighters. Initially he got trained in Muay Thai for a few years before making his way into MMA to become a complete fighter.
Later he trained under AIMMA Team India head coach Alan The Bull Fernandes (first MMA figher from India), who is an Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner trained under top class world champions, is also an efficient striker and a wrestler as he himself has trained in Thailand.
Mixed Martial Arts in India
The AIMMAA (All India Mixed Martial Arts Association) was founded by a team of skilled and experienced martial arts instructors in India their primary objective being to bring under one banner the different ‘hard’ martial arts styles and organizations in the country. India has a rich history and tradition in the martial arts and many believe that martial arts itself began in this country.
About Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is often referred to as the world’s fastest growing sport. An MMA athlete needs to be well rounded in the three main elements of combat - standing (Muay Thai, boxing etc), ground (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and the transition in between them (wrestling, judo etc), and master a large number of techniques of various kinds. MMA is a sport designed for sparring and competition. The ambition is to attain the highest athletic level possible, with as few technical limitations as possible.
About International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF)
The IMMAF World Championships of MMA is the first international competition for amateur MMA to be organized by a non-profit, democratic governing body in accordance with Olympic values.
IMMAF is partnered with The UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world featuring most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport. UFC produces events worldwide.