Lavasa, India’s planned hill city today announced the tie up with well known martial arts trainer, Chitah Yajnesh Shetty to launch ‘Chitah JKD Lavasa- Advance Module Academy’. The Martial Arts Academy has been launched in keeping with its endeavor to promote Lavasa as destination for sports. Lavasa is already working with leading experts for academies catering to sports like hockey, tennis, rowing, golf and badminton.

Commenting on the launch of the academy Nathan Andrews, President, Lavasa Corporation Limited said, ‘We are delighted to be associated with Chitah Yajnesh Shetty and to welcome the Chitah JKD Advance Module Academy to Lavasa. We believe that this will provide invaluable martial art training to many aspiring learners, while complementing the sport academies already under development within Lavasa, which today include the Sir Steve Redgrave Rowing Academy and a hockey academy with Hockey Australia.

To mark the start of the ‘Chitah JKD Lavasa- Advance Module Academy’, a 3 day India Martial Arts Fest was organized at Lavasa from 18th to 20th April 2014. Leading exponents of various martial arts forms belonging to 6 countries and 14 Indian states showcased their expertise and shared their skills with over 100 enthusiasts in the age group of 7 to 61 years.

The experts who trained students in various martial art forms including ancient art forms like WUSHU and SHAOLIN sessions were:

·         Sifu Cosmo Zimik ((Director of  Empty Hand Warrior – Juveniles Mentor Program, USA and Coach For Olympic Games, renowned trainer of Law Enforcement agencies, Military personnel etc)

·         Daniel Chris Docto- Myua Thai specialist from Thailand

·         Sameer Ali Khan- mixed martial art master from Afghanistan

·         Saru Veerji- Shaolin Kung fu scholar from Nepal

To promote the sport among enthusiasts an exhibition of martial art forms and its rich history was organized in addition to the seminars and workshops by leading experts. The festival aptly offered a platform to Martial art practitioners for talent showcasing. The workshops and seminars held for the beginners and enthusiasts were engaging and action oriented. Participants were given certificates on successful completion of workshops and seminars.

Source: Lokesh Shastri