Coimbatore: Observing that defense of almost all Karatekas in India was weak, Antonio Oliva Seba of Spain, a world leader in the study and teaching of tactics, said once this was rectified, India would be on top of Karate.
“Indians, though are very talented, they are bit emotional and once making an attack, they stand still without any defense,” Antonio told PTI. World Karate Federation Coach Antonio, who is here to train 70 Karatekas of the Indian Karate team, said the 30-day training would put them on par with International players in the Asian Championship to be held in Tokyo in September.
He said Indians were supreme in their own country and capable to fight among the countrymen. However, compared to Japan and other toppers, they were lagging behind in defense technique and become nervous at top level International matches, he said.
His advice to players was to provoke the opponent and attack and not stop in the middle and become a dominant fighter. Karate R Thiagrajan, President, Karate Association of India, who was monitoring the training, said of the 70 players, some 25 will be selected to represent India in the Asian championship and also Commonwealth Championship and World Championship at Jakarta in November.
The association will definitely bring in more foreign coaches in a gap of three months, to upgrade the skills of Karatekas, in this case Kumite, to make them number one in the World, he said.
At present, the country is ranked 40th in the world and 10th to 12th place at Asian level. Gold medal winners in the state level championship were selected for training, which include 25 girls and also a few from Army and Paramilitary forces, he said.
PTI
