Kudos for karate

Four-year-old Zidaan Kharadi of Surat won gold and a bronze medal at the 5th Akshay Kumar International Invitational Kudo Championship held in Bombay from October 30 to November 2, 2013. "At four, he was the youngest boy to participate in the tournament and he took part in the age group of six and above,” says his father Vispy, who is himself a martial arts exponent.
In August 2013, Zidaan participated for the first time in the Gujarat state kudo championship, winning a gold and silver apiece. "Frankly he is too young to understand the importance of martial arts. I have started training him and he likes it,” says the father. "Martial arts have impressed me from childhood. There is a connection between mind and body and that is what I look up to each day I practice because it helps towards acquiring life discipline, respect for all (especially opponents) and discovering strengths and weaknesses, all of which are crucial in today’s world.”

Vispy Kharadi and in action

"Sports and an inclination of opting for tough arts runs in the family and the credit goes to my father Jimmy who was a professional wrestler and mother Keshmira who was a volley ball player,” explains Vispy who is branch manager with Kotak Mahindra Bank in Surat, has an MBA (Marketing) from Gujarat University and portfolio management from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Vispy was part of the Gujarat team which created a Guinness World Record in the category of "Most Layered Nail Bed Sandwich” in 2011 for India (martial arts group). "For this record we have to lie on one another facing the sky but there are beds of nails in between. This means that not only are you sleeping on a bed of nails but there is an inverted bed of nails on your bare chest as well,” he narrates. The original record was in the name of Paul Adams of the United Kingdom. "They made a four-layered ‘sandwich’ and held it for a timing of five seconds, with the distance between each nail being half an inch. We broke this record on television on a show called AB INDIA TODEGA hosted by Preity Zinta on the Colors channel in February 2011. We made five layers and the timing was 26 seconds. The distance between each nail was one inch and the total height of the five layers was approximately 13 feet. I was second from the bottom, which is a very important position as the pressure of balancing the whole pile is on the people at the base. After holding it for 26 seconds, a concrete block right on top was broken by my senior and state president Renshi Vispi Kasad of Navsari.” Kazad’s brother Hanoz was the man right at the bottom.

The Guinness record breaking team on TV

Five-layered nail bed ‘sandwich’ with Vispi Kasad (in red), Hanoz Kasad and Kharadi 1^st and 2^nd from bottom

A minute mistake or hurry in the placing of the beds of nails would have caused a life-threatening injury. "The record was so dangerous that we needed big bouncers to bodily lift each one of us and place us on nails as well as lift us off quickly after the record as by that time the nails had already penetrated into each one of us,” he adds. The joyous approbation of the crowd and the elation that followed made it worth the pain and dedicated effort over years!
With varying degrees of black belts in Goju-Ryu karate, Aiki Jutjutsu and judo, Vispy is an official Krav Maga instructor for the Surat police and the Surrendranagar police. (Krav Maga is a self-defense system developed from a combination of techniques taken from boxing, judo, wrestling, etc, with a focus on real life situations and counter attack.) He also teaches women self-defense at different centers run by the Surat police. "All this is free service as part of my social work. I am also a part of the disaster management team under the leadership of Soshihan Mehul Vora to handle major events in India like F1 racing, Filmfare awards, etc.” Vispy is a member of NBSII [Nippon Budo Sogo International India (Japanese Martial Arts Society International India)], which is a registered charitable trust for promoting health and well-being through martial arts and sports, with Vora as founder and Bollywood star and martial arts man Akshay Kumar as chairman. "Akshay Kumar né malvuch (I want to meet Akshay),” chirps Zidaan who is in Junior K.G. at the J.H. Ambani School in Surat.