Bhubaneswar
He took a shot at Wushu and walked off with Bronze at the State-level meet. He tried his hand at Kickboxing and bagged Gold at the State-level tournament. Then he changed track to take a plunge in Thai Boxing, and won Gold at the national championship. Finally, he made his tryst with Pencak Silat and pocketed Silver.
Meet Chandra Sekhar Majhi of steel city Rourkela of Sundargarh, Odisha, and you will discern a splendid synthesis of several martial arts in the gait, get-up and game of this Bhuyan tribal boy, a 12th class student of Deepika School.
Though he has come out with flying colours in several branches of martial arts, this 17 years old boy, the youngest son of a police sub-inspector, is now going great guns solely with Pencak Silat.
Originating from Indonesia, Pencak Silat is a fighting sport which encompasses martial arts of various styles and involves striking, grappling techniques, and throwing. Fighters are allowed to use certain types of weapons. It involves full-body fighting, where any part of the body can be used and any part of the body can be attacked. It originated as a means of self-defence and turned into a competitive sport. It is now played in many South Asian countries including India.
Ask him about his ambition and he tosses off his prompt answer: “My Pencak Silat will make a splash one day at the international arena.”
“When I was in Class III of St. Gorgeous School in Rourkela, I went in for Wushu. Then I made my toehold in Kickboxing and continued practicing both types of martial art under coach Jitendra Kumar Yadav, founder of Rourkela- based JK Martial Arts Academy,” Chandra Sekhar told The Indian Tribal.
Chandra, who has proved his mettle in umpteen bouts inside the ring, had been a ‘perfect’ sluggard and late-bedder, according to his father Golbadan Majhi.
“Chandra, a sort of a laggard in his studies, was too indolent to have the get-up-go spirit of a sportsman that I wanted him to be. So I forced him to get up early and practice martial arts under coach Jitendra Kumar Yadav,” said Golbadan Majhi, a sub-inspector with the Raibaga police station adjoining the steel city.
Chandra’s family belongs to village Padmapur in Sundargarh district, but it is now residing in Rourkela, as his elder brother Ripu Sudan Majhi is the assistant agriculture officer in Panposh near the steel city.
Rourkela, according to Chandra, provided him with immense scope to learn and hone the skills of different martial arts under coaches Jitendra Kumar Yadav and Sarat Kumar Das that he would not have got in his native village.
“While Jitendra Sir trains me thrice a week, Sarat Sir devotes his valuable time to spruce up my skill before the commencement of every major competition at the state and national level,” Chandra said.
Chandra, as a sub-junior, had made his debut at the State Taekwondo/KIckboxing/Karate championship in Rourkela in 2015, and walked off with Gold in Kickboxing. He repeated the feat in 2016 when he achieved the top-notch position in the same category at the Odisha State Kickboxing Championship in Jharsuguda.
However, he had to be satisfied with Bronze at the State Wushu Championship in 2016 in the sub-junior category in Bhubaneswar. Though a novice with two years of training, he replayed his success story in 2017 in the same category to win Bronze at the State Wushu Championship in the state capital.
“I had been learning Wushu and Kickboxing simultaneously. But I practiced Kickboxing more that fetched me Gold,” Chandra said.
Coach Jitendra echoed a similar view. “Chandra’s tilt towards Kickboxing was more. So he practiced his Wushu less, as a result of which he had to satisfy himself with Bronze. Later he shunned Wushu altogether to switch over to other branches of martial arts,” said Jitendra, who is also the general secretary of Sundargarh Yogasana Sports Association.
But when Chandra had his truck with Thai Boxing, he exhibited his excellence at the All Odisha Biju Patnaik Memorial Thai Boxing Championship, 2021 in Angul, and at the Odisha State Thai Boxing Championship in 2022. He won Gold at both the meets.
“Chandra went on practicing for about five hours a day before the commencement of the state-level Thai Boxing championship in Angul, as a result of which he suffered sprain in his neck. Yet he walked off with Gold. This reflects his deep-rooted diligence and determination,” said coach Sarat Kumar Das, the general secretary of Sundargarh Pencak Silat Association and Director of Rourkela-based Martial Arts Academy.
But he failed to win Gold at the National Thai Boxing Championship (Junior-boys), 2021, in Goa, and returned with Silver. “I bagged Silver by defeating my Telangana opponent and lost Gold to my Maharashtra counterpart, as I lost my pace and agility at the nick of the moment,” Chandra said. “I did not take part in the National Thai Boxing Championship in 2022 held in Amritsar, as coach Sarat Sir advised me to concentrate solely on Pencak Silat,” he added.
Chandra did focus only on Pencak Silat and mounted the podium at the state-level meet at Bargarh in 2022 for Gold to fall into his kitty. Again he showcased his tact and tactics at the state-level championship in Khordha and came out triumphant with Gold in 2023. However, beaten by his Uttarakhand opponent at the national championship in Patna in 2023, he lost Gold by inches.
During the semifinal bout, he sustained a serious knee injury caused by a swift and severe sweep of his Maharashtra counterpart at the National Championship-2023 in Patna. Despite the painful knee injury, he never retired hurt and continued combating. Finally, his Maharashtra opponent was trounced and Chandra won Silver.
“In a sweep, the Uttarakhand counterpart of Chandra hit his knee injury in the final in Patna, and Chandra was knocked out. However, Chandra has the stamina, swiftness and skill that will help him bask in international limelight one day. What he needs is continuous practice and more experience. Besides, his height (170 cm) is his major asset that can stand him in good stead when he is having a bout with his opponent,” said coach Sarat.
“Chandra like our other trainees needs to practice on interlocking mats on which the martial art competitors play out their games. A mat costs around Rs. 1100 each and about 30 such mats are used at a national championship. When our players play their game on the mats, they feel uncomfortable. But we cannot afford to have the costly mats, as each spot of the fight needs about 30 of them. Therefore, government ought to provide basic requirements like mats and body guards for many medalists like Chandra of our state to come up,” he added.
