Every child dreams of emulating their heroes when they grow up, but few get the chance to actually do so.
Vishen Bhoonpershad, though, has made his dreams come true.
Growing up watching a lot of martial arts inspired movies and television shows, Vishen dreamed of emulating idols like Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee.
As a Ni-Dan (Second Degree Black Belt) in JKA Shotokan Karate, Vishen is now someone his students hope to emulate one day. As an instructor and competitor, Sensei Vishen isn’t just tasked with focusing on his own karate, but also is responsible for each student who enters his dojo.
And while he watches his students grow in the sport, he can also fondly think back over his time in karate. His journey in the karate world started at eight years old and like many children, there were times when he didn’t want to go to training. Motivated by his parents, who told him they had paid for lessons so he needed to go, he continued and his perseverance paid off. “It helped me a lot as a child to realise that no matter what you are going through, you still need to pick yourself up and get on with life.”
While Vishen has trained with Judo-ka and had MMA athletes visit the dojo, his martial arts love has always been karate. His love for the sport has taken him far and wide, and also brought him great success. His greatest achievements have been representing his country in 2015 at the first JKA All Africa Cup, followed by representing SA again at the 14th Funakoshi Gichin Cup Karate World Championship in Ireland in 2017, and teaching and overseeing the training of young students to Black Belt level.
Vishen also recently won the Men’s Elite Senior Open Kata title at the Northern KwaZulu-Natal JKA Provincial Championships. Despite his numerous achievements, Vishen still hopes to accomplish more in the future for himself and his students. “I hope to represent my country at least one more time before shifting focus onto grading and teaching only.”
While an accomplished martial artist himself, Vishen is also very passionate about teaching students and encouraging new students to join. “If you have ever wanted to learn self defence, keep fit, meet new people and make new friends or just do something as a family, karate is for you. You can start as young as six years old and train until you’re 96; there is no limit. It will boost your self-confidence, help you to remain humble and will give you an outlet. When the days are rough, train to help ease your mind and release stress. When the days are good, train to maintain your balance of body and mind.”
With Covid-19 taking hold, dojos have been closed, but Vishen is training alone at home, sharing the experience with other karateka via video call. “The health and safety of our students and competitors is first and foremost my top priority. And while we don’t have any competitions to compete in this year, which is disappointing, it gives us more time to train and prepare for next year’s competitions,” concluded an optimistic Vishen.
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