Work your body to work your brain

CHENNAI: While IIT Madras is known to be a place that exercises students’ brains, there is another side to it where students are encouraged to learn and train in the Korean martial art form, Hapkido along with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, calisthenics, and other strength training. Guhan G, who trains students of the IIT-M Hapkido Club along with Dr TM Muruganandam at the campus, says every semester 50-60 new students enrol themselves in the club.
The club was founded by Professor T M Muruganandam, 3rd dan in Hapkido and professor in Aerospace Department, in 2006 after having learnt the art form in the US from Black Knight Martial Arts School. “I had always been interested in martial arts, but I never got to do it. While doing my PhD, I attended a demo class and loved the art form and pursued it. After I finished my PhD, I came back to India and wanted to teach Hapkido to students and so I started the club,” he reminiscences.
He says Hapkido means ‘co-ordinated energy method’ or ‘the way of co-ordinating energy’. The art form uses the opponent’s energy or technique to counterattack them by either non-resistance or by redirecting the impact to the opponent. Hapkido has several techniques such as joint locks, kicks, strikes using the hands, elbows, and knees, falls, rolls, and throws, grappling and even the use of weapons such as nunchak, stick, short staff, long staff, knife and so on.
Talking about the other art forms students are trained in, Guhan says they also teach Judo throws and the grappling techniques in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a part of Hapkido. Other than that, students who are not a part of Hapkido and just want to work out are trained in calisthenics, strength training, muscle-building sessions, etc.
How does it help students? Guhan says more than training them for competitions or self-defence it is about offering them mental strength. “Because the art form requires you to do a lot of individual thinking, it forces you to make it a habit and you end up turning into a good problem-solver. Some of our female students have reservations and doubts about being able to break the tile or the fear of getting hurt while doing so. In due course, even though they might get injured, the satisfaction of being able to achieve something they thought was not possible keeps them going and makes them wonder how many more things they are stopping themselves from achieving,” he says.
Most of the students who join the club are introverts and so the trainers ensure they speak to each other and acquaint themselves before and while training. Once they are pushed out of their comfort zone, they become good team players and willing to work in a team, he adds.
“Hapkido is beyond a sport and as a means of self-defence. It is a place where students can broaden and strengthen their minds,” he says.