Aurangabad: A taekwondo player of international repute has trained students of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation’s Kiradpura-based school in basics of the Korean martial art over the last three months.Raees Khan Shabbir Khan took the training for free in coordination with the municipal corporation.Khan, who runs the Taekwondo Dragon and Sports Academy in Aurangabad, has won several recognitions for the sport at national and international levels, including 14th Taekwondo Au Princess Cup Championship held in Bangkok.An alumni of the school himself, the athlete decided to train students in basics of Taekwondo following a discussion with municipal commissioner Nipun Vinayak. As many as 50 girls and 50 boys from classes V to X took part in the workshop.Kiradpura is a locality which is inhabited mostly by the lower-middle class and minority community. These families cannot afford expensive training for their children. Keeping this in mind, Khan wanted to train them. “Children from poor financial backgrounds rarely get identified for their talent and even if they do, they lack grooming. This session didn’t just allow us to groom them, but also helped the children in developing concentration, discipline, fitness and self-confidence,” he said.The session was also designed to give girl students lessons in self-defence. At first, the parents of students hesitated in sending their kids for the training, however, after attending the sessions, they voluntarily brought their daughters for training, Khan said. “The training has equipped the students to face a physical attack confidently,” he said.As part of the workshop, the trainers have also held counselling sessions of parents on ensuring good diet for the children.Khan said that some of these students, if they practice consistently, can perform taekwondo at national and international level championships.On Saturday, a programme for distribution of completion certificates, mementos and belts was held at Rahimnagar. Students who have successfully completed the training were conferred with yellow belt at the occasion by the municipal commissioner.The AMC has appealed to the Taekwondo Dragon and Sports Academy to conduct similar workshops for all its 72 schools.

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