'Gong-fu' with Kanishka Sharma

Remember the 36 Chambers of Shaolin? The Hollywood blockbuster showed what rigorous disciplines the monks of the Shaolin Temple go through to become a warrior monk. Well, now Mumbai will soon have its own Shaolin Monk to teach them the ancient art of Gong Fu. And who else can better do it than the first and the best Indian Shaolin Monk? Meet Kanishka Sharma, who is always on call for top Bollywood stars like John Abraham, Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra et al whenever they have to get kicking on the screen.

“I am working towards opening an academy in Mumbai where I can teach martial arts to the citizens of Mumbai. I haven’t finalised the location yet but in all probability, it will come up in Andheri west,” says Kanishka Sharma, the first Indian graduate of the original Shaolin Temple in Beijing.

“My teacher Xian Ji is the disciple of the first main guru of the Shaolin temple. I also had to go through numerous rigorous exercises to graduate from the temple. For example, I had to squat on a horse for hours together. At the end of the programme, I got a Chinese name too, it was Shiyong Xin. I want to impart the same quality of education in India,” says Kanishka, who also taught Akshay Kumar the Seven Deadly Arts in an international television reality show.

Sources also say that the school might also be used as training ground for Army commandoes though Kanishka remains mum for it. “All I can tell you is that I’m already a consultant with the Indian army and the patramilitary forces and I teach them martial arts. I also specialise in Pekidi-tirsia-kali, (a high-risk combat art that aims at killing your opponent),” he says, adding that he has also joined the special Indian Government cell that aims at countering terrorist attacks.