"That was the toughest moment of my life" - Sohail Khan's journey from school suspension to kudo domination at national level

Sohail Khan is probably the reason for many of us to take notice of an obscure sport called Kudo in India. The youngster suffered a suspension from the Mahar Regiment Public School in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. But, rather than getting discouraged, he focussed his energies on becoming a successful practitioner of this martial arts form.

Kudo is a mixed martial arts combat sport that originated in Japan and is currently recognized by 10 national Olympic countries with over 50 member nations participating in global competitions. It’s similar to Karate and Taekwondo.

To simplify, Kudo is a mixture of all martial arts where one is allowed to punch, kick, throw (the opponent), use elbows, knee hitting, and ground fight. Sohail’s journey to Kudo is even amusing for all the kids out there who have been constantly targeted by their teachers in their academics at some point.

While studying in the seventh grade at the Mahar Regiment Public School, a close friend of Sohail filled up a classmate's water bottle with sand. As a consequence, the mischievous boy and Sohail were suspended from the institution, though the latter denied any involvement.

Speaking to Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview, Sohail Khan said:

“I defended (myself), but at that time, the principal or teachers or anybody didn't want to listen even to us. Because that's a serious issue in that school. So, they don't even listen to whether you've made a mistake or not. I mean trying to find out whether these kids are at fault or not. So, they didn't try that much and then they directly suspended me for, I think, 6 months or 8 months.”

He added:

“And that was one of the toughest moments of my life. Because at that time, I faced my parents being called in the school, they were crying, I was crying. And seeing your parents crying in front of you, that's the worst thing in your life, I can say. So, that was the toughest time I can say that I was in my life.”

Sohail Khan's journey takes a new mode

The harsh punishment was not just a learning curve for the young lad but it certainly paved the way for him. To change his behavior after the ‘sandgate’ instance, the 12-year-old joined Mohammed Ajaz Khan at his academy.

Ajaz, whom Sohail calls a father-figure, inspired the youngster to participate in all combat sports like Karate, Taekwondo, and Kudo. Sohail found his joy in the latter, and hence, a journey embarked from there.

In the 2017 Kudo Junior World Championship held in Mumbai, Sohail emerged as the world champion after a dominating display against France in the final with a thumping 8-0 win.

He has won 18 national titles in a row, which also includes sweeping the domestic season last month in Surat. He bagged the titles in the 14th Kudo National Tournament, 4th Federation Cup, and 15th Akshay Kumar International Kudo Tournament.

Despite the tremendous success so far in his career, at the age of 23, Sohail still doesn’t feel satsified with his status of being an international player.

“I will tell you honestly, I still feel that the international level is ok, but I still need to do more. International level is getting selected in championship, representing in country, so it is ok in that. But I can still feel that I need to grow more from the international level. I still need to match more standards.

“But I don't feel that only representing country is enough. If I think for myself as an Indian, for the country, then representing should not be a big pride in itself. But winning a medal internationally, I think is a great pride for me.”

The Madhya Pradesh youngster hasn’t got enough opportunities to participate in international events. Perhaps, when he does get more opportunities, he would have the medals he looks for.

Indian players spend out of their own pocket for Kudo World Championship

In May this year, Sohail Khan represented India at the 6th Kudo World Championship in his first overseas tournament, where he made it to the quarterfinals.

Surprisingly, the Indian Kudo players were required to spend from their own pockets to participate in the competition. For Sohail, whose expenses went approximately to ₹3 lakhs for the trip to Tokyo, 50 percent of the amount was supported by his sponsors with him shelling out ₹80,000 from his own pocket.

This, even though the Kudo Federation of India is recognized by the Sports Ministry.

“That is the most embarrassing thing, that we are going to represent India but we are not getting any funding from the government. It's (the federation has) been recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs but still they haven’t funded for that tournament,” a disconcerted Sohail said.

“Later on, the federation has funded the tournament fees for all the students who have represented India. The rest of the funding we just need to ensure from ourselves, that traveling expense, food, kits, so everyone had to do that on their own,” he added.

Sohail lost to Lithuania’s Vilius Tarasevicius, a two-time silver medallist, in the quarterfinals. Sharing his learnings from the bout, he mentioned:

“He (Vilius) is a good player, amazing reactions and all. The only thing I find is that now I need to learn more. Still, I just need to learn more. It's my first international experience out of India. And this time, I represented in senior category. So. it's a big difference between India and internationally. What we see is that internationally, it's not going to be that easy as we think of in India.”

Sohail Khan's father not against his passion but certainly worried

Sohail’s mother Sharifan B is a retired service inspector in Madhya Pradesh Police and his father Fareed Mohammed is in the agriculture department of the Chattisgarh government.

Taking one of the wittiest quotes from a famous comedian from his state, Zakir Khan, Sohail says that, "Your parents are not against your dreams, they just don't want to see you poor."

The response came in when asked about how his parents thought of his sports career. His father has no objection to his passion for Kudo but often advises him to have a long-term goal with the notion of getting settled in life.

“I mean, the main problem every sportsperson faces is that okay, sports is a different thing, but along with that, 'Are you studying or not? Are you preparing for the competition or not? Will you get a job or not? Or, do you have to do this thing that you want to go with this thing?'” he mentioned.

“My mom is very supportive in terms of sports and all. I mean, dad still says that yes, it's okay, it's good, we are doing good, but take it along with it and do other things,” he further said on family support.

From getting rusticated to being dubbed as Golden Boy of Madhya Pradesh, Sohail Khan has grown with leaps and bounds with the sky being the only limit. Reacting to the moment when he heard this moniker for the very first time, the Sagar-born player revealed:

“This title (Golden Boy of MP) has been given by Patrika under the article ‘40 most powerful people in Madhya Pradesh’. They gave this title to me and I was kind of - ‘At least we are getting some recognition’, at least few of the people are watching that there is someone from city, from a small town coming, going internationally, representing our country, winning such a glory to a state and district.”

Sohail’s final message is more recognition for the sport as he has a firm opinion that India can be a powerhouse in the years to come by going neck and neck with Japan and Russia. He also believes that Kudo plays a vital role in individual self-defense, calling it a bigger deal than competition.