Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Oct 27: The twitteratti is abuzz after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that he has a black belt in Aikido. At an annual meet of the PHD Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, boxer Vijendra Singh asked Gandhi why politicians were not active in sports.

To this, Rahul said that sports has a significant place in his life. "I do exercise, run and swim, and I am a black belt in Aikido, but I don't speak about it publicly. Sports is very important to me and I spend at least an hour doing sports," he said.

Rahul's Aikido coach Sensei Paritos Kar has confirmed that Gandhi has been training in the Japanese martial art since 2009 and was awarded black belt in 2013 after he passed a test.

"Rahul has also been to Japan headquarters and stayed there for 10 days to master the martial art form," said Kar. He revealed that Gandhi has also trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from London and also knows sword fighting.

"Rahul practiced with his two other friends at his 12 Tughlaq Lane House. His mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Vadra often visit to watch his training sessions," he added.

Aikido is a representation of centuries of Japanese martial knowledge. It is one of the most widely practiced budo, or martial way, in the world. The sport was founded by Morihei Ueshiba early in the twentieth century.

The motive behind developing Aikido was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury.