Thrilled
with
the
response
to
his
all-India
karate
championships
in
the
last
two
years,
akshay
kumar
plans
to
make
it
an
international
event.
He
wants
children
from
other
Asian
nations
to
participate.
The
championship
hosted
by
the
actor
is
very
popular,
and
children
of
all
ages
participate
in
it.
The
actor
feels
that
it
should
no
longer
be
restricted
just
to
India.
Says
an
insider,
"The
South
Asian
countries
are
far
ahead
of
us
in
martial
arts
and
Akki
feels
fighting
them
and
interacting
with
them
will
benefit
those
learning
the
art
here.
He
wants
the
children
here
to
have
exposure
to
the
best
karate
fighters
and
teachers.
“He
wants
children
to
learn
martial
arts
with
the
same
passion
and
dedication
as
children
in
other
South
Asian
countries
do.
Like
a
boy
from
a
every
rural
family
is
sent
to
the
armed
forces
to
become
a
soldier,
he
hopes
that
a
child
from
every
family
will
be
enrolled
in
karate."
The
Khiladi
admits,
"Yes.
Taking
the
championships
to
an
international
level
is
on
the
cards.
The
response
we
have
received
over
the
last
few
years
has
been
phenomenal.
We
have
received
over
5300
applications
in
the
last
15
days.
I
am
confident
we
will
see
success
even
with
an
international
karate
championship.
India
has
some
extreme
talent
and
I'm
doing
all
I
can
to
expose
it.
I
couldn't
be
more
pleased
with
every
single
one
of
them.
“All
the
adults
and
children
take
this
competition
very
seriously;
every
opponent
was
there
to
win,
and
there
are
guys
and
girls
who
can
seriously
kick
ass....
I
have
already
prepared
them
for
the
fact
that
next
year,
we
are
making
my
tournament
international
and
that
countries
such
as
Malaysia,
Thailand,
Japan,
Indonesia,
will
be
competing
with
India's
finest
karate
champions.
I'm
already
looking
forward
to
next
year!
Karate
will
one
day
be
our
national
sport
or
at
least
in
our
top
two."
Apart
from
inviting
international
karate
students,
Akki
is
also
planning
to
host
the
international
championship
at
a
foreign
city
with
a
tie-up
with
the
host
country.
However,
Akki
maintains,
"Right
now,
I
want
to
host
the
championships
only
in
India
and
I
want
to
show
the
world
what
a
great
host
India
is."
Story first published: Tuesday, November 2, 2010, 16:48 [IST]