Keeping The Light On - Taekwondo

By Alden Clark
Published in Taekwondo Times, July 2000

Tae Kwon-Do has taken Abhai Singh Rathore on a journey from his native land of India to Korea and to the United States.  Now his goal is to take his journey full-circle back to India where his life and dreams began.

Master Singh plans to return to his homeland to build a martial arts university (similar to one he attended in Korea) in India.  He hopes to establish a facility where hundreds of students from beginner to first Dan black belt and beyond would hone their skills and become superior students, instructors and masters of Tae Kwon-Do.

"My goal is to help people, " says the fifth degree black belt. "How can I help? I can only help through Tae Kwon Do."

Master Singh pioneered martial arts in India.  He started a school there in 1983 after studying with Grandmaster Chang Seong Dong who introduced Tae Kwon-Do to India. The school was first established as the Delhi Tae Kwon-Do Training Institute. It was renamed Sang Rock Tae Kwon-Do School in 1987 after receiving accreditation from Grandmaster Chang Seong Dong who owns the Sang Rock World Tae Kwon-Do Academy in Seoul, South Korea. The school in India has trained more than 50,000 students, including more than 200 black belts.

He is also a qualified International Referee in the World Tae Kwon-Do Federation, and his certification is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Lucknow University, Lucknow, India.  He is a World Tae Kwon-Do certified International Master Instructor, and his students have participated in national and international championships in India, South Korea, the Philippines, Great Britain, the USSR, and the United States.

India presents unique challenges.  In America and Korea, many Tae Kwon-Do masters and grandmasters have expertise in organizing events and raising funds for their activities.  In India, there is no such network of experience and leadership. But he still thinks that the potential for Tae Kwon-Do in India is great, even if martial arts skills and organization are lacking.

While in India, he worked hard to promote Tae Kwon-Do by talking to journalists and politicians.  He tried to gain government support for Tae Kwon-Do.  His list of students  and acquaintances include a former Prime Minister, an ambassador, a woman who won a gold medal in Korea, an Indian Federal Agricultural Minister, and a State Tourism Minister, among others.

In spite of his efforts, the Indian Tae Kwon-Do community remained chaotic.  There were many federations, but little leadership.  The lack of organization led to a lack of financial backing and, finally, to what he sees as a lack of determination among Tae Kwon-Do practitioners to grow the Art in India.

He also made mistakes with his own school as he later came to realize. Master Singh did not charge those who were unable to pay because he wanted to make Tae Kwon-Do available to all classes of people. Unfortunately, he ended up with a situation where most of his students did not pay, making it difficult for his school to succeed financially.

Master Singh decided to move to the United States in August 1993 to teach at Black Belt World, Inc. in Raleigh, NC, which had an enrollment of several hundred students.  He opened his own school, Sangrock International Tae Kwon-Do, in Matthews, NC, near Charlotte, in early 1998.  It has since grown to more than 100 students and continues to grow in number.  He has led both his Indian and American student competitors and demonstration teams to consistently provide a positive view of Tae Kwon-Do around the world.  The Korean Olympic demonstration team visited Matthews one weekend to help him promote Tae Kwon-Do in his community.  He is currently organizing a student demonstration team from the school that will also help to promote Tae Kwon-Do in the local community and eventually around the world.

Now he wants to have schools on two continents. He plans to live and keep his school , in the United States, while building and mentoring the school in India. "Just like two families, " he says. "Taking care of two families..."

He plans to build the school in a remote area of India where he owns land, rather than in Delhi where he established his first school.  He says he wants to work with students that understand commitment, devotion, honesty, and hard work.  If people have to make an effort to attend the school, he theorizes, they will be more likely to be dedicated to it.

And although he still plans to accept students who can't pay, he will require that they work in return for their instruction.  He found that in India, a more socialistic country than America, people often expect the government or some other entity to provide for them.  But he thinks that people gain more from training when they give something for what they get.

Right now he sees his new Indian school as a puzzle. He is gradually trying to put the pieces together, especially the financial pieces. He obtained a loan to get his North Carolina school started and he needs to make sure it is on solid financial ground to insure its continued operation. Whenever possible, he has been talking to masters and grandmasters to get ideas on how to best proceed.

The purpose of his efforts is to keep martial arts alive in both families, to "…keep the light on, not extinguish the candle…"