chandigarh when bikram thapa started his journey from darjeeling in 1991 he hardly dreamt that his talent would one day make him rub shoulders with the best in the world of martial arts and that too in the united states of americaa fivedegree black belt in choi kwang do a rare achievement in martial art that came into existence in late 80s and to india in 1992 thapa has been the ambassador of indian choi kwang do and has been working tirelessly for the growth of this art in the regionhailed as a better art form in comparison to other martial arts like karate and kung fu choikwang do emphasises on natural body movements without any jerk thus putting less pressure on body joints its an art which can be pursued by people of any age group as it does not lead to joint pains among the elderly as well as small children moreover there are no other ill effects that usually surface in people practising martial arts for a long time said thapa who was awarded the 5th degree black belt in atlanta us on february this year by the head of choi kwangdo federation it was his third visit to the country in less than 10 years more than 1500 exponents from over 40 countries participated in the meet and only nine of us were awarded 5th degree black belts said a proud thapa now elevated to the rank of marshal that means father of martial art thapa wants to spread this art in the tricity where hes based since 1992 choi kwang do isnt only a martial art form as it can also help in eradicating several stressrelated diseases like hypertension and diabetes which have become common he pointed out speaking about other benefits of the art he said that it could be effective for selfdefence and personality development the good thing about this art is that it can be an effective way of self defence as its can be easy to learnt by everybody due to easy body movements involved with the art he saidalready in the groove in city thapa and his academy is teaching the finer nuances of choi kwang do to over 4500 kids in some 20 schools across the tricity not satisfied with that thapa wants to take this art form to every age group and make it a healthy way of getting rid of various stress related problems we are hoping to take this art to every school college and to corporate offices as well so that choi kwang do can leave a positive impact on the lives of people who choose to practice it added thapa