mangaluru although muay thai is perceived as a violent martial art form aggression is only in a controlled environment asserts mangalurean kaushik boloor the muay thai expert is one among the six selected from india to compete in the 2015 immaf world championships of amateur mixed martial arts mma to be held in july this year in las vegas usa were like monks this physical and mental discipline teaches us to remain calm in outside environs even when provoked said kaushik who is elated to be representing the country at the world event considered the olympics of fighters the mma world championship is touted as the worlds largest mixed martial arts celebration it saw 23 countries across five continents taking part in the first ever immaf world championships of amateur mma last year while muay thai forms the main arsenal of kaushik at the event since its mixed he will have to fight experts in kickboxing judo jiu jitsu and wrestling kaushik 29 was inspired by the 2003 tony jaa starrer ongbak muay thai warrior to learn this martial art form primarily i wanted to lose the extra kilos i weighed 100kg when i contemplated taking up muay thai though i have taken a decade to shed this extra 20kg the gradual transformation has made me fit and strong said kaushik a mechanical engineer who is primarily into photography and film making such was his obsession with the art that his honeymoon married last year to shilpa who is also an engineer took place in thailand where he was also undergoing muay thai i wanted to learn the art from the land where it originated and from the masters thats why i went to thailand a decade ago said kaushik who trained for three month at a stretch in a year at thailand he has reached the top having attained the fighters level shilpa likes the fact that im a fighter but is concerned about me taking part in an actual tournament which at times can be violent he said on the world championships he credits his participation to his mentor alan fernandes who is the first mma fighter from india mark my words mma will be as popular as cricket in a decade said kaushik who is now training hard before embarking on his las vegas journey a trainer at groundsport fitness a functional gym kaushik said learning martial art started as a hobby but i never thought i would fight on a big world stage other athletes representing team india are mohammed sohail from telangana association of mixed martial arts kantharaj shankar bhoopendra kumar navin rs shashi kumar n kaushik boloor all from karnataka state mixed martial arts association ksmmaa the team india head coach is alan fernandes