BY Firewheel@MCM

KUALA LUMPUR, Cheras, 22 April 2008 – National Karate Champion, PUVANESWARAN

On the second part of this article, MCM rung up another hero. This time it is Mr.Puvaneswaran a/l Ramasamy, aged 34, born & lives in Kuala Lumpur.

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Weighed below 55KG, he was the holder for:

1. Asian Karate Championship, NILAI 2007 – Gold Medal
2. Sea Games, KORAT 2007 - Gold Medal (Individual)
3. Sea Games, KORAT 2007 - Silver (Team Kumite)
4. KOI Club World Cup, BULGARIA 2007 - Bronze Medal

The listed doesn’t end here. Those were his most recent achievements. In all, his haul of medals includes a total of:

1. 4 SEA GAMES Gold Medal,
2. Asian Games - 1 Gold, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze.
3. Asian Karate Championships – 3 Golds ( 1995,2001 & 2007 ) 1 Silver (2005)

So now, what do you think of him now? Need more? Okay. He is also a 14th times National Champions and once a semifinalist at our national level. I thought to myself, this is mad. Yes, mad it is but it is also the truth. The record is nothing but huge and bloating. I can start imagining all the hardship and pains he has gone through without him telling me.

The truth came as I imagined how it would. Puvaneswaran or just ‘Puvan’ and that’s how I address him, owes his heroic story to hard work.. tonnes of them. Together with lots of sacrifices..money, time which equates to his ‘youth’. He traded all of them for one thing – Karate! “it also requires a lot of commitments, dedications and self discipline”, he added with much emphasize. And also, having to thank his good coach, Sensei P. Arivalagan & SHIHAN Ponniah.



Puvan met Sensei P. Arivalagan, who was the national during 1989 at La Salle, Sentul . “At that time, Ari (P.Arivalagan) was a famous Karate fighter!”he sang his praises. Puvan’s stint under Ari has made him picked up on the fast track. By 1990, he became a member of the Junior National Team. His coach was his idol. And everything seems to fall in places for him since. That includes the Sec. General of Malaysia Karate Federation , SOKE Clement Soo who has been a good motivator and someone he regarded as the ‘boss’ of Karate. SOKE Clement has given him uncountable words of support and played a significant role in Puvan’s Karate carrier.

Puvan is now pursuing his carrier with Persatuan Karate Hayashi Ha where the president is none other than SHIHAN Ponniyah and Sensei Ari as the Sec. General. For him, this is the best karate club. Puvan is thankful with the club he joined as a kid for hobby. It started as a small club which has turned into a big one in the present day. The club is also the proud owner of a 10 times National Champion!

Who do you think Puvan wish to thank most? - His mum, Madam Letchumi Kantha, for all her words of encouragements. Not to mentioned, Sensei Ari, SHIHAN Ponniyah and SOKE Clement and the National Sports Council for the subsidies and allowance that allows him to pursue his quest in karate. Also, the Wilayah Persekutuan Sports Council for his pocket money and incentives during games abroad, the Sports Minister and the Olympic Council of Malaysia and the media.

At this point, I actually went a little fast and moved on with my next question before Puvan pull the brakes on me. He managed to thank his beautiful wife, Madam Jayalalitha for sacrificing their time to be together and her understanding. It looks like this tough guy does have his romantic side- a perfect gentleman indeed!

Like most, his favorite martial arts stars were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. Puvan’s ambition is to be a National Coach one day. To assist his current coach, Sensei Ari and excel.

At the end of our conversation, i thought it was a kind of unexpected friendliness from our national champion. Anyway .. he is someone you can't tell over the phone lines that he can kick-butt, given the polite speech and full of excitement .. just like a kid receiving candy! No kidding, Is he is really 34? Martial arts ...

MCM wish Puvaneswaran best of luck!

‘If you want to be a champion, do not give up in the early stage. Take losing positively. These are steps to become a winner. Do not give excuses not to train but instead find ways to train’ – Puvaneswaran.




Watch out for the next article of the ‘fantastic 4’ part 3 … with Lim Yoke Wai! Thank you for visiting MCM.