Hanshi P V Prabhu
Sensei Prabhu was born on 4th April 1955 in Cochin, Kerala. His birth was in a noble Hindu Gowda Saraswath Brahamin (GSB) family. His poor financial conditions made him quit his school studies at the age of 14. But with sheer will power and burning desire to succeed in life he worked hard and completed his Matriculation and also pursued KGTE and PGDCA as higher qualifications
As a young boy he had passion for martial arts and its application in day to day life. He learned and practiced God’s own country’s martial art “Kalari” for over 3 years and also at the same time was practicing “Gusthi” (Wrestling). He made his place in wrestling by winning Freestyle Wrestling District Championship (Bantam weight) at the age of 20.
During his peak time in Kalari and Gusthi he was introduced to KARATE a Japanese martial art extremely new to Indians. Highly inspired by the speed, power and techniques of karate, he joined the KAI-SHIEN KAN Shito Ryu School of karate in 1978 at Cochin under Sensei Moses Thilak. He was in the 1st batch of Karate in Kerala under Sensei Thilak. After years of rigorous training he was awarded the BLACK BELT SHO-DAN-HO in 1983, in a 15 day camp held at Chennai under Dai Sensei Kenie Mabuni. Same year he was appointed as the instructor of cochin dojo by Sensei Thilak.
Black belt in Karate was his 1st recognition in this art, after which he won several district and state championships. He participated in the All India Shito-Ryu Karate Do Black belt Coaching Camp held at Alwaye, Kerala in September 1984 and achieved the Best Fighter Trophy in Shiai (Fighting) Tournament. On 21st July 1985 he emerged as the Open Kumite Champion and Kata runner-up in the 5th Kerala State Karate Championship held at Quilon.
The year 1986 was his best year when he wrote his name in the history of Indian Karate and Kerala Karate. That year in the month of August he won the Karate National Championship, the toughest Karate competition in the country held at Panjim, Goa. He defeated the best men from different states, trained under the greatest masters in the country, to become National Champion in Open Black Belt Individual Category in the 7th National Karate-do Championships. The same year he represented India and participated in the 8th World Karate Championships held in Sydney, Australia from 3rd to 6th October 1986. He won the championship at the age of 31 when he was married and was father of two girl children. His achievement came at a time when most people would leave Karate competitions thinking about their safety and future of their children, due to the high risk getting injured in the fighting championships. Till date he is the only person from Kerala who has won the National Championship in Open Black Belt kumite category.
In 1987 he achieved NI-DAN (2nd Degree) Black belt from Sensei Moses Thilak in a camp held in Kerala Region. He achieved SAN-DAN (3rd Degree) Black Belt from Sensei Moses Thilak in the camp held at Trivandrum. Same year he participated in the 8th National Karate-do Champion ships held at Lonavla, Mumbai and lead the Kerala Team. He was honoured with an opportunity to carry the National Games Torch, and hand over it to the then Ernakulam Sub-Collector Thara Sharafudhin at Karukutti, Kerala Border. He then achieved the NI-DAN from All India Karate-do Federation in 1988.
He achieved YON-DAN (4th Degree) in the year 1989. By this time he was the most famous Karate icon in the State. His name and achievements were filled in Malayalam as well as English dailies. In 1991 again he led the Kerala team in the 10th All India Karate Tournament held in Kerala. He shared space with many famous leaders and sports personalities like PT Usha during National Karate Championship in 1992. He held the office of General Secretary of KERALA KARATE ASSOCIATION during 1992 – 1996.
In 1995 he achieved the GO-DAN (5th Degree) in Black belt and was awarded the title SENSEI (MASTER) by Dai Sensei Moses Thilak, Sole Representative of All India United Shitoryu Karate-do Federation and Alan Thilak Karate School (International). In 1998 he achieved ROKU-DAN (6th Degree) and was promoted to RENSHI. He qualified referee tests and had been referee in various national tournaments. He was the General Secretary of Ernakulam District Karate Association (EDKA) from 1988 to 2005. He was elected the Vice President of Kerala Karate Association in 1997.
In 2016 he achieved Shichidan also know as Nanadan (7th Degree) from Karate Association of India. He established Karate all over Kerala by travelling and demonstrating Karate skills on the stages of various colleges and club auditoriums. He left no stone unturned to ensure the proper growth of karate in Kerala. He also took classes for free in order to make the art of self defense available to the poor who were interested in Karate.
In 2017 he achieved Hachidan (8th Degree) from Karate Association of India and from Okinawa Japan.
Since his early days in Karate he is still the best of the karate masters. He is having Karate Dojos and students all over the state who follow his path of spreading the noble art. Even at this age he surprises the youth with his amazing will, speed and power. His enthusiasm for the art can be clearly seen in his tireless efforts in conducting demonstrations, tournaments and tests for cultivating the spirit of karate in young minds.