Women Empowerment Through Martial Arts, the Sinew Way

Raina Assainar

What happens when three passionate martial artists from different professional background determine to keep India fit, come together- the answer is Sinew. A common mission with a common vision of three martial artists has led to the foundation of the social enterprise, Sinew, which aims to keep India fit and most importantly to train women to fight against all kinds of attack against them.

Based in Hyderabad, Sinew is a brain child of Yudhajit Baul- an ex- banker; Anil Kola – a SAP professional from US and M G Jaffar- a karate professional. Yudhajit, who has won various awards in State level and National level karate competitions, has been training in karate for last six years and judo for last three years. Anil, a ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified fitness trainer, has been training in karate for 15 years and also specialises on strengthening flexibility enhancement workouts through calisthenics and resistance training. Meanwhile, Jaffar, who is fondly known as Sensei has been training in karate for more than 20 years. He has dedicated his life to empowering students with dignity and confidence through the practice of karate.

Within a span of four months, Sinew has trained more than 700 women which includes trainees from a five-year-old to a 45-year-old in their workshop-‘Women Empowered’. During the initial phase of setting up the venture, when the country was ravaged by repeated incidents of crimes against women, the founders decided to introduce programmes in order to empower women with defense skills. During the course of research done by them, they discovered that there are 12 most common forms of attack against woman. “Interviews with law enforcement officials helped us know the kind of common attacks that the women in our country faced and we designed the curriculum for ‘Women Empowered’ accordingly. We train women on how to protect themselves, when they are being attacked in a moving bus, moving car, lift, parking space, park and when they are being attacked by multiple aggressors with or without weapon. We have made a 180 minute training workshop in which we train and educate them on many easy to apply techniques which anybody regardless of age or athletic ability can apply when encountered with adversity,” Yudhajit, founder and program-in-charge of Sinew said. This workshop builds confidence and mental strength in every woman to negotiate such adverse situations in a better way.

Sinew conducts workshops with corporates, schools, colleges and housing societies and as a part of their corporate social responsibility, they have been offering training program on self defence skills in orphanages and women rehabilitation centers as well. The Women Empowered workshop costs Rs 30,000 per batch and is conducted by corporates for their employees. Apart from the 180-hours workshop, the team also has a 15-months program, ‘Unleash your power within’ which has three levels. “The program focuses on integrating the forces of mind and body to achieve a desired result which can be achieved only when acted upon by the harmony of the forces of mind and body,” says Yudhajit. This program is designed for both men and women which helps the trainees to gain self confidence, courage and a ‘can do’ attitude. It teaches them to stay calm in face of danger and to respond consciously when physically and emotionally threatened. Besides, as an icing on the cake, one can lose weight and get the body toned as well. With its interactive sessions and workshops, Sinew has been a profit making venture from day one. Promoted via word of mouth and social media networking, Sinew is soon to go on air with the launching of a half an hour programme with a local channel in Hyderabad. The martial arts practioners in Sinew collectively share more than 40 years of experience of training on Karate, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu and they find no competitors for them. In coming months Sinew has plans to expand in all major cities including the places where the crime rate against women is high. Website: Sinew