Shillong, July 9: The All Meghalaya Karate-Do Association (AMKA) was founded in 1981 and has been working diligently towards promoting the martial art form in the state for more than 40 years now.
AMKA has sought to reassure parents of young karatekas that the Association is continuing on with its efforts. This reassurance has been necessitated after several concerned parents have expressed confusion when it emerged that a new karate body is hosting a tournament in Shillong this weekend.
AMKA was officially registered in 1987 and was granted recognition by the All India Karate-Do Federation (AIKF) in 1988 after the enduring effort of members of the Association under the leadership of the late Sensei Stephan Leong.
In 1993 AMKA was recognised by the Meghalaya Government and the State Sports Council of Meghalaya and in 1996 by the Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA). It continues to remain the only karate association affiliated and recognised by the MSOA.
AMKA President Hunlang Lytan said, “The public knows that for the last 42 years AMKA has been working to promote karate in Meghalaya. In that time, we as an Association have produced many national and international karatekas who have brought much honour to the state. Now another association has come out and so many parents and youngsters are confused by this.”
Karatekas under the AMKA umbrella have participated and won medals at the National Games and SAFF Games. The Association’s karatekas also bagged second place for Meghalaya in the karate event at the 2nd North East Olympic Games 2022. Recently, Saralin Rynghang of AMKA was selected for trials to represent India at the Asian Games.
AMKA’s efforts start right at the grassroots, with its many branches in Meghalaya training up youngsters in the martial art form. The Association also annually organises school championships and statewide championships that see sub-juniors up to seniors take part. To build up the sport, referees and coaches also have to be developed and AMKA has not spared any effort in this regard.
Although AMKA wants to see the sport grow in Meghalaya, we are not convinced that a separate association is the way to go about it. And despite our decades worth of yeoman service, the first that AMKA was informed about this tournament was when the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs requested one of our centres to loan floor mats to the tournament organisers.
Nevertheless, AMKA was prepared to maintain a studied silence but it was then felt that a public clarification be issued after so many parents expressed confusion. As a result, the AMKA executive penned a letter to the state government with a copy to the MSOA and we are gratified to learn that the MSOA’s executive council plans to meet to consider ways to resolve the matter.
