Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday shared a video on martial arts sessions held at the camp sites of his East to West Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra earlier this year and said the “Bharat Dojo Yatra” is coming soon.
Dojo broadly refers to a training hall or school for martial arts.
“During the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, as we travelled thousands of kilometres, we had a daily routine of practising jiu-jitsu every evening at our campsite. What started as a simple way to stay fit quickly turned into a community activity, bringing together fellow travellers and young martial arts students from the cities we stayed in,” Gandhi said on X along with a video of the sessions.
During the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, as we journeyed across thousands of kilometers, we had a daily routine of practicing jiu-jitsu every evening at our campsite. What began as a simple way to stay fit quickly evolved into a community activity, bringing together fellow yatris and… pic.twitter.com/Zvmw78ShDX
—Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 29, 2024
“Our aim was to introduce these young minds to the beauty of the ‘Gentle Art’, a harmonious blend of meditation, Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido and non-violent conflict resolution techniques,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
“Our aim is to instill in them the value of transforming violence into gentleness, giving them the tools to build a more compassionate and safer society,” Gandhi said.
On this National Sports Day, he said he wanted to share his experience with people, hoping some of them will be inspired to practice the “gentle art”. “P.S.: India Dojo tour coming soon,” Gandhi added.
Gandhi undertook the over two-month-long Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that began from Manipur on January 14 and ended in Mumbai. It was a hybrid yatra that was the second leg of his previous Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir padayatra undertaken from September 2022 to January 2023.
In the video, Gandhi is seen conducting a session on martial arts techniques with children.
The Congress leader is seen telling the children that he is a black belt in Aikido and a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu. He teaches them various techniques and also makes them practice the “gentle art”.
