Kicking his way to the Guinness

KOCHI: For Midhun Jith, an attempt at a Guinness World Record is a dream come true. It has been a life-long ambition for this marine engineering student to make it to the World Records book, and now he is attempting to break two potentially hardest records in his quest for Guinness domination.The 22-year-old student kicks not just hard, but fast too - so fast that you barely have time to blink your eyes during his one-minute performance of a 200 odd kicks with one leg. He will be performing at Ernakulam Town Hall to put his name in the Guinness for the most martial arts kicks in one minute using a single leg towards the end of October.Two months ago, performing at the NMDC Auditorium, Wayanad, as a pre-attempt, he had delivered a rapid fire 288 kicks using his right leg and broke the previous Guinness World Record by Sidu Kshetri of Pune (168 kicks).But, in September Sidu’s record was broken by US citizen Role Mesa which is 281 kicks in a minute. Still, Midhun’s attempt is much bigger than the Guinness records.“Due to lack of media coverage, the earlier attempt at Wayanad went unnoticed. According to the Guinness officials’ directives, the pre-attempt to break the existing record is again scheduled to be held here in October end,” says Midhun Jith. “I have contacted the Guinness World Records officials through e-mails and after their directives I will perform towards the end of October,” he said.  Interestingly, Midhun is also attempting to break another record for the ‘most-round’ of house kicks during the same event. The previous ‘most-round’ of house kicks record is in the name of an Indian Jayanth Reddy. 171 kicks per minute is the record. A native of Wayanad, now settled in Ernakulam, Midhun has been practising karate from his childhood days, and got black belt at the age of 13. He has won several national championships in karate and competitions at the state and national levels. Besides Karate, he is also an expert in Judo, Taekwondo and wrestling. He also bagged first in ‘Thayambaka’ performance for five consecutive years in youth festival representing Wayanad. According to the rules, technically, one leg should be firmly rooted on the ground. The kicks with the other leg are directed at spiraling pads. A player is disqualified if both legs are in the air at any point of time or if the leg is changed. “When I was twelve, I saw the video of Fabian Cuenca breaking the Guinness world records in 2001 for the most martial arts kicks (128 kicks). After 10 years the record was not broken by anybody,” he said. Nurtured by the desire to create history, Midhun has set his aim on the existing record of 128 kicks in a minute considered the most difficult martial arts kicks category using one leg, held by a Spanish Taekwondo expert, Fabian Cuenca.“After that, Sidhu Kshethri and now Role Mesa broke the record of Cuenca. Recently, I found Role Mesa on Facebook and he gave me advice on how to practice and break his record,” Midhun says. Midhun, with the support of friends and teachers, have been practising over six hours everyday for the past six months. “I have just one goal in mind: creating a world record which would make my country proud. I thank my coach, Gireesh Perumthatta, for motivating me and being my role model in karate,” he said.“He is an extraordinary student. I have been training him since he was a child. He can surely break the record. I always wondered about his hard work and dedication in this field,” says Gireesh Perumthatta. Midhun is a final-year student of Euro Tech Maritime Academy, Ernakulam.  He is the son of Malayalam poet Mary Lilly. He has  a brother Nithin Jith, who is also a black belt in Karate.