Teen sets world record with silambam team

Record-setters: Shree (front row, second from left) and a few of her teammates at a ceremony honouring their participation at the KWR event.

FROM young, Shree Shivani Sargunan, fondly known among her family and friends as Shivani, has been exposed to the martial arts, especially since her father believes in the importance of equipping his children in self-defence skills.

“I first learnt karate in primary school. An instructor taught us every Saturday,” the 17-year-old told StarEdu.

When the lessons ended abruptly, Shivani, who was then nine, decided to join the newly introduced silambam classes in her school.

“My brothers and I were the few students who signed up at first. As the years passed by, the number of students increased,” she recalled.That decision to dip her toes in the traditional Indian martial art form has given the student many fulfilling moments over the years.

Among them was the achievement Shivani and her teammates attained in September last year when they gained entry into the Kids World Records (KWR) for the “Most Kids Doing Virtual Silambam Stick Rotation”.

“A total of 231 of us aged from four to 16 from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Perak and Negri Sembilan took part in it,” said the SMK Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, student, who joined the event as a member of the Best Empire Silambam Academy.

“I’m fortunate to have been granted this opportunity and I’m very proud of what we achieved together,” she shared, adding that her parents were “super impressed and overjoyed” about it. “And like any other proud parent, my mum went on and on sharing the good news to our close relatives and friends,” she said.

For Shivani, the feat was especially memorable since the team achieved it under the circumstances presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to physical distancing requirements, they went online for their training which, she said, proved to be challenging.

“The greatest challenge we had was not being able to have face-to-face communication with our instructors when we wanted to clear our confusion regarding the silambam steps,” she explained. To overcome the problem, she took to recording videos of her rehearsal steps and sending them to her instructors for their reviews and feedback.

“Our instructors were always patient with us and that was exactly what we needed to help us pull through,” she said.

Shivani, who has often joined silambam competitions and performances, also won a bronze medal under the girls aged 15 to 25 category at the Kejohanan e-Silambam Johor 2021.

When asked how she motivates herself as a silambam exponent, she said she challenges herself to do better each day and from all the competitions she had taken part in. “We also have regular mini competitions between teams during our classes. It is healthy competition as we help each other to push past our limits,” she said.

Furthermore, the thought of making her parents, instructors, team and country proud drives her to give her best during training as well as in competitions.

In future, the dan black belt holder plans to teach new young silambam recruits, as well as promote awareness of the importance of self-defence among the younger generation.

“I will be able to relate to them and help them overcome their challenges during training as I have gone through it myself,” she said. Resonating with her father, she said it is crucial for one to have self-defence skills as these may come in handy in certain situations.

“We have to be alert and prepared to protect ourselves from any impending danger. We cannot rely on luck and think that someone else will be there to save us,” she said.

To those starting out in silambam, she had this to say: “Train hard, do your best and be proud of yourself. Always stay humble and be ready to learn new things, as well.”

Jorjeena, 17, a student in Kuala Lumpur, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team.