Interviewee: Kumar Karki

Interviewer: Priyanka Shrestha

Date: 09/07/2022

Location: Baltimore, MD

 

(this interview transcript has been translated from Nepali)

 

[0:00]

 

Priyanka: To start, can you tell me a little bit about where you grew up in Nepal?

 

Kumar: I was born in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal but largely grew up and lived in Kathmandu, Nepal. After that Nijgadh Bara was where I had my childhood and finished my SLC (standardized test after 10th grade in Nepal) and then came back to Kathmandu.

 

Priyanka: Can you tell me about your Taekwondo journey?

 

Kumar: To tell you about my Taekwondo journey, I started Taekwondo when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. At first, I started learning in my village. After I finished my SLC (standardized exams taken after the 10th grade in Nepal), then I came to Kathmandu and started learning again. In 1990, I won the national championship and from 1992 - 2002 I was part of the national team. I played on the national team for ten years and was able to compete in many different nations. I also won for Nepal in many places. While I was competing, I also trained others and have been teaching Taekwondo since 1991. That was in the James school— you might have heard of it— the GEMS school in Nepal. It used to be in Sanepa and is now in Dhapahkel. Then in 1995, under the Nepal National Sports Council in the government I began working as a Taekwondo coach. So I was continuing to both compete and teach at the time. And then around 2008 I moved to the U.S.

 

Priyanka: Why did you move to the U.S.?

 

[1:47]

 

Kumar: So it wasn’t really planned, right, because I had already come and gone four times before—

 

Priyanka: Did you come then to visit?

 

Kumar: No, at that time as well I came for my sport.

 

Priyanka: To compete?

 

Kumar: Not to compete. After 2002, I had basically retired from competing. After that my role was as a coach and as an official judge and referee. In 2007 for the U.S. Opens, one of the biggest tournaments, I was one of the first select Nepali judges. I came in that year, did my work, and went back to Nepal within a week. I did like that a few times and then the fourth time that I came we coordinated everything and came over as a family. We came for the kids.

 

Priyanka: When you came to the U.S. did you already have a plan that you would open a dojo?

 

Kumar: How it was was that, from before my profession was in the martial arts and Taekwondo. In Nepal I spent almost twenty years in that field. From a plain player to a national player, I spent that time there. From a plain coach to a national coach, I spent that time there. After that in the U.S., wherever, my plan was to be a Taekwondo coach and I had a goal of one day opening my own school. So I came in 2008 and then I started working as a Taekwondo coach in March 2009.

 

Priyanka: In another school, right?

 

Kumar: Yes, I first started in another school in Virginia in Grandmaster H.K. Lee Academy of TaeKownDo. After two years, in 2011, I was promoted to headmaster and then worked there until 2014. Then in 2015, I opened my own school, Everest World Class Taekwondo, in Baltimore.

 

Priyanka: You had spent many years teaching and judging Taekwondo in Nepal, was it the same to do that here or was it different?

 

[3:55]

 

Kumar: Teaching in Nepal and here is a little bit different. In Nepal we teach more geared towards competing in tournaments and championships. Here there is a more holistic approach. Obviously, teaching methods in Nepal and America are different. But for me, even before I came here, as a Taekwondo player, athlete, coach, I had gone to Korea many times for training. I went to Korea nine times actually. Because when we were on the national team we would go to Korea for our training in the universities. Four times I went as a player. And then after 2002 I went as a coach, since Taekowndo is an Olympic sport. And then I got my Taekwondo masters from Korea in 2006, we have exams in Taekwondo to become a master. I went five more times to become a master. You learn many things there, they teach you a lot.

 

Priyanka: Did you know other Nepalis when you came to the U.S.?

 

[5:11]

 

Kumar: There wasn’t usually too many people, I had my friend, he’s also a martial artist, a kickboxing world champion in which he won a medal, his name is Bhatkiashram Bista. He helped me a lot when I was first coming here. Now there is a lot, there’s a lot of growth. If we’re in Baltimore, there are a lot of Nepalis in Baltimore. Even within a smile 20 miles there are almost 40,000 people. But in my school only 10% are Nepali. Because all the Nepali’s are a bit busy. Actually it’s also like this: I see around 20% of Nepali people giving time to their kids. Wherever I go I say, it happens like this. People come to America and we especially say we’re coming for our kids, but I see them giving a little less time to their kids, almost a lot of people do that. Because America is the land of opportunities and here kids are not going to be competing with other Nepalis, right. Here they have more resources. So because of that parents want their kids to learn everything they can in elementary school, middle school, high school. As much as they can go and learn from extra electives, as a swimmer, surfer, martial artist— anything. I think it's important to be involved in those. Every time I say this to people in the Nepali community because I’ve seen a lacking of this. But I do see about 20% of Nepali parents giving time to their kids, taking them from place to place, I always see the poor parents being very busy.

 

Priyanka: When you came to the U.S. was there anything in particular that was hard to assimilate to or hard to understand about the U.S.?

 

[6:55]

 

Kumar: It was like this, when you come to the U.S. usually at the beginning you don’t know the system here. Like how to open my school, it’s not like I lived here before, but I knew how to from having spent 20 years in Nepal and elsewhere teaching and doing training, I knew the ways, but I still had to learn this country’s system, right. So it took four or five years to familiarize myself with the system. That was a little different, so where I worked before (Grandmaster H.K. Lee Academy of TaeKwonDo) I got a very good opportunity. Such as learning the management there—it was a big school—and I learned how it was run, how does the system here work, I didn’t have knowledge on that. Also, after someone says they are going to do something and they make a goal, people become more interested which made it easier later too.

 

Priyanka: It’s quite a big thing to open your own business, especially after moving to the U.S. What helped you the most, was it the first teaching job you had?

 

[7:52]

 

Kumar: That’s the main base, that’s the foundation and then I learned much here. But also, already in Nepal my field was being a martial art athlete and coach. Even in Nepal I produced over 1000 black belts, I had national level players in Nepal. After coming here and becoming a master at the old school I produced national level players. Even at my owns school now, every year my team becomes team champions and we’ve already produced national level champions. This already feels like a big achievement to me. Another thing is that through the martial arts kids can be put on the right track, physically, mentally, socially, they engage with those and learn what they need to do. We don’t just teach them kicking and punching, but say that Taekwondo and the martial arts is a way of life. What we do in everyday life— that is the martial arts. We need to teach kids they are really talented. We are all unique; no one’s like me or like you. And kids might think “oh that person’s better than me” and to get rid of that we always encourage and motivate the kids by telling them, “You are a unique person, there is no one like you, you are the best. Always think you are the best.” So this is a motivation, it’s a way to encourage kids to stay on the right track and makes our (dojo) community strong. Usually when kids go to high school they can go on the wrong track and the martial arts can really help control that and stay on the right track and by doing this, the person that I am, I am really proud of myself.

 

Priyanka: That’s right, the martial arts is not just punching, kicking, but is also about teaching discipline and values. When you are teaching martial arts, do you see Nepali values integrated into your teachings?

 

[9:54]

 

Kumar: Of course. After opening this school, as the person who runs it I am Nepali. And on Saturdays and Sundays, Nepali language and culture, because kids who were born here don't speak Nepali. Before the pandemic for one and a half hours every week, once a week, we would teach Nepali language.

 

Priyanka: Here in the dojo?

 

Kumar: Right here in the dojo. We had almost 50 - 100 kids. And also for Nepali culture we would do dance classes here once a week. And sometimes famous Nepali artists like Dilip Rayamajhi and Sarangha Shrestha when they had time would come. After the pandemic we’ve briefly stopped, but the future plan is to continue. This is because since we are here we want our kids to preserve and learn Nepali culture. Many people’s kids don’t speak Nepali and that also encourages them to bring their kids because if tomorrow let’s say their grandparents come from Nepal, not all of them speak English.

​

Priyanka: What is the Nepali martial arts community like here?

 

[11:00]

 

Kumar: Yes, there is a Nepali martial arts community. If we’re talking about Taekwondo, Karate, other martial arts, there are a lot in Nepal and America. Everyone is doing good in their own places. Mostly for Taekwondo, we are in a lot of places. We have schools in Texas, Michigan, Portland, in California. It’s growing right now. I consider my job not just myself, but to also motivate others as well. If they require anything, teaching them, helping them. I’m doing that as well, making time for it. Not just here, helping in Nepal, too.

​

Priyanka: Could you talk a little bit about helping in Nepal?

 

Kumar: In Nepal we do what we can. You’ve heard of the name Maiti Nepal, yes?

 

Priyanka: Yes, I’ve heard of the name.

 

Kumar: We helped establish Maiti Nepal Taekwondo ourselves. We are still helping them today and started around—since I’ve started here—so 2015, 2016. For women there’s another school in Lubhu, there in Mahalaxmi High School we have another school, I did business there. There, there are kids below the poverty level studying there and we are helping with Taekwondo there. In the very poor parts of Nepal we give equipment, as many people in those parts are in need since they don’t have the proper equipment, they are playing outside in the dust. We came from that as well, right, so we are doing what we can to help them. Plus, we have done two competitions, the first and second Everest Open National Taekwondo Championship. For that we organized everything from here and we have a branch school there.

 

Priyanka: You teach discipline and Nepali values here in the dojo, do you do the same at home?

 

[13:01]

 

Kumar: No it’s not like that at home— well, my family are Taekwondo masters. My wife, she is also a national player for Nepal. My daughter is also good, she is starting college now, and she’s also a master. She is 4th dan. And those trophies that you see outside, those are trophies she won. She’s already a season player. Now she’s focusing a bit more on academics, but she’s helping me here in the evenings as a master. My son is small, he’s six years old, but he’s started as well. In our house he straight up calls me a sporty dad. Plus we have other masters, it’s a good time.

​

Priyanka: One of the last questions I ask is, what does it mean to you to call yourself Nepali?

 

Kumar: I am proud of myself being Nepali. I am very proud, because I carried the Nepali flag and played on the national team for ten years. Even now, do you see the flag of Nepal on the dojo wall—

 

Priyanka: Mhm

 

Kumar: —it, it makes me really proud, everyday, people, they bow to the flag. And then they know oh Master Karki is all the way from Nepal, top of the world, country of Mount Everest. We have around 200 students here, very few are Nepali, maybe 50 - 60 out of 200, but even for them to come and bow to their flag daily makes me very proud. Wherever we are, whatever we are here, we honor Nepal through martial arts. It makes you want to go back every year, and to encourage that is also why we made a plan to host tournaments, the national games, there for some years, so very proud to be Nepali.

 

Priyanka: Is there anything else you would like to say or add?

 

[15:00]

 

Kumar: I think we almost covered everything. I say this to everyone, as a human being, our bodies ask for exercise. There are two things I want to say, one is on food. I’m not a professional on what to eat and what not to eat, but what happens is that we don’t eat what are body asks of us. We eat whatever we want to eat, right? We don’t eat what our body needs or wants to eat. I feel that we all need to control that a little bit. The other thing is, there are 24 hours in a day, and we all need to make sure we make some time to exercise in that, because our body needs exercise. Just like we eat daily, exercise is also important. That is something I strive to suggest to everyone, as a martial artist.

 

Priyanka: Thank you so much.