An Interview with Nepali Taekwondo Player Sandesh Lamsal: “It’s far better to stand up and join sport than sitting in a closed room”

The 2 Dan Black belt of Taekwondo talks about the benefits of the sport and how drastically it changed his life.

Popular social media influencer Sandesh Lamsal ( सन्देश लम्साल ) born on 17th August, 1994 in a village of Dang, Nepal is Taekwondo 2 Dan black belt. He has also Volunteered in the FIFA Confederation Cup 2017, FIFA World Cup 2018, and many National and International programs organized in Russia. Currently, he is the Representative of Nepal in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Russia, and also a medical student at First Pavlov State Medical University, St. Petersburg, Russia.

{Q} Can you tell us about Taekwondo a little bit?

Sandesh Lamsal – Taekwondo is one of the most ancient, disciplined, systematic, and scientific Korean traditional martial arts. The name Taekwondo is derived from the Korean word “Tae” which means foot, “Kwon” which stands for fist, and “Do” which means the way of. So, literally, Taekwondo means “the way of using our foot and fist”.

{Q} How did you get the Idea of joining martial arts?

Sandesh Lamsal – Actually, there are two reasons behind my Taekwondo journey. First, I was always attracted to Chinese martial art movies. While watching these movies, I used to put myself in the role of the main character and imagine myself fighting as he used to fight on the screen. The second reason is, that when I was a child, there were some senior kids who used to bully me and it really used to motivate me to join martial art and give them a good lesson.

{Q} There are different types of martial arts, why did you select Taekwondo?
Sandesh Lamsal – Yes, there are many, but Taekwondo is among very few martial arts in which basically foot are used along with fists. The taekwondo poomsae and kicks are not only very strong but also fascinating. I think these were the main reasons behind choosing Taekwondo.

{Q} Tell us about your journey in Taekwondo.

Sandesh Lamsal – Well, it was not that easy as I had to move to Russia right after I got 1 Dan black belt in 2014. I joined Taekwondo in Nepal in 2011. I used to get up early in the morning as the training used to start at 6 am. We used to train 2 hours a day and from 10 am I had my school. So, it was difficult to manage Taekwondo and studies together. But, because of my dream to do martial arts I never had any problems in my life. Taekwondo taught me not only the fighting skills but also the dedication, discipline, and devotion. It made me both physically and mentally very strong. Yeah, as I mentioned already after I moved to Russia, I couldn’t continue my regular training because of the language barrier. It took me about 1 year to learn the fluent Russian language, after which I joined Taekwondo here in St. Petersburg and continued my training. I got a chance to go to Nepal in 2018 where I gave the exam of 2 Dan Black Belt and passed it. That’s all my journey. Now I am practicing on a regular basis to give the 3 Dan exam soon.

{Q} Lastly, anything that you want to tell our readers?

Sandesh Lamsal – First of all, I would like to thank TimeBulletin for the opportunity they gave me and personally I am very thankful to you for this beautiful interview. I believe, “Sport isn’t only the game we play for fun, it’s actually the way of being physically, mentally, and psychologically fit and fine.” So, I would like to request everybody to join a sport and live a physically and mentally active and strong life.

We are very grateful to you Sandesh for this awesome interview. Thank you for giving us your time. We believe that our readers will be motivated by your life and start doing sport as it has a lot of benefits in our life. Have an awesome future ahead Sandesh.

Official Website of Sandesh Lamsal: www.sandeshlamsal.com

Instagram of Sandesh Lamsal : https://www.instagram.com/sandesh.1994