By Her charming smile complements her power-packed body whose one kick can break your bones. Only at 19 years, Shraddha Rangarh, who hails from Faridabad, Haryana, has made her presence felt in the fierce world of competitive martial arts. The national taekwondo champion and three times SGFI Gold medalist got her initiation into martial arts with taekwondo; at the tender age of 10. Today her repertoire of martial arts include kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sanshu, judo, karate, and even the Keralaâs ancient martial form Kalaripayattu.Â
Born in a traditional pahadi family, Shraddha showed a proclivity towards sports from a very young age. She was seen playing cricket at the age of seven and left it at the age of nine. When her schoolâs taekwondo coach saw her playing football, he was impressed by her footwork and urged her to take up taekwondo.Â
Soon after she was passing by a taekwondo class near her school and was greatly absorbed by the game, and the rest they say is historyâŚsorry herstory. The coach also warned her about the injuries that she would have to suffer while playing taekwondo, but of course that didnât deter the young girl.
Despite being discouraged by people around her and despite there not much encouragement from her family, the power girl didnât lose her resolve to fight and continued to excel on her passion and today has emerged as a teenage international sensation in martial arts.Â
The Birth of a ChampionÂ
Shraddha played her first District level taekwondo contest at the age of 11. And there is no prize for guessing that she fought away with a gold medal, which kind of began her journey of triumphs at the ring. Her co-finalist whom she faced is a national champion. Her gold medal at the district level tournament was followed by her success at the state level and also at the national games.
She has emerged triumphant despite facing several professional setbacks during 2019, where she lost several matches. Shraddha, whose mind cannot digest failures easily was mentally devastated by the setbacks. Then she focused on mental training besides physical training. She got initiated in mental training from Kick Dojang Mixed Martial Arts Academy, Kerala and also from Khelo India. Mental training helped her to return to form.
The girl with stinging punches had also won a medal in G1 International Tournament, and a bronze medal in the Khelo India Winter Games in 2021 which was held in Gulmarg and Leh, among many other medals.Â
However, as stated before, Shraddhaâs martial arts expertise is not limited to taekwondo. She has the distinction of winning gold medals in kickboxing tournaments too, which include gold medals in Wako India Open International Kickboxing Tournament in 2022 and in State Kickboxing Wako, in 2023.
The Power of Mental StrengthÂ
Her mental strength coupled with physical strength has helped in her endeavours in mixed martial arts. She believes that in mixed martial arts if you are mentally stronger than your opponent you can beat her/him even if she/he is physically stronger than you. Her knowing various forms of martial arts has also perhaps contributed to her success in mixed martial arts.
Of course, her success in varied forms of martial arts is also the result of her rigorous training which involves strength training, stamina workout, high and low-intensity workouts, sparring and fighting sessions at the MMA academy, and running for over 5 km in the morning daily. These physically strenuous sessions are supplemented by mental exercises involving visualisation and meditation.
Miss India Fitness
Besides her exploits in the ring, Shraddha is also the Miss India Fitness in 2022. On the suggestion of a friend, she took part in a fitness pageant and by competing with fitness coaches and fitness enthusiasts across the country she eventually won the gold medal. The fitness pageant included deadlifts, powerlifting, bench press, running for 10 km, and other strength and stamina assessments.Â
Shraddha, who is never satisfied with silver and bronze medals and always aspires for gold and frequently wins it too, in various tournaments, has aim of becoming a world champion.
The fact that Shraddha is also a fitness content creator/influencer in social media with a huge following on Instagram can greatly help her to become a role model for many young girls and women who want to venture and eventually excel in power sports.
