Highlights
- Rupinder Sandhu is a professional wrestler who has represented Australia in Commonwealth Games
- She has won many national and international championships including 8 gold medals
- Ms Sandhu runs two training centres in Melbourne where she imparts self-defence skills
Rupinder Kaur Sandhu, a young mother and wrestling champion, now has a dream to enable people for self-defence and runs two training centres in Melbourne.
In 2018, Ms Sandhu represented Australia in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. She also participated in the World Wrestling Championship in 2017 held in Paris, along with many international tournaments.
Ms Sandhu told SBS Punjabi, “Last year wasn’t any good from a sports angle. Many major championships were cancelled. We were deprived of international training sessions. But instead of feeling down, I started preparing to train others in basic fitness and self-defence techniques."
“Hope 2021 turns out better than 2020, during which children were left to their electronic gadgets to pass time," she says.
Ms Sandhu believes that wrestling is basically a self-defence technique and people, especially women, can use these skills in difficult situations.
Rupinder Kaur Sandhu, a young mother and wrestling champion has a dream to equip others with self-defence skills Source: Rupinder Sandhu
“The same self-defence skills can be used by boys and girls if they find themselves in a bad situation," suggests the wrestler who participated in many national and internatioal championships in India before she migrated to Australia.
“Before my daughter was born, I took part in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. After that, I took a break to look after my child”, Ms Sandhu says.
She overcame the mammoth hurdle of losing weight after childbirth and rebuild the stamina that is required of a professional sportperson.
“I managed to bring my weight back to 48kg from 70kg in a few months with a focus to take my stamina back to the previous level," says Ms Sandhu.
COVID-19 not only cancelled the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but also shattered Ms Sandhu's dreams, who was planning her comeback in professional wrestling after giving birth.
Women Wrestling Champion Rupinder Sandhu Source: Rupinder Sandhu
During the pandemic, she thought of sharing her skills with others by providing them self-defence training.
“I want to share my skills and achievements with others. If I ever manage to produce at least one national-level athlete, it will be my biggest achievement in life”, she says with hope.
“We aim to train not only Punjabi people but wider community members. Due to availability constraints, we are training only two days a week," adds Ms Sandhu.
She forewarns wrestling enthusiasts that learning this sport it is a long and steady process.
"No one gets trained in just one day. We focus on the skills and interest of those who come to our classes," Ms Sandhu adds.
“Everyone especially the girls should be strong mentally and physically for such sports. I would say, the parents have to change their mentality and provide the same opportunities to both boys and girls," advises the wrestler.
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