Karate Mani

Karate Mani, aka RVT Mani, was an actor cum martial artist who was born on 14th March 1944. He was born and brought up in Chennai. He learned Karate from the Japanese martial arts experts Hanshi Gogen Yamaguchi and Dr.Masaaki Hatsumi, and he was the first Tamil to receive a Black Belt in Karate. In 1965, he founded a Karate school, Budokai Training Centre in Chennai. He also worked as a professor at The Karate University in Tokyo. In 1976, he was promoted to Sheehan, a professor of Karate, and in 1977, he earned the title Renshi. This title was won by a very few non-Japanese. Mani held 13 black belts from 3 different Karate systems. He was also a qualified Ninja.

Besides being an expert in the Martial Arts, Mani got the Masters Certificate in Kundalini Yoga from Shri Vethathri Maharishi’s World Community Service Centre. Karate Mani was married and had 2 sons; both are actors; one of them debuted as a villain in Agarathi, an unreleased movie featuring Naveen Chandra Naveen, also known as Naveen Chandra Reddy is a So >> Read More... and “ Pawan Pawan is a South Indian actor known for his negati >> Read More... .” Mani’s other son, Trishul, debuted as the hero in the film Pramugar.

In 1980, Karate Mani entered the film industry with the film Anbukku Naan Adimai, featuring “ Rajinikanth 'Rajinikanth' is the name that is known in >> Read More... .” He had been close to Superstar and shared the screen with him in a few more films, including Ranga. Some of the films in which Mani acted are Anjatha Nenjangal, Valartha Kada, Vidiyumvarai Kaathiru, Thangakoppai, and Neethikku Oru Penn. Later, he quit films and concentrated only on his Karate school.

Mani died on 1st May 1994 due to some health issues. He was just 50.