A martial artist, Mahendra has been learning taekwondo since his childhood and has won many state and national-level competitions. He runs his academy and aspires to produce such talents who can win gold medals for their state.

Mahendra Wankhede is a Taekwondo trainer at the Wankhede Taekwondo Academy. He has been in this field since 2009.

Mahendra belongs to Amravati but was born and brought up in Ahmedabad.

Mahendra shares that he completed his schooling in Ahmedabad. Then he did his college studies in Maharashtra. He also earned a Bachelor in Physical Education degree.

As he wanted to join the defense services, he thought that learning martial arts would help him. So he learned taekwondo and won gold medals in state and national-level competitions. He was also conferred with the Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose Award and the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Award. He also participated in international events and world open championships.

After some time, he started his academy, Wankhede Taekwondo Academy, in 2009. He remembers that he was felicitated in his school assembly for winning his first gold medal, which was a proud moment for him.

Sharing about his journey, Mahendra says that he used to see students practicing taekwondo after school, which would fascinate him. So he too joined taekwondo classes and started learning the art. But, in a few days, he felt exhausted because of all the muscle pain and wanted to quit, but on his parents’ encouragement, he continued for another year. Then he participated in the Gujarat State Championship and won a gold medal. He was selected for the Bhopal National Championship and won bronze. Not winning the gold medal made him  realize that you need to put in more effort and dedicate yourself to your sport.

Talking about his mistakes, Mahendra says that he regrets not focusing on his education in his school days, and when he joined college, he wasn’t even paying attention to his diet and sports. However, he soon came to his senses and started working sincerely towards his goals.

When asked about his role models, Mahendra mentions the name of his mentor, Bal Krishna Bhandari, whom he met at a sports event and who inspired him to continue with taekwondo.

In times of mental stress, Mahendra likes to do yoga.

Mahendra’s success mantra is to take as much pain as we can because, in the end, it will only make us stronger.