Valena, who initiated her Karate journey at the early age of 9 years, had received her Black Belt title in 1999 as a 14-year-old. She has won several gold medals at the national and state level and has been active in Karate circle for the last 15 years.
Valena had won the gold medal in women’s kata event at the South Asian Karate Championship at Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi in June 2014.
“Karate can be used as self protection as well as a game. And if somebody or organization is using it for commercial purpose, that is also welcome. It will be publicized and Karatekas can reap more benefit out of it”, she said.