Dr. Cyril Anthony, a name synonymous with taekwondo, celebrated his 76th birthday on February 9. To mark the occasion and to honour the service Anthony has rendered towards society as a martial arts teacher and acupuncture doctor, a stage play titled ‘Api Dangakariyo’ was held at Elphinstone Theatre in Maradana on his birthday.
Anthony has found the time to engage in community activities and this is possibly because he has so much time for himself; given that the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation (SLTF) he formed lost its registration with the Sports Ministry. After the ministry’s decision to cease ties with the SLTF Anthony went on to concentrate on improving himself and qualifying in many chosen subjects. Just recently he completed the Master of Law (LLM) and looking back at his education, which he has completed periodically, he had this to say, “I have now educated myself to fight all the injustices committed against me and the sport of taekwondo”.
He is also qualified in acupuncture, acupressure and combat sports like Hupkido, kickboxing and Muay Thai-Thailand’s national sport, which is a popular martial art in East Asia. He is credited for introducing taekwondo to Sri Lanka. He started off with much hope in the 1980s and established over 50 training centres in the island.
But the suspension of SLTF’s registration with the sports ministry really buckled his plans to promote the sport. The ministry then ran the sport with an interim administration and called for elections in 2004; but that was without lifting the suspension imposed on the registration the SLTF had with the sports ministry. This is a flaw that Anthony hopes to challenge in a court of law in the future if the sport ministry authorities in Sri Lanka don’t rectify the error and pay him compensation for all the years of trauma he has suffered and the opportunities denied to him because he lost the chance of serving the Taekwondo Federation as an official.
However despite all these downfalls he suffered in the hands of unwanted interference in taekwondo by the sports ministry Anthony continued to teach this Korean fighting system to martial arts enthusiasts. Right now he breathes a sigh of relief because both his son (Uditha) and daughter (Nayanajeevi) are serious practitioners of taekwondo and are serving the sport as instructors. The Anthony family has silently served the sport of taekwondo through their club; which is named as the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Association (SLTA).
Anthony too has come a long way in the sport and reached the sixth Dan Black Belt in taekwondo. But the Anthony family is eagerly awaiting the year 2026 which will mark 50 years after the sport was introduced to the island by the doctor himself. For that milestone to be memorable they have one hope; to see Anthony’s mother grace the occasion when the celebrations take place.
Anthony’s mother has provided the much needed strength to everyone at home after the demise of Anthony’s wife. The doctor’s wife passed away some years ago and according to him death came so early to her largely because of the trauma that she endured in seeing her husband lose the official position he had in the SLTF due to the suspension. Anthony had held many grading tests and taekwondo events at his training centre at Wattala over the years.
Being a Christian he thanks God for his blessings to him and states that he is what he is at present because of taekwondo. (RN) The stage play ‘Api Dangakariyo’ was held at Elphinstone Theatre in Maradana on February 9 to mark Dr. Cyril Anthony’s 76th birthday and also honour the service he has rendered towards society as a martial arts teacher and acupuncture doctor.
