Malay Tamil ‘Ironman’ shows he’s tough as nails

JOHOR BARU - Malay Tamil yoga practitioner P. Balakrishnan repeated his death-defying feat of lying on a bed of 108 nails while having a car run over him.

Balakrishnan appeared calm as a Proton Iswara Aeroback drove over his abdomen as he lay on a bed of nails. A wooden plank was placed on top of his abdomen.

He said he felt no pain and disclosed that he has practiced this mind-boggling feat 16 times since his first attempt in 1993.

According to a report in The Star, the 60-year-old drew gasps of awe from an audience during a family day event organised by the Taman Universiti branch of Malaysia Hindu Dharma Mamandram group on Sunday.

Balakrishnan, who is nicknamed “Ironman”, started yoga at 17. He completed similar feats twice when he was 47 and 50.

“I am doing it now at 60 to prove that age is no barrier to achieving anything. It is possible to achieve this feat with discipline and proper yoga exercises,” he said after the event at the MBJBT Hutan Bandar near here.

“To accomplish this feat, I stayed away from red meat, eggs, garlic and red onion. Proper breathing techniques are a must to strengthen the body while the car wheels moved over me.”

Kedah-born Balakrishnan has written four books, including two entitled Yoga Path-an Introduction and Yoga Food.

For the past 15 years, he has embarked on a mission to teach yoga to youth as a means to eradicate social ills.

He is also writing the first- ever-English translation of the 12 Thirumurai-the biography and works of 63 prominent poet-saints of Tamil Nadu. (ANI)