B-Town's Action King Akshay Kumar, who has a black belt in Taekwondo, says that self-defense is generating a lot of interest among India's younger generation.

Akshay said: "We can all see that slowly but steadily, the momentum of martial arts, self-defense, Kudo are getting a big hype in India. And for this, I would like to thank all the parents and the guardians who have shown a lot of interest in the self-defense art and got their children admitted to learn it."

The 49-year-old was speaking at the launch of the 2nd Kudo World Cup in Mumbai on Friday. "I feel very proud of the fact that we are hosting 25 countries in this tournament," he said. Akshay organises free martial arts classes for women at the Andheri Sports Complex.

On the film front, the 'Jolly LLB 2' actor is set to star with Taapsee Pannu in 'Naam Shabana', a spin-off from the 2015 film 'Baby'.