martialarts-news
1- What is your role in ITKF?
I am a member of the ITKF Technical Committee, together with Sensei Gilberto Gaertner and Eligio Contarelli, and my intention is to help the organization by contributing and safeguarding the technical and philosophical principles of Traditional Karate that the teacher Hidetaka Nishiyama left as a precious treasure bequeathed to humanity in the ITKF.
I was lucky to train following his technical lineage, so I consider myself very lucky.
2- What did you do to hold the title of World Champion 7 times?
Actually, I don’t like to show off the championships I’ve won, nor the rank I have, but I use them because they serve to have my name recognized worldwide and from that place help the correct dissemination of Traditional Karate in the world, supported by great experience. that gave me compete from the age of 12 to the age of 47, which was when I won the last World Cup in Poland.
When I started practicing Karate, I never thought about competing, I didn’t like competition, I just wanted to learn that magical, mystical and sublime thing that attracted me.
But when I started teaching classes at the age of 16 with the 8th Kyu graduation, I realized that I needed to have a recognized name, for which I had to compete and achieve recognition from people, otherwise I would not have a chance to live dedicating myself only to Karate as it was my dream.
So I focus all my strength towards the competition.
How did I get the World Championships?
Well, basically giving my whole life to Karate, more than 25 years training 4 shifts of 2 hours a day, which consisted of specific physical preparation, according to the training stage and according to the tournament I was aiming for.
Also a specific and exhaustive psychological preparation for high performance.
Technically he practiced looking for mastery and excellence in the smallest details.
My search for excellence was not limited only to Karate, I was looking for and learning with the highest exponents regardless of the activity they were, as long as they had reached the highest level in their areas. The person who impressed me the most in all senses and aspects on the path of my search for excellence in the art of Karate was undoubtedly Master Hidetaka Nishiyama.
3- What are your objectives within the ITKF?
As I said before, my most cherished wish is that the Karate that I learned with Master Hidetaka Nishiyama lasts over time, being recognized in the world and for this I work tirelessly to broadcast his legacy by supporting the ITKF.
4- What do you think of the current direction of ITKF-Asia?
I personally believe that the current leadership of ITKF-Asia is going to considerably boost Traditional Karate throughout the Asian region.
I consider that the calendar of training activities for technicians, coaches, referees, managers, sponsors is very important, then and almost simultaneously create championship activities that give motivation and movement to the new generations of karate fighters, this will make them train new teachers, coaches, referees, new leaders and let’s have more sponsors supporting Traditional Karate events.
For this reason, I believe that the current direction of ITKF-Asia is important, since it has a strong intention of organizing itself and forming a strong block in the immediate future.
5- Did you reach your traditional Karate goals or not yet?
Sensei Hidetaka Nishiyama, through his teachings, left me a very important task, and fulfilling it is my greatest goal in life.
My goal is that everyone has the chance to learn about Traditional Karate, and I work every day to fulfill that task!
I will not rest until everyone has the chance to experience and benefit from what the practice of Traditional Karate can give humanity, because as the teacher Hidetaka Nishiyama said; “Traditional Karate is a treasure of humanity!!.”.
6- Tell us more about your relationship with Sensei Nishiyama?
In Traditional Karate you have a Master, I was lucky to see Sensei Hidetaka Nishiyama as a teacher, and I decided to follow him as a disciple.
This decision is made from the deepest feeling of each person.
I personally consider myself to have a very high technical level and knowledge of Karate, due to the simple fact of the experiences lived and the context where I had to live, so to choose a teacher he had to be well above me, but I had lucky enough to see Sensei in all his dimension. I say this because perhaps someone without so much experience would not have been able to realize that in front of him he had a MASTER!!.
Sensei Nishiyama was a very simple and clear person in all the things he did or said.
His mastery was such that he explained everything, showed it and made it look very easy and simple.
Even today I continue to learn from his teachings, which were engraved in me forever, every day I relive each moment shared with the Master.
Once Sensei Nishiyama told me that after the war in Japan none of Master Gichin Funakoshi’s oldest students returned, so the younger ones, even without being prepared, had to take those places. He said that it was a great luck for him, because being Master Funakoshi’s personal assistant, he took advantage of every moment to ask and consult him about every doubt.
In my case something similar also happened, since the representative responsible for Traditional Karate in my country decided to move away from the ITKF, so I had to take that place, that luck allowed me to be close to Master Hidetaka Nishiyama, and I took advantage of every moment. to consult Sensei about every detail or technical question.
When I was going to train with Sensei Nishiyama I had already won a couple of world championships, I was in the best moment of my career.
Sensei Nishiyama would always call me up front to show everyone present how he could beat me, he liked to show the other students how he could beat me without even making any effort.
The anecdotes are endless and the memories insurmountable, I ask the ancestors for strength to meet my goal.
