JOAQUIM MENDES – The way to the top

Joaquim Mendes is one of Portugal’s foremost karate practitioners. In a country where football dominates, athletes in other sports have to fight their way through with less resources. Martial Art News caught up with the hard working Portuguese.

– I live in Vila do Conde, Porto, Portugal. I represent the Ginásio Clube Vilacondense. I’m just a normal guy that grew up in a small town and fell in love with karate. I have only tried karate. It was one of the few martial arts in my town at that time and my friends were also doing it. The wins, the losses, the constant improvement and all that lead to the person I am today. I looked up to some big names in Portugal like Nuno Moreira, Filipe Reis and Patricia Esparteiro. From outside Portugal, Rafael Aghayev and Douglas Brose, he says and continues:

– Karate is more than a sport to me, it has been in my daily routine for more than twenty years. Karate is a part of me, it’s how i express myself and where i became a better person. I’m always doing karate, so I don’t have time for many hobbies except eating, sleeping and reading. Every week I spend almost eight hours practicing karate. I also do some work at the gym, approximately four hours peer week and often some running.

Joaquim’s national team career has not been smooth from the start. A difficult injury set things back for him.

– In my younger years I only did kata, I was national champion at nine years old. I did it until I was sixteen and started to be called up to the national team to train in kata. After a knee injury at sixteen I decided to stop doing kata and concentrate only on kumite. At that time I was already national champion in kumite. I started to get better and got the national title more often but never got called to a major international tournament. My first call-up to the national team for a major tournament was the European Championships in 2017 as an under-21. I lost in the first fight and in 2018 as a senior I also lost in the first fight. Since then I have integrated the national team in the Euros and Worlds, individual and team.

Two years ago, it really took off. Since then, things have been getting better for the skilled Portuguese.

– But everything changed from 2022. In the EKF Senior Championship in Gaziantep, I got third place in kumite -67 kg. The first medal in this category in the history of Portuguese karate. In 2023, in the Series A in Athens, I got the second place in kumite -67 kg. The first medal in this category in Series A. In the World Championships in Budapest I got the ninth place. At the end of the year I won the Series A Matosinhos. Becoming the first Portuguese male ever to win Series A. In this year EKF Senior Championship in Zadar, I got the fifth place after losing in the semi-final. In a few years I came from no ranking to top ten and that’s one of my greatest achievements, he says and adds:

– My biggest achievement was the bronze medal in kumite -67 kg at the European Championships in Gaziantep 2022. But winning the Series A in Portugal was special too. My goal for the future is to qualify for the World Championships in Cairo and to make it to the finals of the next European Championships.

By far the biggest sport in Portugal is football. Unfortunately, the Portuguese karate practitioner does not receive anywhere near the same support.

– Unfortunately no, Portugal is a football country and since karate is not an Olympic sport, we don’t get much attention. It is a bit difficult, we don’t have much support. We should and the fact that we are not Olympic doesn’t help. I think nowadays it is getting better. But we have a long way to go to have the same support as other martial arts, for example judo.

If Joaquim had to choose for himself, he would probably spend all his time on karate. Luckily, he has a job on the side that can be combined with professional karate.

– Unfortunately karate isn’t my main occupation, I have a job as a civil engineer. I am lucky and the company I work for helps me a lot and understands my needs as an athlete. It’s all good but I have to work double when I’m in the office to compensate for the days I’m out. I work pretty close to where I train so I can always find time to train.