The odyssey continues for the Ukrainian karate vagrant. This time it was Stanislav Horuna’s turn to take on the delightful nation of Portugal. The southern Europeans certainly seem to have appreciated the opportunity to take part of the Olympic bronze medalist’s karate knowledge.
Martial Art News had a chat with Marco Simรตes who helped organize the event. The Portuguese seems to have been greatly impressed by the seminar itself but also by the exuberant energy of the karate star.
โ Horuna is formidable. He left a very positive impression through the technical and social exercises that we did. He demonstrated a great knowledge in the art of combat and, above all, he passed on a little bit to us about how he views kumite. It was very fun and demanding as well.
Stanislav has a reputation as a good instructor and it seems to have been an obvious choice for Marco and his compatriots to invite him in particular.
โ We chose Stanislav Horuna because he is an athlete whose path we have followed. We thought it would be an asset to do a seminar with him because we have young athletes competing and we wanted them to have an experience with an internationally renowned athlete.
The Ukrainian appears to possess a superb ability to teach the martial art that he has refined over the years. The enthusiastic practitioners who attended the seminar had a joyful experience that they can fondly recall in the future.
โ Very satisfied. We had a number of over two hundred participants of all ages. Everyone from the youngest who are now starting to compete to older active athletes, former competitors and also the Portuguese national karate team. A lot of people who are non-practitioners also came to see the seminar, he says and continues:
โ There were many reactions but all of them of joy and satisfaction. The training sessions always involved group exercises, which was extraordinary. It promoted everyone’s involvement and the time was distributed well between the youngest to the oldest groups.
Football is probably the sport that most people associate with Portugal, given the large number of world-class players the nation has historically managed to produce. However, karate seems to be a sport that is on the rise. Practicing karate in Portugal has not been without problems but the development seems to be going in the right direction.
โ Nowadays karate has become popular thanks to the efforts of local associations and clubs. They have been promoting the added value of karate, both the more traditional style as well as sports karate. Sports karate is more recognized and nowadays almost every weekend there are competitions of various levels. Our association, one of many in the National Federation of Karate Portugal, has approximately six hundred practitioners, Marco says and adds:
โ It was a challenge to take Portuguese karate to international levels because our athletes have to pay for everything themselves. Recently the associations and the federation support more athletes. Thanks to the good work done from their personal trainers and the national team coaches the Portuguese have been succeeding in international competitions and have made good results. It should be noted that we are also have a strong presence in world refereeing.
Finally, we get to hear Marco’s thoughts regarding the future. The signs in his fortune teller indicate that Portuguese karate has a bright future.
โ The future? We always live in the present, however I have good expectations. I think there is room for two aspects, both the more traditional and the modern style. I also think karate possesses an educational factor as well as social values. It has everything needed to succeed. I see a very promising future for sports karate despite us not being in the Olympics. However I believe we will be back eventually.
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