He calls them Iry and Lika. He has known them since 2005. One was 9 years old, the second 13. Irina Zaretska and Anzhelica Terliuga are now World n°1 and in the race for the Olympic gold medal. He, it is Denys Morozov, coach of Niza in Odessa.
Former competitor who started to coach very young, the Ukrainian is the only one to have qualified for the Olympics 2 athletes from his club, whom he himself trained and whom he still coaches.
Everything but a coincidence. This karate enthusiast has his own method, forged over the years. He reveals it to us through the preparation for the Games of the two champions.
By Ludovic Mauchien / Photos : DR
He named his club Nika, after his daughter’s first name, which means Victory in ancient Greek. His daughter, Shotokan World champion, might have competed in the Games if she hadn’t stopped karate 6 years ago to become a model in Milan. His hopes lie with his son, whom he coaches with Anzhelica Terliuga and Irina Zaretska.
At 42, Denys Morozov is a fulfilled trainer. He will definitely be happy if “the girls”, as he calls them, become Olympic champions in Tokyo in a few days. Anzhelica Terliuga is World n°1 and Olympic n°2 in -55 kg. Irina Zaretska is world champion (-68 kg), World n°1 and Olympic n°1 in+61 kg. They are both seen as great contenders for the gold medal.
Their other common point is to have started Karate at the same time, in 2005, in the same club, in Odessa, with the same teacher, Denys Morozov. They were respectively then 13 and 9 years old. 16 years later, they are still following his teaching. Who is Denys Morozov ?...
HIS KARATE : « THERE MUST BE TOTAL TRUST BETWEEN COACH AND ATHLETE »
I started Karate in 1990 under the leadership of Alexander Viktorovich, a great coach who gave a start in life to many boys. And all the qualities that I now possess and try to instill in my students were instilled in me by him.
Every Sunday, he gathered us and conducted theoretical classes - told how to live properly, read books, wise expressions. We discussed different topics. Probably the main thesis of his studies, what was laid down in me as the main canon : do not retreat and do not give up.
This is what I instill in my students. It is necessary to train for some purpose, and not just like that. If you have chosen a sport as your main activity, you need to go to the end.
He did not say some things directly, but I read it and considered it my secret of success : “A real champion does not smoke or drink. You will become a winner if you follow certain rules. You will be an honest and decent person”. It made a strong impression on my then childish psyche. I thought I had learned a secret that no one knew.
When I started to win, I realized it was not in vain that I spent so much energy on training, that is, I am confident in my abilities. And you are starting to remember why it happened. And it happened due to the fact that you followed a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, the right attitude towards people. This is my motto. And I try to instill such values in my students.
I am very unhappy when one of my students drinks or smokes. After all, there must be total trust between the coach and the athlete. If I am deceived, I do not forgive it. The girls know about it. And the conflicts that we had were due to violations of the regime.
Now we have qualified for the Olympics, they have realized I was right, and no one is violating the regime anymore. Even when I offered to drink champagne for the Olympics, the girls refused.
THE WINNING METHOD : « I AM TRYING TO FIND A LINK BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT »
I started at 18 helping my teacher. In 2000, I created the Olympic Club with 2 other guys. My feature that distinguished me from other coaches was that I was still an active athlete. When you train with your athletes, you feel what they really need, you better see. Sometimes, in sparring, I can give what the athlete needs to work out the necessary quality and feel confident in her abilities, sometimes I worked at full strength, educating the character and willpower of the student. I have had a psychological approach to training. I use it with Anzhelika Terliuga and Irina Zaretska.
My approach was initially different from other coaches. I have always traveled to major international competitions with a video camera and filmed the fights of the best in the world. And when I came back to Odessa, I said to my athletes : “Forget about what you knew before, we start working in a new way”.
I saw new trends in world karate and introduced them into the training process. There was a time when the Iranians showed fantastic foot technique, Biamonti interesting throws. Rafael Agayev, in general, changed the whole worldview when he started throwing and cutting from a clinch. He showed a completely different approach to technique, rigidity, concentration.
Each year, I can name an athlete who has influenced the development of world karate and my principles of training. Wayne Otto, Alex Biamonti, Junior Lefebvre, Rafael Agayev, the whole Iranian national team…. Now, I am very impressed by the national teams of Egypt and Morocco, which are constantly adding innovations to the approach of training.
I give assessments, systematize, develop methods. In my opinion, my uniqueness is that I do not blindly copy someone’s principles, but take the best and adapt them to my athletes. I am constantly changing, looking for something best at this stage.
Two Olympic licenses are a product of my training system, which is difficult to replicate. This is my intuition, my vision of what is best at the moment. At all big competitions, I am in the hall from the morning. I get information, new ideas. This is how I develop. When I was an athlete, I focused on the best, tried to repeat them. I use these developments in the training of my students.
The most important thing is in the details that I feel like an athlete with a lot of experience. With age, I become wiser, more experienced. I have a large video library, I try to find a connection between the past and the present, I try to find an invincible style that will help us win an Olympic gold medal.
THE KIDS TERLIUGA AND ZARETSKA : « GIRLS SAY KARATE IS THEIR LIFE, IT IS »
Guess who is wearing the tee-shirt ? Iryna Zaretska ! The World champion was then 10 years old. And guess who is 3rd from the right (in the back) ? Anzhelica Terliuga at 14 years old.
Until 2010, I had a lot of strong athletes in the club. Neither Lika nor Iry Zaretska were the strongest of them. The first generations were really strong and showed high results. Lika and Irina were promising athletes.
We went to a large number of international tournaments once or twice a month. The team grew very fast, like mushrooms after the rain. The level of some athletes was becoming so high that they wanted to take part in WKF tournaments. Lika and Iry were the first of them.
To prepare for such competitions, we need to train on a more serious level. The girls agreed to train every day and even twice a day, not the others. That was the beginning of the destruction of my team. Many athletes, and to a large extent their parents, did not like the fact I did more with some athletes. Then I lost almost the whole team. Only those who decided to dedicate their lives to karate remained. And when girls say in their interviews that karate is their life, it really is. For me, karate is also my whole life.
I understand their mood : to devote so much time, so much effort, and not to win a gold medal - it would not be our way. Life has taught me this : if you put a lot of effort, you need to achieve the goal.
ANZHELICA TERLIUGA : « SHE WORKS MORE ON INTUITION AND FEELING, ON THE MOMENT »
Anzhelica managed to find her style, which so far no one has been able to unravel and understand. Some athletes try to do this, but still cannot understand it. There are no laws and rules. She works more on intuition and feeling, on the moment. And this cannot be mechanically explained, it is impossible to train. This feeling is a quality of a person who did hard work in training and competitions for years. We talk about hundreds of tournaments in which she participated from an early age, learning to overcome herself. All these components gave her qualities that do not train. Qualities that she just has. It is the same with Irina.
Lika has human qualities that are superimposed on karate. She is a very penetrating girl. If necessary, she can go to conflict. If you have to say something out loud, she will say it out loud, no matter how many people are around.
She loves to stand up for her rights and is never silent when she sees injustice. In Lika’s life, she is not ashamed of older and titled people, because she is already like that. She has such, I would say, Odessa impudence. Break through, negotiate, get out, adjust. She has it present on the tatami, and in life. She easily adjusts when the situation changes, easily copes with difficulties.
Intuition, vital self-preservation, ideal technique - these components gave a symbiosis of uniqueness, which is difficult to study. Some athletes try to take advantage of her weaknesses, but we also do not stand still : we are looking for ways to become invincible.
There were a lot of questions about her physical training - she was tired and made unnecessary movements, and physical training also affects the number of strokes. And we work hard in this direction, because it is very difficult to withstand such a distance of training and competition. Many athletes break down on this. I think we are always one step ahead of our rivals. They find something, but we find something to answer.
Anzhelica has a sense of the moment, which she uses perfectly in a fight. In addition, she always starts her fights decisively. She attacks and takes risks when needed. Sometimes, Lika comes up with some extra techniques that she has not worked out before. She can find the key, a way out of a very difficult situation. Such qualities are not trained. But at the Olympics, there must be a competent combination of the qualities she possesses and improvisation. It must be in balance.
Of course, for her as for Irania, we have to reach their peak for the Olympic Games. If during the fight, the stock of improvisation runs out, she must have such an arsenal of techniques which she will use any other time. We have to work out this arsenal as much as possible.
THE OLYMPIC PREPARATION : « I TOOK THEIR SHAPE INTO ACCOUNT »
It depended on various factors, primarily based on their shape. If they needed rest, they should be given them. Sometimes I spoke, sometimes Lika or Iry spoke. Sometimes, I saw nothing, sometimes I didn’t hear them. We were looking for ways because we are in preparation for the Olympics for the first time.
When planning training, I used knowledge from other sports - of course, I took the best in my opinion, and used what was best for Anzhelica and Iryna. I also took their shape into account. Usually, we trained every day. And while there were no competitions, we worked more on physical data, dealing with injuries that occurred during our race for an Olympic license. We are set to go through this race to the end and win the Olympic Gold medal.
DUBAI 2020 : « I WALKED AROUND THE HOTEL WITH A SLIGHTLY CRAZY EXPRESSION ON MY FACE »
In Dubai, when Lika won her ½ finals and qualified, I just had an unreal emotional outburst. I greeted her. But Iry had not won her license yet. She did the day after. After reaching the semifinals, she counted everything and told me about it. Double joy !
I walked around the hotel with a slightly crazy expression on my face, and showed everyone on my fingers “two”, for 2 two licenses. Everyone understood what had happened and greeted me sincerely. This topic was on the agenda, it was a goal that everyone wanted to achieve.
2020 was a success because we won what others dream of winning for life : my two best students climbed the podium of all competitions in which they participated, but one.
Then, the Olympics have been postponed. But there was a positive point, to have more time to prepare : to pay attention to “physics”, get new ideas and care heal injuries. In 2019, there was a crazy race for a license and there was simply no time for training.
Of course, we have high hopes for the Olympics. We have a well-thought-out training plan, daily trainings and the girls are very motivated and professional in all components of work, including themselves : physical training, nutrition... So it’s easy for me as a coach, I don’t need to persuade anyone.
Thanks to Vlad Efimov
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