He is one of those karatekas that we do not want to miss the fight. With him, thrill is guaranteed, show too. World n°2 (-75 kg) behind his buddy and n°1 opponent, Rafael Aghayev, Ukraine’s Stanislav Horuna, 29 years old, is one of the favorites for the gold medal at the European Championships held in Novi Sad (May 10th-13th). 3rd in the 2014 Worlds, he is a two-times European silver medalist (2014, 2017), the 2017 World Games winner and has 15 podiums in the Premier League, including six successes. Lawyer as a « civilian », Stanislav Horuna tells us about him : his daily life, his vision of Karate, of life, his ambitions...
By Ludovic Mauchien / Photos : K-Photos
His karate expresses joy. It reflects surprise, diversity, technicality, the art of Go No Sen and Sen No Sen. In short, it is fun to see Stanislav Horuna fighting, especially when it’s against his good friend and rival N°1, the five-time World champion, Rafael Aghayev.
Last year, in the European Championships’ final in Kocaeli, it was the Italian Busa who stood in his way to the title. All three have been fighting for a decade. They also form the top 3 of the Olympic ranking (-75 kg) before these European championships held in Novi Sad (May 10th-13th).
It is in his hometown of Lviv, a large city of 730,000 people in Western Ukraine, that our champion has his two jobs. The first one is lawyer, the second is practicing Karate. 3rd in the 2014 Worlds, two-times European finalist (2014, 2017), winner of the 2017 World Games, Stanislav Horuna is on is way to glory.
How is your training in Ukraine ? How is your life there ?
I usually train once a day. I try to train everyday but it’s not always possible for me because of my job and all these many competitions. I go somewhere almost every week-end. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I am not at home to train. So, most of the time, I have three to five trainings in a week. It may not be enough for professional sports (he laughs).
What is your job ?
I am a lawyer. I work on taxes and administrative laws. But, in the last couple years, I have stopped a little bit with it to be concentrate more on Karate because of the Olympic Games. I need more preparation for that. But I still do some job. During the day, I work. On the evening, I go to Dojo and train for 1h30.
« IT WAS A LUCKY DAY WHEN I MET MY COACH, ANTON NIKULIN »
Will it be possible that you become a professional ?
I don’t think so, because the national team members don’t get salary from the federation, from the ministry. It’s not enough for living. And we spend our money ono the competitions. So we need to find the way to make money (he smiles). Of course, I wish I could be a professional. In this case, I think I would be more successful.
As Karate became an Olympic sport, has it changed something in Ukraine ?
Yes. When Karate became Olympic, sport got much more attention from media. We got more financial supports from the Ministry. The Ukrain Olympic Committe now follows our successes and it financially supports us as well. They make it more public. And it feels good ! It make you feel a lot more important (he laughs).
Why Karate ?
I don’t know. It wasn’t my choice. I was a small kid. I was 13 years old. I was looking for something to do. That’s how I started Karate (he smiles), just to spend my time and my energy. Now, I am here. So it was a lucky day when I knocked the door of my Dojo and met my coach, Anton Nikulin. I had tried many different sports like Taekwondo, Judo… I was looking for something good for me, for a good coach. I found it.
Why did you quit the other sports ?
Because the coaches’ words were not at a proper level. I didn’t see any ambitions in these coaches, any responsability in how they did their job. When I came into Anton’s Dojo, I felt like this man was giving (and still give) everything he had in the training, he gave all his energy to the kids, he worked in an interesting way, not a typical, not a standard one as others did. Half a year after, I brought my brother to the Dojo.
« THERE ARE NO LIMITS FOR YOUR CREATIVITY IN KARATE »
What do you especially like in Karate ? What is your vibe ?
Other sports, in some ways, are limited. Karate is universal. There are no limites for your creativity. During the fight, you can do whatever you want. We have a lot of technics, a lot of space to work. Fencing is limited, Boxing is limited, Judo is limited, Taekwondo is limited. But Karate gives you the opportunity to create something new. It is also what is interesting in Karate. It’s a game. You play with distance, with your opponent’s reaction, with movements, with positions, with many, many things.
What is your special and why this technique ?
For me, technique is not important. When I fight, I look for the moment, for the good timing. Any technique can be impressive or spectacular if you do it in the right moment. That’s enough for me to win the fight. You need only one moment just to make the score. So timing for me is more important than the techniques.
My favorite moment is when I catch my opponent when he is not ready, when I do an attack and he even can’t make a blow or escape, or move away. I love the moment when the opponent can’t understand what is happening. This feeling is… That’s my favorite moment (he smiles).
Who are your models, your favorite champions, your inspirations ?
I don’t have really any. When I was younger, like 18 or 19, I watched the fights of some other athletes. I didn’t make idols of them. I wanted to beat them. I wanted to meet them on the mat and win. That was my goal.
Sometimes, I didn’t care about the final result of the competition, but if I saw a good athlete in my category, I wanted to win him, not especially win the competition. I was like a headhunter. I didn’t care about the medals. I cared about a precise person.
« I MISS BETTER CONDITIONS. I NEED MORE TIME IN THE DOJO »
What do you miss to get to a higher level ?
Better conditions. I need more time to spend in the Dojo, more time to work out tactics and techniques. Because I have a lot of ideas but not enough time and energy to work them out properly.
Who is your most dangerous opponent ? Yourself ?
Yeah ! (He laughs) Because it’s only me who makes all those loses. I feel like I can win everybody in my category but, sometimes, my body stops me because of a lack of trainings, I think. When everything is good -no injury or something-, I don’t see any problems for myself (he laughs), I can win anybody. I know what to do with them but, sometimes, my body doesn’t listen to me. If I want to punch, I punch but my legs don’t move. If I move with the legs, I don’t punch.
What do you like to do besides Karate ?
I like to do extreme sports, like snowboarding, parachuts, whatever… All activities that makes you feel some emotions. That’s what I like. I am an adrenalin addicted. Besides, of course, I go to cinema also, just like everybody. I love computer games.
What are your ambitions for the coming European championships ?
The two most important events of this year are the Europeans and the Worlds. So I have prepared to them. But, also, the calendar is full of Premier Leagues and Series A. It’s a crazy year.
« I WANT TO FIGHT WITH RAFAEL. WE BOTH ARE WAITING FOR »
What about the Olympic ranking ? It’s not important ? 😊
Everybody wants to be in the game, at the Games (he smiles). It will start next September for us but everybody already fights for it from the beginning of the year. As you see now, everybody is more serious on Premier Leagues, not as it was before. The level went up. But I am not sure that everybody can beat everybody. Some people are still on the top, like Rafael Aghayev (he laughs). Everybody knows what he is going to do but, still, nobody can do anything against him.
Maybe you ?...
I can, I can, but luck stopped me before some finals. I want very much to fight with him but… We are good friends, and, on tatami, I think we can do real good and interesting fights for people. We both are waiting for that moment (he laughs), when we can meet in a final and make a real good fight.
What can we wish you ?
A final against Rafael at the next World championships (he laughs).
If you have an advice to give to a child, a teenager who dreams to be a champion, what would it be ?
My advice would be like : « choose the sport that you really feel you want to do. And, if you practice something, you must decide for yourself what do you want from this sport. Set your goals and slowly go to it. The main idea is that you have to know what you want from what you do.
