General Nasser Alrazooqi : « Karate is something special for us »
Besides being the president of the UAE federation, the general Nasser Abdulrazaq Alrazooqi is the president of the Asian federation and vice-president of the WKF. He talks about Karate in the Emirates, gives his vision of Karate and foresees the World championships in Dubai next November.
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : LM
Video Hajime / Douglas Brose : “Against Assadilov, it's a chess game. I like”
He competed his 1st World Championships in 2006. From 2008, he won 4 world medals in a row. Two-times World champion (2010, 2014), winner of the World Games (2009), he won 5 Pan American titles, including the latest. At 34, Douglas Brose is more than ever in the running for Olympic qualification. For now, the Brazilian answers the Hajime interview. The techniques he loves (geri or tsuki...), the Karatekas he likes (Machida, Aghayev, Assadilov...), the titles he prefers...
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
Video / Sajad Ganjzadeh : “3 world finals... I can do even better...”
18 participations in the Premier League, 14 medals including 10 in gold. 3 World championships, 3 finals, including one won, plus 3 titles per team (2014 to 2018). World N°1 in +84 kg, 2nd in the Olympic ranking in +75 kg, Iran’s Sajad Ganjzadeh is incredibly consistent at the highest level. His 2016 World title, his 3 world finals in a row, his opponents... Episode 1 of an interview with a world Karate master.
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
Santiago 2019 / Gwendoline Philippe : “I went through all the states"
In Santiago de Chili (October 23-27), France’s Gwendoline Philippe won her 3rd World title in a row in the Youth categories. 5th in the Olympic ranking, she can now serenely and fully devote herself to her ultimate dream : the Olympics. In Santiago, in very special daily conditions, between riots and tear gas due to the demonstrations, the young Frenchwoman had to find deep resources to win her 3rd title.
By Florian Fournier
Photos: Kphotos
Video / Georgios Tzanos : « The game is not as clear as before »
His 1st World championships, he lived them in... 2005 (not 2015, you read well !). Thus, he was still cadet. 15 years later, he collected 8 medals at the Senior European championships (2 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze), the last in 2016. At 30, Greece’s Georgios Tzanos (-84 kg) has also experienced different Karates. He who swears first through the basics, the ones that allowed him to score spectacular kicks over and over again, he regrets the evolution of the rules that has led to favor speed over technique. In this 1st of the 3 episodes of the interview we had with him, he talks to us about yesterday and today’s Karate, his vision of (martial) art, his life as a champion who must work to assume his daily life and his expenses, his worried concern about the future of Karate...
By Ludovic Mauchien
Photo : Kphotos
Santiago 2019 / Egypt without rivality
In Chile, the Egyptian team finished 1st nation with 19 medals. With 7 golds, its domination suffers no doubt. In Kata or in Kumite, they won a medal in each different category. Behind Egypt, Turkey (15 medals) and France (12 medals) completes the podium. In this very special context because of riots, some nations did not come to Santiago to participate at these Youth World championships. Japan, Switzerland and others stayed at home for security reasons. Forced to change the schedule, the WKF chose to organize a category with finals and medals at the end of the day. An interesting format that offers continuous entertainment.
By Florian Fournier
Photos : Kphotos
