Growing passion for combat sports

It was sold out for the last bout: that of Giorgio Petrostyan, the Armenian kickboxer and thaiboxer naturalised Italian who in November ended his long career by winning the title and giving combat sports a 'boost'.

What was once the 'fashion', which started with traditional martial arts and films, has now become a passion in which sporting activity and agonism are also linked to other goals such as physical well-being. Behind the big numbers, with professionals or top-level agonists there is what is called the 'army' of practitioners. Figures for Italy speak of about 150 thousand athletes (amateurs and not always competitive) involved in kickboxing, karate, boxing, savate, Thai boxing, Taekwondo and Mma competitions, distributed among federations recognised by CONI and sports promotion bodies, as well as international circuits. 'The event in which Giorgio Petrosyan fought,' says Massimo Liberati, manager of Wako Pro Italia, the international federation that has Federkombat as its reference in Italy, 'has given a considerable boost this year to the movement, which is registering growth and an increasingly high technical level, even among amateurs.

The picture of combat sports does not only stop at major events, in Italy there are about 10 galas a year, but also includes other amateur events about ten a month promoted by the various federations or sports promotion bodies. 'At the world junior and cadet Kickboxing championships,' adds Liberati who, before being a manager, was a full contact agonist and multiple world champion, 'we had 3,000 international athletes with representatives from every nation. Data that certify a recovery after the slowdown of the past few years.

'The growth that is taking place is important, at least if you read the numbers of my federation, the Federkombat, which is now recognised by Coni,' adds Liberati, 'and this is thanks to all those who work hard on a daily basis. Because in addition to the professionals who fight in major events, there are others. "The activity within the sports associations is more flourishing than in previous years,' he adds, 'after all, the champions who take part in the big events come from the amateur and minor circuits. That's not all, however. For the sports director, who was also technical director of the national Full contact Kickboxing team in the past, it is a sign of a change and an opening up that has erased the binomial combat sports as violent. 'Thirty years ago, finding children and women in the gym practising Kickboxing or other combat sports was quite rare,' he adds. 'Today, however, if you go into any gym you will find that 40 per cent of the practitioners are children, 20 to 25 per cent are women and the remainder are men. Kickboxing today is a sport and a sporting discipline also thanks to the commitment of many masters who have made it their own. Today, the masters are not only instructors of the discipline but a point of reference and for the youngest also educators'. And, once the fashion has passed, there remain the athletes who are committed whether it is competitive or amateur activity without competitions. 'That the world has changed and people's opinion of these disciplines has changed,' Liberati adds, 'is demonstrated by the fact that our federation has also prepared and trained the coaches who will have to support athletes with disabilities.

The growth, driven by the big events and TV broadcasts, is also affecting other EU countries where, very often, the practice of martial arts first and combat sports second, 'has always been a habit' Starting with France where, in terms of number of members, French boxing savate is the leader. Next comes Kickboxing with its nuances ranging from full contact to K1, to Mma, the mixed martial Arts. In Holland, in addition to Thai boxing - in the past it was precisely the athletes from the Netherlands who managed to excel all over the world - there is also a growing passion for Mma.