.I have always been facinated with Judo and Aiki Jujutsu. In my travels I have met many quality masters and instructors from different arts, but like everything in life the best things happen when you least expect it.
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I met Florian Velici (7th Dan Blackbelt Judo; 1st Dan Balckbelt Jujitsu) on my first visit to Germany in March 2008. At the time this article was written he is 59 years old, father to Cristian Velici and Trainer to Champions.
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When I first met him I could not stop telling Cristian how big his father's neck was.. and when I say big, it wasnt BIG big, it was "muscular" big; if you take a striking art, you grow calluses around your knuckles, if you are a grappler, Florian Velici's kind of neck is what you want. A soft spoken man with a smile that never leaves his face, but honestly, in a long line of people who could beat me up, he is in the top list :) His presence just shines the spirit of REAL JUDO - The Gentle Art. Just being around him, you feel it.
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One the last day of my 2nd German Seminar (29th June2008), the evening after the seminar he honored me and Tony Nowak with a private lesson. For a 59 year old, he puts my physical condition and stamina to shame.
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At the beginning of the session, he taught us entries to throws, his agility was unbelieveable. Then he asked us to throw him, Tony and me wasnt really comfortable throwing an old man with powerful throws, but thats just an excuse - between you guys and us, we were just very nervous, then he told us not to treat him like an "egg" - to learn the true Judo, we have to have committment, don't think - just do. It got us a while to get use to throwing an "old" man. His breakfall (ukemi) was just amazing, he fell like everything was in slow motion. You have to be there to see it.
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He taught us the fundamentals from 4 groups of throws and breakfalls. He makes me hungry to learn more Judo.
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It was truely an honor to be taught directly by him. I can only wish to be in his physical and stamina condition when Im in his age. His dedication to the spirit of Judo is something that you can only feel when you meet this man. My utmost admiration and deep respects to Florian Velici.
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For more information visit;
http://www.3l-akademie.de/
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FLORIAN VELICI - Trainer to Champions
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He is a professor of sports, he studied sports at the University of Bucharest. He, himself, was also a competitive boxer and gymnast during his childhood, youth and University years.
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Early after he left University in 1971, he had to decide not to compete any more, but to teach, because competing and full time teaching at the same time in high performance sports was not possible.
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His Achievements as a Trainer:
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I met Florian Velici (7th Dan Blackbelt Judo; 1st Dan Balckbelt Jujitsu) on my first visit to Germany in March 2008. At the time this article was written he is 59 years old, father to Cristian Velici and Trainer to Champions.
.
When I first met him I could not stop telling Cristian how big his father's neck was.. and when I say big, it wasnt BIG big, it was "muscular" big; if you take a striking art, you grow calluses around your knuckles, if you are a grappler, Florian Velici's kind of neck is what you want. A soft spoken man with a smile that never leaves his face, but honestly, in a long line of people who could beat me up, he is in the top list :) His presence just shines the spirit of REAL JUDO - The Gentle Art. Just being around him, you feel it.
.
One the last day of my 2nd German Seminar (29th June2008), the evening after the seminar he honored me and Tony Nowak with a private lesson. For a 59 year old, he puts my physical condition and stamina to shame.
.
At the beginning of the session, he taught us entries to throws, his agility was unbelieveable. Then he asked us to throw him, Tony and me wasnt really comfortable throwing an old man with powerful throws, but thats just an excuse - between you guys and us, we were just very nervous, then he told us not to treat him like an "egg" - to learn the true Judo, we have to have committment, don't think - just do. It got us a while to get use to throwing an "old" man. His breakfall (ukemi) was just amazing, he fell like everything was in slow motion. You have to be there to see it.
.
He taught us the fundamentals from 4 groups of throws and breakfalls. He makes me hungry to learn more Judo.
.
It was truely an honor to be taught directly by him. I can only wish to be in his physical and stamina condition when Im in his age. His dedication to the spirit of Judo is something that you can only feel when you meet this man. My utmost admiration and deep respects to Florian Velici.
.
For more information visit;
http://www.3l-akademie.de/
.
-------------------------------------------------------
.
FLORIAN VELICI - Trainer to Champions
.
He is a professor of sports, he studied sports at the University of Bucharest. He, himself, was also a competitive boxer and gymnast during his childhood, youth and University years.
.
Early after he left University in 1971, he had to decide not to compete any more, but to teach, because competing and full time teaching at the same time in high performance sports was not possible.
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His Achievements as a Trainer:
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1. Olympic participants:
1. Olympic participants:
- 1984 Montreal: Istvan Nagy (71 kg)
- 1992 Barcelona: Daniel Lascau (78 kg)
- 2004 Athens: Michael Jurak (100 kg)
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Bronze medal Athens, 100 kg, Jurak Michael, the only German medal (men) at the Olympic Games 2004.
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2. World Championships participants:
- 1985 Istvan Nagy
- 1985 Gheorghe Dani (World Masters of Students)
- 1988 Daniel Lascau (U21)
- 1991 Daniel Lascau
- 1999 Michael Jurak (U21)
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- Goldmedal: 1991, Daniel Lascau (78 kg) and Bronzemedal: 1985, Gheorghe Dani (60 kg) and 1999, Michael Jurak (95 kg)
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- European Championships:10 participants, 8 Medals (2 silver and 6 bronze)
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- International tournaments: over 200 medals
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- National tournaments: over 100 gold medals
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3. Team Championships:
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- 1st Place Champions league with TSV Abensberg 1997 and 2000
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- German Master with TSV Abensberg 1997 and 2000
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- 2 times Silver medalist with TSV Abensberg
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- Silver medalist with T.C.I. Oradea (Romania) 1985
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- Bronze medal with T.C.I. Oradea (Romania) 1984 and 1986
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- Multiple times national champion kids and juniors (Romania and Germany)
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- Multiple times national champion of schools (Romania and Germany)
