Nearly 1,000 people attended the premiere of this boxing and judo-shotte boxing gala organized according to the rules of Kenpô Élite, a little more in 2008, the year when his brother Frédéric took over the reins.
The beginnings of a craze that has never been dried up since for a KOC, which has professionalized over the years, has been fed on communication …
Nearly 1,000 people attended the premiere of this boxing and judo-shotte boxing gala organized according to the rules of Kenpô Élite, a little more in 2008, the year when his brother Frédéric took over the reins.
The beginnings of a craze that has never been dried up since for a KOC, which has professionalized over the years, has fed on the narrative boxing of boxing with its decorum, its weighings, its challenges, its rings girls, to become a real spectacle which has gathered for several years more than 2,000 people with each edition.
“The legalization of the discipline gave him a boost. »»
This Saturday, it will be 18e In the Vauzelles where fans are still expected as numerous around the octagon, the theater wrapped in fighting which was added to the show in 2021 in the momentum of the legalization of the MMA (mixed martial arts) in France.
A discipline very close to Kenpô, legalized in France since 2020, long described for its raw violence, recognized today and the dazzling ascent to the great satisfaction of Frédéric Fernandez. 60,000 licensees with an increase of almost 300 % registration in one year (2023/2024). “The legalization of the discipline gave him a boost, we also feel it within our academy (Pythagoras) in Cognac where we have never had so many people. There are social networks that have also contributed to this craze and the results at the highest level of French champions, media coverage. »»
From 6 to 50 years old
This Tuesday evening during the last training before the KOC, fever was everywhere, in the spirits and on the bodies. It smelled of perspiration at the Crouin dojo, where around forty men and women clashed Mano in Mano. Les tlates by the field and some spectators like Assia Daoud who came to see his son, Idriss, 17. “He is a basketball player and it is very complementary, it helps him a lot and it is a discipline. »»
“It is a summary of different martial arts, struggle, foot-fetches, grappling and Brazilian jujitsu. »»
“Today he brings together all social strata, all ages, girls and boys, also attracted by the multiplicity of the arts he brings together,” explains Frédéric Fernandez, who also launched a 6-12-year section which has around thirty children including a third of girls.
For an hour and a half, teens and adults will chain different techniques. “It is a condensed of different martial arts, struggle, feet, grappling and Brazilian jujitsu,” says Cédric Passant, one of the coaches of the Pythagoras club. “There are techniques of key, ankles, strangulation. This last passage on the dojo before the confrontation in the Koc octagon takes place in half-measures because it is a question of avoiding the injury at all costs.
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Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.
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Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.
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Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.
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Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.Last training Tuesday evening before the Koc, at the Crouin Dojo, which has become too small in the face of the craze.
To defend oneself
At 18, Romane Arnaud will be in the cage for her first fight and while she started her third season at the club. “I didn’t think I can get there,” admits the young woman who does not come to do figuration. “It’s at home, I’m going to win. “She arrived at the club by recommendation and” it helped me to trust myself and I found a family on whom I can count, “adds the one who wants to become a gendarme.
The competitors of the Pythagoras club committed during the KOC on Saturday.
Renaud Joubert
“It trains hard but in a good atmosphere,” comments Thomas Lagardère who will also be in the Koc ring on Saturday. “People who do not know think it’s nag but it’s a complete sport where there is a lot of respect, you just have to be afraid of taking blows and it’s important to know how to defend yourself. A final notion which often returns in the mouths of licensees. “It reassures in the street when you are in the evening,” adds Giovanni Fernandez, the only professional competitor of the Cognaçais club.
“In today’s world, there is a self-defense dimension that attracts people,” admits Frédéric Fernandez. Beyond that, the clichés on this sport fell. He is very supervised, he has a moral code, he advocates respect for others, educational values. »»
21 playful fights
Seven fights from 5.30 p.m., including a feminine and six which concern Pythagorians (4 of Cognac), plus 14 on the main card of the evening, from 7:30 p.m.: This is the menu of this edition whose room Giovanni Fernandez is one of the stars. Two other female fights are playing with this gala which will be led by national speakers Sébastien Loew and David Félix, and whose traditional weighing will take place this Friday, at 6 p.m., in Vauzelles. For lovers of Muay Thai (Thai boxing), note that an internship is organized at the beginning of the afternoon at the Alcide Gibeaud de Cognac dojo, from 2 to 4 p.m., with the participation of one of his legends, Jean-Charles Skarbowski.
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