Senpai Julian Martinelli
Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.
— C. S. Lewis
Julian through the years
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His very first day. His father wanted a memory for him. It's a good one!
Yellow belt is the halfway point to black belt in term of belts - but not in terms of training hours.
The first of his senior grades, the green belt, also known as 4th kyu.
With the brown belt, the end of the first stage of the journey is getting closer. And he's getting taller!
Now, nearly the same height as his instructor, he's managed to get his black belt - 9 years after starting out.
Julian started at the tender age of 6½ years. He went from strength to strength from then on and in 2020, with persistence of his own and of his parents, he got his black belt at 15½ years of age, and still actively training today.
He competes, teaches, and officiates at the dojo regularly, as can be seen from the video and images below.
Performing Saiha Kata
The winning performance for synchronised kata, together with Senpai Jack. Saiha kata is the signature kata for IFK, just as Kanku kata is for Kyokushin as a whole.
He's always been enthusiastic about tournaments, and has been been in many tournaments run by both Kyokushin and non-Kyokushin organanisations with much success. His specialty is the hook kick!
He's been officiating since he was a teenager, and continues to do so as an adult.
He also had the pleasaure and privilege of participating in a music video by the local rapper group Horrorshow who incidentally attened the same local highschool that he did - albeit it a few years earlier.