MANUEL BAZZOCCHI
Manuel started practising Karate at the age of 5 in 2001 after taking part in one of Master Mario Laurini’s courses at nursery school. After the firstthree years learning the discipline, he startedcompeting. In 2005 he was asked to join the Goju-Ryu style national squad to take part in the IKGA World Championship in Rotterdam. Despite just missing a place on the podium, Manuel continued to train hard and won important national and international titles in subsequent years, most recently taking the influential IKGA European Champion Senior Category title for Kumite (free combat). Although he had always practised Kata (form) from when he was young, Manuel achieved his best results in Kumite and so he specialised in that discipline. He now trains the competitive Kumite team.
Manuel started teaching six years ago, assisting Master Laurini in the various courses run by the school. In that time, he has worked with kids in the 5-12 years age bracket and also adults. In the last few years, Manuel has been running the school’s courses with Master Laurini and other instructors. He has been running the Children’s and Adults course in Sorbolo since October 2015.