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VI Baltic Martial Arts Olympics took place in Riga (Latvia). Participants competed in various types of karate, kobudo, knife fighting, grappling, muai thai, koshiki-karate etc.

11 countries took part in the championship, including Algeria and Japan. Belgorod region was represented by “SATO” martial arts school including the student of Institute of Law “Forensics” course Yulia Minakova and the student of BelSU Institute of Pedagogy Physical ��è��Ƶ Department Aleksandr Dorogin.

Aleksandr Dorogin got two second places in kata (18+) and kumite (contact) categories and the third place in kumite (non-contact) category. Yulia became the Champion of Europe, – she got the first place in kumite (contact) (18+) category.

Yulia Minakova does karate Shotokan style for 11 years. She has the first dan black belt and trains at “SATO” Martial Arts school under the guidance of Master of Martial Arts Andrei Klochkov (8 dan). In 2015 Yulia became the silver prizewinner of World Championship in Spain and continues to improve her skills. She also has referee category “D” and may perform as a referee at the championships.

“I am the only girl in the team, and people told me that nothing will come out of it. If I would listen to them I’d abandon my career long time ago, but I hasn’t given up, I went for the black belt, titles and victory. My coach and my team’s belief in me helped a lot, and I want to tell everyone: do not lose faith in yourself”, – said Yulia.

Among Yulia’s recent plans are December tournament where she would compete with sportmen from Russia, Italy and Japan. After the graduation, Yulia plans to work at Ministry of Internal Affairs, where her skills would be highly sought for.