WHO IS DANIEL ISAAC ???

MY TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE The Success story of Daniel Isaac – World Full Contact Kickboxing Champion 1993-95 I was born on the 9th of Sept 1975 in vishakapatnam AP .Although I officially began my martial arts training in the Art of Ishudo at the age of 4 I was already kicking and punching as i was learning to walk. I remember getting up early in the mornings of the early eighties to watch my father break bricks with his head for breakfast . It was a sight I can never forget … he [my father] trained himself daily those days because he was the first person in the city to introduce a completely different martial arts training syllabus and to prove himself to be the best he had to keep himself fit.Pull ups on the horizontal bar , palm push ups , knuckle push ups and ouch ! those extremely painful to watch 2 finger push ups … with a workout like that my father had a physique ‘to die for’ – truly “ He was my inspiration to begin my training in the martial arts – and I have never regretted my entry into this field – infact I thank God that I was able to receive such first hand training under a person whom I would call “ the best Martial arts Master that I have ever known “. Today the ‘In’ thing in the martial arts world is “UFC” “Extreme Fighting” “NHB” style tournaments where the promoters boast that this kind of competition with almost no rules separates the real from the fake martial arts training. But as far as I remember here in Nasik , India we have training in that style of training and competition right from the day we entered the dojo – and in 1985 the Federation of Oriental Martial Arts [the first governing body for Ishudo ] organized the first ever “Freestyle No Rules Martial Arts Tournament “ in Bytco college Nasik Road . Almost every martial arts style was represented at this event and it was at that tournament that people got a taste of what a “No rules” tournament actually is – Shito-Ryu / Shorin – Ryu / taekwondo / Goju-ryu / Freestyle karate fighter from all over the country clashed against the Ishudo Fighters ad the outcome out of 9 of the final bouts 8 of the finals were won by Ishudokas and all out first round knockouts[backfists , roundhouse kicks , roundarm punches were uncommon techniques used in martial arts tournaments in those days but the ishudo fighters used these techniques against all the challengers and won ].Friends , on that day I was a first hand witness that the Martial art of Ishudo was indeed the best art to train in [if streetwise self defence was the training that you were looking for].Today after the Gracies have introduced freestyle fighting to the world – almost every martial art syllabus has included grappling and streetfight style training in their curriculum.Infact I was very surprised to see that many dojos in India now train in Freestyle training [ that is truly a landmark achievement that Indian Martial artists have made ] Anway , coming back to my story – In 1985 I won my first district level kata competition and as you all know that kata performances can never determine a martial artists true self defence capabilities …. Winning the kata competition made me think that I was virtually the best my near-perfect stances ,punches and kicks usually left the audience

spell-bound , and that was my biggest mistake because in 1987 I was part of the FOMA team which participated in the Indira Gandhi memorial Full contact Karate championships held at Pune in 1987 , I was just 35kgs and was fighting in the 35-45kg wt category[in those days organizers decided on wt groups of their own choice . I walked into the arena literally padded up with chest guards , head guards , kick boots , gloves – you name it – and when I saw my opponent he was much taller than me and was exactly 45kgs – I froze as I saw my opponent take his stance and show off with some high spin kicks followed with a full splits[I knew that something drastic was definitely going to happen] .The bout began , I charged towards him yelling a loud kiai and tried to land a reverse punch on his stomach – but instead I found him using a spinning back kick landing his heel on target at my solar plexus , chest guard or no chest guard I felt that kick real hard as I landed on the ground with a loud ‘thud’.The next few moments could have predicted by anyone – o got up took my stance again and this time he wasted no time , he used a side thrust kick , I buckled , then he kicked me in the head with a spin heel kick and then ended the bout with a reverse sweep . I don’t remember what happened for the next 10 minutes as I went unconscious . My mother came into the fighting arena yelling at my opponent “how dare you hit my son like that ! don’t you know that he so much smaller than you “ – my dad really did not know what to do for a moment because he wasn’t sure whether to calm my Mom down or to carry me out of the arena [today when we as a family sit back and recollect that days events we all have a good laugh].But that competition was the one which showed me where I stood and how much of training and focus I really required – I realized that in the martial arts being the son of a Grandmaster didn’t help – I would have to earn my way through this field because blood and sweat was going to be the way that I would have to try to reach the top.From that day I began to train really seriously under my father and never missed a single training session.In the years to come I completed my ICSE Std 10 from barnes School devlali and Bcom from BYK college Nasik City. I also trained in the basics of boxing under an ex-navy boxing champ Leslie mainguy who was one of the boxing coaches in Barnes School , and I was the runner-up in the Barnes School boxing championship for the year 1988-89.Unfortunately that was not the same case in the district level boxing championships as I was unable to stand anywhere in the tournament [but I understand that victory can only be achieved by understanding the purpose of defeat and because I lost at the 1987 karate championships as well as the district boxing championships that I realised all that was lacking in my training and that is the reason that I reached where I am today. Later I was the district karate and kickboxing champion from 1988-1990 and also won the four districts full contact karate championships in Ahmednagar in 1990.In December 1990 I won my first All India Kickboxing championship and remember that I fought some of the toughest fighters in my kickboxing career at that tournament. In 1991 I won another full contact karate championship in Mumbai by knockouts in every bout and then in 1992 I also won the National full contact karate championships held in dehu rd Pune by virtue of a first round knockout.I also received my first degree black belt in April 1991.Now my training schedule was more intense than ever , as all I thought about day and night was about competitions.Most of my free time was spent in the garden of our house in barnes school working out on the heavy bag.I would get up at 430am , have 5 raw eggs with milk , run for about 5 kms , shadow spar for about 15 minutes and

end my schedule with a heavy bag workout and about 200 stomach sit-ups.In those days we never had training equipment in India like we do today and so most of the equipment used by us in those days was self-designed and made by the local ‘mochis’[cobbler]. In 1993 Sensei Rajesh Thakkar of the OMGKA Mumbai was in devlali for a seminar for all his students presided by Master Meitatsu Yagi from japan and when he saw me demonstrate some Ishudo techniques at the final day of the grading of his students sensei Thakkar presented me with a Power pad to help me in my Kicking training – In those days getting a training accessory like that was considered a great thing and I spent many of my training sessions with that bag – even today I still keep that pad in my dojo and show it to my students when we train with the latest training equipment available today. In October 1993 I was the no 1 rated fighter on the official full contact kickboxing lightweight category of the World Kickboxing Council , and following me was another Indian Kickboxer[an Air Force Kickboxing coach] named Carlos Thomas . Rated no.3 was a Lebanese Kickboxer names mohd Itani. In December the WKC USA head office sanctioned a WKC World Full Contact Title bout between Carlos Thomas and myself which was to be held in India. I remember fighting that bout with a fever and the 3 rounds seemed like forever but by Gods grace I was able to impress the judges with some good techniques and although Carlos landed a good hook on me in the first round I was able to come back with some pretty good kick punch combinations and win the World Title Bout sanctioned by the World Kickboxing Council.The WKC presented me with a World Championship certificate and featured the bout on Television. Finally in July 1994 I travelled to Russia in the State of Crimea[South of Ukraine] and participated in the Kickboxing Olympics of Hersonnes organized by WAKO Crimea and the International Karate and Kickboxing Federation.I stayed at the Sports City of Alushta and trained under Mr Nicolai the Olympic boxing coach for 3 days.I fought against Sergei Emaljanenko in the Finals of this Kickboxing Mega-event and will never ever forget that most action packed bout of my Kickboxing career.As I entered the ring I could hear the Russians cheering “Sergei ! Sergei ! “ and I did not have a single soul to cheer me for that bout.On my corner was Master Nicolai along with Andrei[our official bodyguard as in those days Criminals were targeting most foreigners who visited Russia] And it was so amusing as they couldn’t speak a word of English and I couldn’t speak Russian so every time that I returned to my corner between each round they would keep talking to me in Russian and all that I could do was nod my head. Sergei was an excellent kicker as well as a Amateur boxing champion , and he was determined to take my head off with those powerful kicks and punches and because he was shorter than me he would get in close and then unleash some really fast hooks and uppercuts.It was literally a Kick versus Punch bout as I answered every punch of his with an equally powerful roundhouse , front and spinning hook kick .What disappointed me was that I found the Russian referee to be very partial during the bout.According to the WAKO Full contact Kickboxing rules , if a Fighter is dropped thrice in a round and takes a standing 8 count the other Kickboxer wins by a technical knockout.I remember knocking Sergei down almost 5 times during that bout but the referee gave him the 8 count and then continued . Still it was a bout that I could never forget and I gave thanks to my Lord Jesus Christ as the referee raised my hand as the World Champion at the end of the bout.The Russian government also presented me with a special trophy of appreciation apart from the WAKO world championship medal that I received from WAKO Crimea. Later when I returned to India I was honoured by the local dignitaries of the city but till date the government of India has never acknowledged my victory even though I was Indias first Gold medalist and world champion in Full Contact Kickboxing.In that same year I was also appointed by the Air defence guided missile center in Nasik rd to teach unarmed combat to the Soldiers of the Training center.In march 1995 I was featured in the worlds leading magazine of self defence from the USA “Black Belt”. Today as I look back over the years that I have competed as a Kickboxer I have come to realize that Martial arts competition whatever the style , whether it be sport karate , taekwondo , judo or Kickboxing requires more that just physical dedication . To become a World Champion one must make a journey over numerous obstacles like fear , inferiority complexes , anger , jealousy etc and once the individual overcomes these obstacles he will realize that it is not the paper certificate , world championship belt or a gold medal which is the real trophy but it the realization that one has been able to change himself and become an individual who would not only be instrumental in bettering society but would also become a true child of God .Today I realize that it is not just my kicks and punches that helped me to become a World Champion but it is because I depended on God and trusted in him and kept him first in my life that I have been able to become a winner not only in the sport of Kickboxing but in the game of Life itself. Before I end this article I request all the organizations and martial arts masters , let us all remember that we are all first human beings , all children of God – let us stop speaking against one another , let us stop criticizing one another and condemning each others organizations and Arts – let us work together and take India to a higher level , by training our students to love and respect one another. Thankyou to Mr Sanjeev Kumar for publishing this article on me and I wish the choicest of Gods blessings on all the readers of Complete Martial Arts Magazine. Arigatto ! About Daniel Isaac : Daniel Isaac is the technical director of the All India Kickboxing Council as well as the Chief Instructor at the TA battalion for the Indian Army Paratroopers To contact Daniel Isaac email wasa@rediffmail / ishudo@rediffmail.com or write Daniel Isaac P.O box 274 .Nasik Road . MS India 422101. ph 0091-253-2458703