Martial
Education
To pursue the Way…
A path, whatever it may be, has an origin, a development, obstacles along the way and a more or less satisfying epilogue.
The martial practice lacks this last part: no matter how long the search may be, once we have taken the Way, we’ll follow it for life. It won’t be an obligation, it won’t be a commitment… Simply, we will feel the need to continue exploring this seemingly infinite world that is the Martial Art. And we will do so accompanied by the progressive and growing awareness of “not knowing”: there is no end to self-exploration.
I chose Martial Arts as an instrument to investigate myself, overcome my limits and probe my mind. Although, of course, I’ve realized that over the years.
At the beginning it was a deep passion, a impetus that was born from the heart, the desire to know these ancient oriental arts and make them mine…
With time, between unique encounters and exciting trips, I ended up discovering the vocation for teaching! In assisting my teachers I acquired more and more skills, until I felt sufficiently prepared to open my first independent school. The course was a success, so I did not delay in broadening my horizons, opening other branches throughout the province.
In 2019 I gathered all my schools under the emblem of Wǔ Dào Duì (reads “vu dào duéi”), the Martial Way Team, whose raison d’être is extensively explored in the dedicated page!
But let’s take a step back, retracing my education from the beginning…
I started practicing Kung Fu at the age of seven, but for some reason I didn’t find what I was looking for. Honestly, today I don’t remember much of that first experience, which lasted about a year. All I know is that the village where I was born at the time had nothing else to offer in martial arts, so I fell back on swimming, skiing in winter, and basketball courts, integrated with some acrobatic gymnastics lessons.
At the age of 15 I finally got to approach the Gōjū-ryū Karate, a Japanese style that, like the most famous Chinese Wing Chun, comes from the ancient Kung Fu style of White Crane. Here I faced the first competitive experiences, both in Kata and in Kumite.
There was still something wrong, a discrepancy between what I was doing and what I was looking for, what in my imagination represented the idea of Martial Art.
After only two years of training I decided to switch to a Chinese style, the Shaolin Kung Fu, at the school Hu Long Wushu Kung-Fu, under the guidance of Giulio Betti and Fabrizio Martinuzzi. Suddenly I recognized myself in the discipline practiced!
I completed the belts attainment, up to the first degree of black belt within the FIWUK Sports Federation, winning races throughout Tuscany, up to achieve the highest recognition, the gold medal during the Italian competitions, in 2012, in Merate.
Within this wonderful path I had the opportunity to experiment with other styles belonging to the wide range of Chinese Kung Fu, such as the imitatives Mantis (Tang Lang Quan, with Master Mario Picconi) and Leopard (with Master Shaosong Huang), the Sanda or Sanshou, with the instructor and friend Michele Batazzi and the Master Shi Yan Hui, the Qi Gong and the Zhan Zhuang (breathing and stillness exercises combined with “ideomotor” training).
But the desire to put myself in the game was only increasing, so I tested new disciplines such as Muay Thai, with Giorgio Petrosyan, and the Russian Systema, with Master Andrey Karimov. Although they were brief experiences, I realized that these genres were not in my wheelhouse.
To provide for the technical lack of sports combat, often excluded from the training sessions of traditional disciplines (in Italy), I started a parallel path with Kickboxing, under the guidance of my friends and instructors Iacopo Franci and Riccardo Mura. However, I have excluded the competitive practice, in order to be able to dedicate myself simultaneously to other traditional styles.
In fact, during my university studies, I had the opportunity to train with Master Giacomo De Angelis, three years of hard work on the Wing Chun style, including an approach to the basics of Meihua Quan.
Later I dedicated myself to the Chinese Kenpo with the Master Raffaele Bernabei, but I was forced to stop at the rank of blue belt due to the incompatibiliy with my work timetable.
I then invested two years in the study of Aikido, with Master Stefano Bartoli, by now in abstinence from the Japanese styles rigor! The same personal commitments have unfortunately forced me to leave the dojo after only two exams, as was the case for the course of Shaolin Wugulun, which I could only start with Master Marco Pallassini.
In 2019, I explored two new worlds: that of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, under the expert guidance of Tamara Klauza, and that of Japanese Jujutsu (Daitō-Ryū Aikijūjutsu and Katori Shintō-ryū), with friend and instructor Jacopo Brogi and Master Roberto Granati, stopping at the rank of green belt.
Meanwhile, I continued to deepen my knowledge of Traditional Kung Fu through intensive internships with masters such as Liu Peng and Andrea Nardi.
Of course, I never stopped practicing Qi Gong and Zhan Zhuang daily, aspiring to achieve the perception and harmony typical of Chinese internal martial arts.
In July 2021 I obtained the qualification of Traditional Wushu Kung Fu instructor at the National Educational Sports Center (CSEN), specializing in the disciplines of Shaolin and Qi Gong, and integrating some important aspects of the Wing Chun style.
Over the past few years I have participated to the one week training camp organized by the master Fan Shaojie, from the Shaolin Kulturcenter in Gothenburg, and by the master Marco Pallassini, from Siena. During the retreats I deepened my knowledge on Shaolin Kung Fu, Qi Gong and Zhan Zhuang, and I was able to share my research by presenting to a large international audience the essay “Fragments of a lost knowledge”.
To date, my practice continues within the groups in which I teach, supplemented with Qi Gong and Shorinji Kenpo sessions under the guidance of Master Vincent Wang and Master Qin Xiping (秦西平).
Earning a Master’s degree in Sports Activities Management (June 2024) added qualifications and competencies to my educational curriculum, which was further expanded with a Specialization course in Sports Psychology (September 2024), concerning topics such as anxiety, stress and emotion management, Mindfulness, Mental Training, ideomotor training, relaxation with autogenic training, burnout and overtraining, and various techniques to improve performance and individual and teamwork.
