A world champion as a trendsetter

Seven-time kickboxing world champion and (today) delegate of the official Italian professional sports association FITA (Federazione Italiana Taekwondo) in South Tyrol: This is Markus Zadra. He was born in Bolzano on January 26, 1965. Markus Zadra lives in Kurtatsch with his wife Karin and their two sons Emanuel (2) and Alexander (20). (Almost) everything in the life of the enthusiastic (and above all highly talented) nature photographer revolves around sport, especially Far Eastern martial arts. In 18 he said goodbye to active competitive sports as the reigning WAKO-Pro world champion. Now, as a senior Taekwondo delegate, he and some young South Tyroleans dream of the Olympic Games. From karate to kickboxing to taekwondo At the very beginning for Markus Zadra there was the screen hero David Carredine, who kicked and boxed his way through a series of spectacular action films at the time. As an 11-year-old, he was young Markus' great idol. “That’s how I want to fight and assert myself,” thought the tall boy. And as luck would have it, he found a small book about karate somewhere. It never occurred to him that this would be the key to a truly fantastic career in Far Eastern martial arts. And today one of these martial arts, Taekwondo, still determines the everyday life of the thoroughbred athlete who – without exaggeration – “lives” the martial arts disciplines. “Discipline” not only stands for sport, but in Zadra’s case it stands for respect, fairness, self-control and passion and for the “gift” of passing on one’s knowledge and skills to the next generation. Markus Zadra (2nd from left) enjoys time with his family.

After acquiring his green karate belt from martial arts icon Italo Piras in Neumarkt, he switched to kickboxing. In 1986 he passed the 1st Dan exam (master's degree) in kickboxing, and just two years later Markus Zadra was called up to the national team for the first time. In the same year he passed the 2nd Dan exam and concentrated on the semi-contact discipline. Then things happened in quick succession: in 2 he took the exam for 1991rd Dan. In 3 he was awarded the 1995th Dan by the Italian professional sports association (the world association is WAKO) after he won the amateur world championship in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart. At the end of a great kickboxing career, he was honored with the 4th Dan by World Association President Ennio Falsoni as a sign of gratitude for his commitment to and for his sport at home and abroad. Zadra could have sat back, he had achieved everything there was to achieve. The dream of the Olympics is suddenly within reach Of course, kickboxing has a “flaw”. Kickboxing is not Olympic. Zadra had collected 10 Italian championship titles, was world champion seven times, had almost a dozen European championship belts, and won world and European cups. A single room in his apartment would certainly not be enough for all the trophies and countless medals he has collected. But despite all the trophies, kickboxers are denied the dream goal of the Olympics. That's why he looked for a discipline within the broad spectrum of martial arts that, similar to judo, is characterized by the 7 rings. It may be a coincidence that taekwondo was an Olympic sport for the first time in Sydney in 5. For Zadra it was a sign to try this Far Eastern classic and set another trend here. “I was thinking less about myself and more about young South Tyrolean athletes. “Maybe I can make it possible for others to do what was unfortunately not possible for me,” he says today.

It happened at lightning speed, even though there was still no official Taekwondo school in the entire Trentino/South Tyrol region. “In 2002 I passed the exam for 1st Dan (master’s degree), in the same year I became a trainer with a C license in Olympic Taekwondo and that paved the way for this Korean martial art in South Tyrol,” says Zadra. A year later he passed the 2nd Dan exam and the trainer exam with a B license. In 2004, he was appointed by the Italian Sports Association to be responsible for the entire region, a position that he still fills with heart and soul to this day. In 2005 he passed the 3rd Dan exam, in 2008 he passed the hurdle of becoming a trainer with an A license and a year later he passed the 4th Dan exam and in 2013 he passed the 5th Dan exam. International success followed, as did honors. The vice president of the world association Sun Jae Park honored the pioneer for his services to the sport of taekwondo in Italy. This further fueled his motivation. “My wife Karin and our sons give me strength” Mark Zadra “I am not only lucky enough to have a great (and above all understanding) wife in Karin, but also to be the father of two sports-loving sons. The fact that in my case the apple doesn't fall far from the tree fills me with joy and I can't deny it, also with a bit of pride. Both my eldest (Emanuel, 20) and the “little one” (Alexander, 17, is 1,90 meters tall) are - although they couldn't be more opposite in personality - successful Taekwondo talents. Emanuel, who studied in Vienna and now lives in Kurtatsch due to Corona, achieved the 18rd Dan at the age of 3, is calm and fights thoughtfully. For Alexander, sport is more than just leisure; he is an uncompromising daredevil. And although both work with self-discipline and don't actually need a coach, before Corona times I was out and about at competitions with both of them and other members of the selection almost every weekend. When I said weekend I mean the days from Thursday to Tuesday. And that for months. If I add it all up, I was probably away from home for seven, maybe even eight months in 2019. We have been working from home since the World Cup in February 2020 in Sweden (when Alexander hit the World Cup almost perfectly),” says Zadra. He looks after a total of 11 athletes with World Cup licenses. The Zadra family in this winter.

What does a restless athlete like Markus Zadra do without competitions in Corona times? “I just had to “reinvent” myself a bit and started the online personal training project, “Self-defense with firearms”. I have the appropriate license for that,” says Zadra.

Fatigue is a foreign word for the all-round martial artist, who still doesn't stand his ground in the master classes. The fire is still burning. And when time permits, Zadra goes hunting. Not with a shooting iron, but with a professional camera. Markus Zadra has long been recognized as a nature photographer. He is happy to “sacrifice” an afternoon for a good picture, such as a kingfisher on the Etsch.

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A world champion as a trendsetter

S+ is tracking down South Tyrolean sports legends in the new series “What happened to…?” This time it is the turn of seven-time kickboxing world champion Markus Zadra, whose life (almost) everything revolves around martial arts.

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