Sensei Mojtaba Talebzadeh
I was born in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. When I was 8 years old a revolution happend in my country and then in the late 1970's the Iran and Iraq war started. When I was 18 I had to join the military service for 24 months during war time. It was a very hard time and I hope someday we can all live in peace. After my military service I left my country and went to Japan. I started to work and learn the language. Oneday, I surprisingly learned that my employer had a black belt in Kyokushin Karate and he took me to the Kyokushin Honbu. I immediately understood that the Honbu was a special place. This was a great day in my life, I was fortunate to start Kyokushin Karate under Royama Kancho in Saitamaken, Kawagoe Dojo, Japan.
I was living in and learning the culture in Japan. I knew that Kyokushin was a very strong style of karate from watching some tournaments in Iran. I decided to stay in Japan and get my black belt. From the begining I showed my interest for Kyokushin by training hard, and always participating in different events. My Senseis and Sempies were always very supportive and I learned much from them. When I was an orange belt I participated in my first tournament and it was a full knockdown Kyokushin tournament. I won my first fight but my second fight was with a black belt; I thought, "I just want to stay and finish this"; we fought two rounds and I was defeated. This experience really challenged me physically and I learned that I have to train harder to become stronger in all aspects of Kyokushin. I knew that I was successful when I learned something about myself and how to improve my Kyokushin skills.
I participated in many tournaments and I placed 3rd in the Saitamaken Tournament under Royama Kancho. I was chosen to challenge myself to participate in the All Japan Kyokushin Karate Tournament, it was a great exprience for me. In 1998 I received my Black Belt from Royama Kancho.I participated in diffrent Kyokushin events such as seminars and Gashku and trained in other dojos to learn more.
In 2000 after living in Japan for almost 10 years, I left Japan and went back to Iran with my lovely wife from PEI, Canada. Right away I joined Iranian Kyokushin Karate IKO1 under Shihan Homayonpor. I trained with Shihan Iraj Afrasiabi and Sensei Amir Hoshang Shaghalei, six time all Iran champion and second place in World Senior Devision. I recieved my Nidan in 2001 and my Sandan in 2004.
When we arrived in Canada we estabilished ourselves in Halifax. Unfortunately, there was no Kyokushin Karate in Halifax at that time. At the gym I talked with some guys and they told me they were interested in learnintg Kyokushin if I teach them. I was very excited; I had teaching exprience from Japan being an instructor in Kawagoe Dojo for almost 2 years. I started teaching Kyokushin at a YMCA and after a few months moved to a community center.
Halifax dojo participated in the 2005 Atlantic Canada Kyokushin Karate tournament where I met Sensei Ray Cormier for the first time. Halifax dojo performed well in the tournament and after that we became a member of Atlantic Canada Kyokushin Karate. Sensei Ray has been very supportive of our organization and has shared his experience with us. Becoming part of a larger organization was great for us and we were motivated to work harder and learn more. Since we joined the Atlantic Canada Kyokushin Karate team we have been participating in tournaments and events in North America. We are privileged to be a part of this organization and we do our best to follow the Kyokushin way.
In 2008, I was nominated for Branch Chief of Nova Scotia by Canadian Branch Chiefs Shihan Hamid Assnaashari, Sensei Ray Cormier, Sensei Diego Beltran, and Sensei Richard Poullin, and approval was granted from Kancho Hatsuo Royama from Honbu in Japan. This was a great honor and privilege for me and once again has inspired me to continue to work hard in Kyokushin Karate and to build the strength of our organization here in Nova Scotia and internationally.
Osu,
