The Balkan region has a long history and rich culture that even after

living here is not easy to understand, but spans an extensive and storied
past.
The word ‘Balkan’ traces its source back into Ottoman and possibly
even ancient Persian times and in modern Turkish, means wooded
mountain range. The vast expanse of mountains with their breath-taking
views enthralled me during my first travels to Serbia. During my first
visit to Yugoslavia, I was with the Israeli National Rugby team to play
against Partizan and while they had a tough exterior like formidable
warriors standing before us, after they won they opened their hearts and
were some of the most friendly people we had ever met, showing
overwhelming hospitality and with no limits to their kindness and
friendship, making us part of their family.
My next trip there was during the war and thereafter, the name was
changed to Serbia and not Yugoslavia. After many years of visiting this
wonderful country, seeing the great Partizan warriors and warriors
against Nazism while showing peacefulness and hospitality to all I
eventually met my wife and Belgrade became my home, at which time I
had the great honor to begin writing my column “Sensei on the Road”.
My first seminar in Serbia was organized like all my work in Serbia, by
Sensei Igor Sucevic, a life-long student of martial arts, starting with Judo
Karate Wing Tsun followed by Brazilian Jiujutsu MMA FMA with Guro
Dan Inosanto and thereafter numerous great teachers. Over the years,
Igor brought to Serbia some of the world’s foremost Martial Artists for
and organized countless workshops, which I am happy and also honored
to have been a part of before we organized a team and worked for years
to build. We even brough the MMA and UFC legend Carlos Newton
“the Ronin” and Igor took him around Serbia to more Balkan countries
during his stay there.
Serbians are naturally athletic and the inhabitants of the Dinaric Alps are
recorded as being the tallest in the world, with an average height of
185.6 cm (6 ft 1.1 in). The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the
highest recorded average of any single country, with 183.9 cm average
for men and 172.72 cm for women. The Serbian tennis legend Novak
Djokovic was born in Yugoslavia and grew up during the war, leading
him to dominate the sport and became a Serbian national hero.
At the professional level, Serbians lead the way in water polo, football
and hand ball, along with many other sports. When I started teaching
Martial Arts in Serbia, I always said that it would be easy to make MMA
UFC Champions due to the large body type and I’m confident that we
will soon see Serbians dominate the combat sport stage.
While the inhabitants of this country are hard working and tough, the
cities themselves are very friendly and welcoming. According to Lonely
Planet, Belgrade was nominated the best city to live in. While the
outward appearance may not be the prettiest, it has an exuberance and
cultural richness derived from its position as a crossroads of trade, travel
and empires. Taken together, the incredible gastronomy, numerous
coffee shops and museums and military heritage offer something for
everyone who finds themself within the city’s perimeter.
The geographic features and beautiful landscape have also helped shape
the character of the Balkan region. The Darina river is the longest in the
Dinaric Alps and splits Bosnia and Serbia, while the Sava and Danube
join together at Belgrade’s doorstep, making anything you wish come
true, or so say the Serbians.
Teaching Seminars and classes in this amazing country as well as my
time teaching the Serbian special forces and Gendarmerie was truly an
honor, given the high caliber warriors I had the opportunity to work
with. My time training sport MMA BJJ and Kapap Krav Maga team
under Igor was a great pleasure and I had the opportunity to host
students coming from all over world: Mexico, India and even the Israeli
team who had all been in the Army and fought in many wars. I also had
the privilege to work with the incredible instructors at the Grom
Academy and shooting range, Zeljko Vucic and Aleksander Punos,
experts in fire arm combat. I also hosted Sifu Sapir Tal (South Mantis
Kung Fu) who gave seminars in the Spikey tool and Kung Fu to share
his extensive knowledge. It has been my great pleasure to see the Israeli
and Serbian teams working together and my friendship grows as we all
share knowledge. It’s as I always say, KAPAP is a bridge between
systems and humans and we welcome anyone to visit Serbia, the home
of Sensei on the Road.