Refugees champions in martial arts

<p>Dear KissBankers ! </p><p>I hope you are all very well and having a nice Xmas holidays !</p><p> </p><p>I wanted to talk to you about "<strong><em>how are your donations used</em></strong>" ?</p><p> </p><p>Well <strong>250€ were spent on covering the costs for Ilias and Vanessa</strong> to go to Athens by ship, to pay their accommodation, metro tickets and their food in preparation of the competition.</p><p> </p><p>Last Monday 18th December, <strong>300€ were spend to buy 9 pairs of running shoes</strong> for the athletes who started joining the team daily and showing their <strong><u>motivation</u></strong>. </p><p> </p><p>50€ remains from the total amount of your very generous donations and that amount will be used to buy <strong>sport equipment </strong>for the guys who were training with me everyday in Lesvos the past 10 days.</p><p> </p><p>To give you more info:<strong> Sport For Refugees website </strong>is on its way and I am planning on going back to Lesvos in January to be able to build a space in collaboration with "<strong><em>Lesvos Yoga Project</em></strong>" . This space would be used for <strong>yoga</strong>, for <strong>mediation</strong>, for connecting your mind to your body and as well for <strong>sports </strong>that can be practiced without shoes.</p>

<p>Dear KissBankers !</p><p> </p><p>I am super glad and proud to announce you that both our athletes were successful in the competition !</p><p> </p><p>Vanessa, for her first international competition, won the tournament in her category in <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashihara_kaikan">Ashihara karaté</a>. She is a real champion !</p><p> </p><p>Ilias finished in the second position in <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin">Kyokushinkai Karate</a>. Ilias is ready to return and to face again his opponent in order to win the champion title next time.</p><p> </p><p><img alt="25323735_10214855422120249_1416749488_n-1513186969" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/473594/25323735_10214855422120249_1416749488_n-1513186969.jpg"></p>

<p> </p><p><strong>The athletes, Ilias and Vanessa are arrived in Athens and are ready for the competition ! </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Thanks to you they have been able to train in better conditions: healthier alimentation, better sleep, daily trainings with coachs and athletes from different countries.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This week has been very intense for our athletes and they are determined to gather all their energy to offer <strong>beautiful fights</strong> to the audience as well as <strong>amazing victories</strong> !</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ilias will have to enter more than 12 fights to access to the finals as he is registered in <strong>3 different disciplines </strong>: <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin">Kyokushinkai Karaté</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickboxing">kickboxing </a>and <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashihara_kaikan">Ashihara karaté</a>.</p><p> </p><p>They are gonna meet athletes coming from all over the world: Netherlands, Germany, France, Greece, Turkey and Iran, among others. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Vanessa will have to meet very serious fighters in <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashihara_kaikan">Ashihara karaté</a> for <strong>her first international competition</strong> but she is ready to tackle this challenge with her beautiful smile :</p><p> </p><p><img alt="Vanessa-1512220120" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/470986/vanessa-1512220120.jpg"></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Stay tuned for the results of the competition tonight !</strong></p>

<p>Hi to everyone and a <strong>very big thank you </strong>for all your support ! For your donations, for sharing on social networks, talking about it to your friends !</p><p> </p><p><strong>Thank you because without you, this project could not exist !</strong></p><p> </p><p>Today, I would like to introduce you to the two athletes who are going to participate to Athens tournament on the 2nd of December.</p><p><strong>Ilias</strong> and <strong>Vanessa </strong>are both asylum seekers in Greece. </p><p>They arrived in Lesvos several months ago*.</p><p> </p><p><img alt="2017-10-24-photo-00000552-1511449897" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/468706/2017-10-24-PHOTO-00000552-1511449897.jpg"></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ilias has proven himself during many championships already, and he owns the following titles (among others):</p><p>- <strong>Champion of contact karate </strong>(cat. men 85kg+) during the Euro-Asia Championships in 2012 in Antalya, Turkey;</p><p>- <strong>European Vice-champion of </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin">Kyokushinkai Karate</a> (cat. men 85kg+) in 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey;</p><p>- <strong>International golden belt</strong>, received in Yozgat tournament of  Kyokushinkai Karate in 2014, in Turkey;</p><p> </p><p>He also won prices in <strong>boxing</strong>, <strong>judo</strong> and<strong> mixed martial arts</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>He is 29 years old when he becomes the <strong>coach of the mixed martial arts Iranian team</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>Today, he is ready to put all his energy to win this international tournament and to become World champion of <strong>Kyokushinkai karate under the status of asylum seeker in Greece. </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Vanessa </strong>is a <strong>very strong and multi athlete</strong> as she practices the following disciplines : <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muay_Thai">Muay Thai boxing</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts">mixed martial arts</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu">Brazilian jiu-jitsu</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin">kyokushin karate</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashihara_kaikan">ashiharan kaikan</a>.</p><p> </p><p>She is looking forward to this competition as it will be her <strong>first international tournament</strong>. She is more motivated than ever as she confessed to me lately.</p><p> </p><p>A last but not least confidence, Ilias and Vanessa are athletes but also <strong>husband and wife !</strong> They are the proof that "<em>couples who trains together, stay together</em>".</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>* as their asylum requests are still reviewed by the Greek authorities, I do not want to share more details here that could eventually harm them.</em></p>