Badreddine DIANI: "By Looking My Opponent In The Eye, I Can Scare Him"

At the African SAMBO Championships in Tunisia, the Moroccan Badreddin Diani won the gold medal in the under 82 kg weight category in combat SAMBO. Not only he won a medal of the highest value but also managed to take revenge for his year-old defeat. In his interview to the FIAS website, Badreddine Diani told about the principal competition, hard training practice, and his winter hat that he is wearing in the summer heat.

- Last year, in the finals of the African SAMBO Championships you had lost to a Cameroonian athlete. This year, the lot brought you together again in the first combat at the preliminary stage, and you confidently won. What does this victory mean for you?

- Fortunately, that year had ended, and a new one began. Last year I could win, but I made a mistake and lost, this was primarily my fault. This time I was more concentrated, more focused on the fight. In addition, over the past year I have managed to gain experience and raise my level of technical skills. I had my chances to win in the fight, and I managed to use them.

- How did you manage to improve your skills? What is the secret of your success? You had defeated the Cameroonian athlete ahead of time, just like you did later in the finals, when fighting against a Tunisian.

- There is no secret, actually. I train every day, my fellow team-mates support me, they suggest things I should pay attention to, as such things are always seen better from aside. I also managed to improve my sport SAMBO techniques, as I was lacking in wrestling skills for victory. Earlier I preferred striking techniques in standing position, and now I feel confident in wrestling too.

- Nonetheless, during the final fight one of your team-mates advised you from the stands to concentrate on striking techniques instead.

- Yes, that's right. The striking techniques were pretty effective against that opponent, yet in a combination of the grips and the throws that I managed to perform, it produced the greatest effect.

- One other trait of your style of fighting is that you look opponent in the eye, although many martial arts schools teach that you need to look into your opponent’s chest, in order to understand his intentions better.

- You know, my coach tells me the same thing, but it's also a part of my strategy. The gist is that by catching your contestant's eye, you can take advantage of this: first, to deceive him, by showing some false intentions and by doing something different instead, and second, merely to scare him. This is also a part of my method of performing at competitions.

- Today, all day long, despite the heat, you are wearing your winter hat, with "Russia" labeled on it. Why is that?

- I really love Russia, to me, Russia is my second homeland.