This Saturday, the COSEC of Borde-Basse welcomes one of the biggest world stars of Karate, Dominique Valera. This champion, 9th dan, will lead a course.
Dominique Valera. This name may mean nothing to you if you are not aware of the things inherent in combat sports. It is however a very big name in karate and full-contact who will come to animate a training course this Saturday within the COSEC of Borde-Basse at the request of the Seiken Karate Club of Castres. Adults, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., then children and teenagers, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., will be able to benefit from the valuable advice of a 9th dan who imported contact karate from the United States. And this is not the only feat of arms of Dominique Valéra who, from the height of his 75 years which he will celebrate precisely today, has a record of honor as long as his arm with in particular a dozen championship titles. Europe (see box).
The fame of the native of Lyon also extends beyond the borders of sport since he has made several appearances in the cinema and helped many actors (Alain Delon, Michel Serrault, Johnny Hallyday…) to prepare for roles. The latter will not stop praising Dominique, who will become a reference in this field from the beginning of the 80s. “Valera is to life what I am myself on screen. A single man capable of ‘Face several opponents’, a certain Jean-Paul Belmondo would have said of him. Dominique Valera had also become friends with Johnny Hallyday who had followed his performances and called on him to prepare physically for the filming of the film Terminus, released in 1986. “Johnny had to find his line, be in good shape and muscular, because he was bare-chested and arms most of the time. I stalled all his fights. We spent three weeks together in Hungary during the filming” confided Dominique to our colleagues from Progress the day after the death of the rocker. The daily training then lasted 4 months. Despite all his titles and these praises, Dominique Valera knew how to keep a cool head and remain “available, simple, generous and accessible”, as evidenced by several practitioners who have gone through one of the courses he humorously leads.
His track record
1966 : French champion – European team champion; 1968 : European team champion; 1969 : champion of France – Winner of the Grand Tournament of the United States; European champion – European team champion; 1970 : French champion – European champion – European team champion – bronze medal in men’s ippon at the world karate championships – gold medal in men’s kumite by teams at the world karate championships; 1971 : champion d’Europe ; 1972 : French heavyweight and open champion – European champion; 1973 : French heavyweight and open champion; 1975 : French heavyweight and open champion. In total, 18 professional full-contact fights including 14 wins, 4 losses. 1976 : champion d’Europe ; 1977 : champion d’Europe ; 1978 : vice-world champion in light heavyweight; 1979 : champion d’Europe ; 1980 : champion d’Europe ; 1981 : vice-world champion in light heavyweight.
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