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World-class
karateka back after 20-year absence
By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer News Service
http://www.inq7.net/globalnation/sec_spo/2003/dec/29-02.htm
BAGUIO
CITY--Julian Chees, a Bontoc Kankaney native from
the Mountain Province, habitually wears patched-up
jeans to town. He is usually good-natured enough to
perform difficult karate katas (series of combat exercise
stances) for sports enthusiasts, despite having downed
10 bottles of beer a few minutes before his spontaneous
exhibitions.
So
when he finally returned to Baguio this week after
a 20-year absence, nearly everyone was surprised to
find him just the way he was when he left the Philippines
in 1983 for Germany.
To
most of the karate community in the world, Chees is
a world-class karate champion. But this 43-year-old
geodetic engineering graduate was representing Germany
when he won this crown.
German
newspapers cheered "Kleine Philipino" (the
small Filipino) when the 5-foot-3 Chees beat 6-foot
tall contenders from the United States, Japan and
Europe during the 1993 Shotoken Karate World Championship.
Since
then, "Kleine Philipino" has been a German
tabloid staple for his successes in Las Vegas, Japan
and most major karate competitions between 1993 and
2001.
"They
were amazed that, as the only (diminutive) Asian in
German karate competitions, I was getting better points
off the blows from top karate bets like Paul Kee,
the Swedish champion. All zeitung (newspapers) began
calling me Kleine Philipino and that nickname became
my label," he said.
<Edited>
"Kleine
Philipino" did retire from major karate competitions
in 2001. He accepted a coaching job for the South
Germany Karate Association in Wurzburg, south of Frankfurt.
<Edited>
He
was born in Bontoc town, Mountain Province, completely
enamored with the military culture. "I like discipline.
I believe that discipline is the most important aspect
of any individual. I trained
with the ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps), and
took advanced ROTC courses even when I was studying
geodetic engineering at the Baguio Colleges Foundation,"
Chees said.
He
was a martial arts artist at age 6 under the sturdy
gaze of martial law. Ferdinand Marcos' New Society
deference to national discipline rubbed off on the
young Chees, who remembered most the salute he gave
Marcos during a 1982 ROTC parade at Camp Crame national
police headquarters than the political quagmire martial
law eventually created before 1986.
The
martial arts principle ruled his life, Chees said.
When he was scheduled to undergo board examinations
for a geodetic engineering license, he opted for a
final chance to win his black belt. Skipping the exams,
he proceeded to the JKA headquarters in Manila.
Curiously,
it was romance which brought Chees to Germany, not
his black belt or his potential engineering license.
"I
met my wife Wally in Bontoc and we decided to reside
in her country. We have three kids, all of whom are
trained in karate, but who have not followed it with
the same passion that I have. I couldn't really force
them," the karate champion said.
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