Key Spain masters
banded
together
and purposefully pitted the toughest fighters against Salvador
throughout the competition. But, Salvador, determined and unyielding, continued to defeat his competitors. Just
before getting to the final round, he defeated one of the meanest, toughest competitors—a fighter nicknamed
“Swartzenegger.”
And in the final round, he annihilated the best student of Spain's
reigning Kung Fu Master.
Salvador
met the challenge by defeating the best of the best, and victoriously
maintained the Spain National title for the second year running.
Yearning
for the screen....
Ambitious,
Salvador
went to the US
for three years to train. He also worked as a
flight school instructor and obtained his US
pilot’s license. It was while in the US,
however, Salvador
began to yearn to use his martial arts skills
in feature films.
Several years later, several of the previously disgruntled
Spanish masters continued making fighting in a fair competition tough
for Salvador. Further, some of his earlier opponents now had become referees and the
fairness of their calls came into question far too often when Salvador
continued to compete in Spain.
A
new attitude....
|
Weary of the unfair treatment,
Salvador
decided to compete in the Martial Arts Open World Championship held by
the IMAF (International Martial Arts Federation) and |
 |
| Borja
Muñoz (left) and Salvador (right) |
| |
| the IKFF
(International Kung Fu Federation). In this competition, any
styled “mixed” martial arts was permitted. During the
months prior to the tournament, Salvador's good friend, Borja
Muñoz, helped by training with
Salvador. They also worked as a team to perform long, intense, and
brutal work-outs to keep Salvador in top shape. |
Salvador
went to
Argentina
with the moral support of Master Pedro Conde and Borja Muñoz, but hardly any other
support from Spain. Once there,
Salvador
found he was the only Spanish fighter. Hence, he had little support from
the spectators. And, if that wasn’t enough, Salvador
was the lightest competitor in the heaviest weight class.
Victory
over the odds....
Though his odds were extremely unfavorable, he out-fought even
the most favored fighting veterans. Working against the odds, Salvador
displayed an outstanding level of focus and endurance earning him an
astounding 2nd place in his first ever World Championship
showing.
Having made such an outstanding showing brought Salvador
immediately back into favor with the Spanish masters and his former
opponents. In fact,
Salvador
was given the honor of bestowing medals and trophies to the top
finalists at the next Spain Nationals.
Inspiration
to others...
Further, Salvador’s
achievements inspired other members in his school to train for the Spain
Nationals. Each competitor coached by Salvador
went on to place in future Spain National competitions.
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