Peterec kicks it up a notch
by MICHAEL BRIONES
AV Times
Victoria might be his current place of
residence, but for Stan Peterec, Port Alberni will always
be home.
The Valley-raised martial artist who made a name for
himself in the art of kickboxing recently conducted
a seminar at the Coastal Martial Arts at the request
of instructor Sukwinder Manhas.
Students at the local club, as well as guests from a
karate club in Campbell River, had the chance to learn
the basics of the Thai art from Peterec who is a former
world kickboxer as well as Ultimate Fighting Challenge
champion.
It was an unforgettable experience for participants
because the Victoria sensei, known as “The Steamer,”
spent the day going through a number of rigid, energy-draining
exercises that turned out to be a complete workout.
They all left the dojo sore all over.
It was the first seminar Peterec has ever held here
in his hometown where his parents still reside. He said
he was excited to get the opportunity to teach and share
his broad knowledge of kickboxing at a small centre
that he believes has a pool of untapped talents.
|
Sensei Stan Peterec puts all
his energy behind a round house kick at the seminar he
held at Costal Martial Arts.
Michael Briones photo |
“Anytime I could come home my heart
beats because mom and dad still live here and I’ve
got a lot of friends here” said Peterec. “Port
Alberni has really good athletes and they just don’t
get the recognition because we’re a small town.”
“But the people here are tougher than in Victoria.
These guys have a small group but they win more trophies
and they do better competitively. I don’t know what
it is. Maybe the people here work harder or we just have
too many pencil pushers back in Victoria or yuppie types.
I hate to say it but for the size of Victoria it doesn’t
put out a lot, for me anyway, I find.”
Although the style Peterec taught at the seminar was completely
different from what Coastal Martial Arts practices, Manhas
says they did learn a lot.
“There are some
things we can’t use but there are some applications
we can adopt and incorporate to our training,” said
Manhas. “Stan comes from traditional karate and
he has applied a variety of systems into his style of
fighting and has been very successful.”
At the seminar, Peterec showed some punching combinations
as well as kicking techniques that he says are applicable
to continuous fighting.
Peterec currently runs his own school in Victoria where
he teaches karate, boxing, grappling, jiu jitsu and kickboxing.
His was Canadian super welterweight kickboxing champion
1986, the WKA World Junior Middleweight Champion 1987-88,
Canadian representative, World Savate Championships 1989
and WKD World Middleweight Karate Champion 1994-95. |
KICKBOXING LESSONS
Former world kickboxing champion Stan Peterec, who was
raised here in Port Alberni, shows Christine Tardiff
a blocking technique at a seminar held recently at the
Coastal Martial Arts in Port Alberni.
Michael Briones photo. |
It was here in Port Alberni that Peterec first learned
martial arts at Baetson’s Karate. But the club closed
down. And being a level away from his black belt, Peterec
didn’t want to give up. So at 15-years-old, Peterec
reluctantly moved to Victoria where he earned his black
belt and eventually got exposed to a variety of disciplines.
“That’s the only reason I left, because the
club closed,” he said.
Although Peterec became and avid and successful competitor,
he said it was not his intention to become one.
“The
only reason I ever joined was not for fitness or any other
thing except for self-defense,” said Peterec. “I
wanted to learn how to look after myself. I didn’t
even hear about kickboxing so it was something I just
wanted to do and got good at.”
Peterec’s fascination in various forms of self-defense
has drawn him to train with different instructors that
include those from the Israeli special forces, Russian
special forces, Navy SEAL, Allied Special Forces, UFC
champion Frank Shamrock, Bill “Superfoot”
Wallace and Benny “The Jet” Urquidez.
“At this age, what I like to do is just self-defense,”
said Peterec who is now 46 years old. “I go around
the world and look for people who specialize in self-defense.”
“Kickboxing is what I made my name at but for
me, I really enjoy self-defense. I got blackbelts who
are 73 years old and to me, that’s more enjoyable
to watch than a young woman or a younger man who know
how to take care of themselves.”
Peterec says martial arts is constantly evolving and that
there’s always something new to learn.
“You
think about it. For 30 years if you just did weights or
running, you’d be bored,” Peterec explained.
“There’s always something changing in martial
arts, I never stop learning. If I stop learning, that
will probably be the end of me.” |
