Interview of Atil Agamirov, president of the Japanese Martial Arts and Culture Association, to Idman.biz website
- What is the current status of the Japanese Martial Arts and Culture Association?
- In October 2022, it was accredited by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and started contributing to the country's sports policy. Our direction of action is to support the development of the Japanese martial arts of which we are currently members, to eliminate the shortcomings in this field and to increase the interest of our people in these martial arts.
- The word "culture" is in the name of your association. What is this about?
- This is about conveying the beauty of Japanese culture to our people. Our main task is to carry out activities in the direction of the development of friendly, sports and cultural relations between the two countries of our association.
- The structure of the institution you lead includes many types of sports. Which of them are you most interested in?
- The association includes sports such as sumo, aikido (yoshinkan, aikikay, tomiki), jiu-jutsu, kendo, iaido, kyudo, daito-ryu aikijutsu. Of course, now there is more interest in sports that have a long tradition. These include aikido, sumo, and jiu-jutsu. However, we are seeing an increase in people's interest in other species as well. Examples include kendo, iaido and kyudo. For this reason, our kendo and iaido sports are currently being practiced at the Water Sports Palace. I invite those who want to take advantage of the opportunity to engage in these types of training. At the same time, the strongest iaido master in history, sensei Isao Machii, who entered the Guinness Book of Records 6 times, is an honored member of our association.
- According to the result, what is the most successful sport?
- Among the sports that are part of the association, there are sports with and without competition, new sports that have been created in Azerbaijan, and sports that will be created. In this case, we try to determine the successful result by comparing. As a result, we see significant progress in every sport.
- Is it expected that the Japanese Martial Arts and Culture Association will organize an international competition in our country in the future?
- Of course, we work especially in this direction. For example, on October 5, at the annual meeting of the World Sumo Federation in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, the candidacy of holding the 2026 World Championship in Azerbaijan was accepted.
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
