In this issue Success stories magazine presents you a young fighter, who is on his way up to climbing the peaks of his dreams. A man of sports with strong spirit, who will tell us about his accomplishments, his ambition and how important it is to stay true to yourself and your vocation. His name is Mario Dobrichkov.
Plamena Petkova for Success Stories Mag:
Hello Mario! What was the first martial art you began doing and how did you enthuse over it?
Mario Dobrichkov:
Hello! Still as a very young boy, about 8-9 years old I was a very energetic child and wanted very much to join a sport club to train some kind of combat sport. At that time there weren`t many clubs in my hometown which I could sign in.
It accidentally happened so that the mother of a friend of mine knew the coach of a judo club and signed us both in to train. So we started to train with coach Maria Uchkova and generally I immediately liked the sport and the things I was learning from it. I was starting to get healthier and stronger, to develop myself excellent physically and I was liking it a lot. I also liked how I was enriching myself technically. Basically it all began this way.
Actually you started to collect victories and medals since your childhood. Would you share a little more about your achievements?
I was very motivated as a child and went to training with great enthusiasm and this undoubtedly has influenced the fact that I started to win competitions. This is still the case and the victories intensify even more my desire to develop myself further in what I do.
In the different ages, in which I have competed over the years as well as in men category I have had good achievements. I have become a national champion in judo and in sambo repeatedly, I have participated in European, Balkan Championships and World Cups in both sports. I also train and compete in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), where I have amateur as well as professional meetings. My greatest victory in MMA is second place at the European Championships.
What attracted you to MMA and when did this happen?
I started training MMA at a little later stage. I liked a lot the martial arts, that I was practicing so far and I knew that they are a very good basis for a sport like MMA. This is a sport that combines all martial arts in one and it really requires a very serious preparation. There are strikes with hands, feet, various techniques for choking and grappling. The fight takes place both standing and on the ground in 3 rounds of 5 minutes. I want to develop myself also in this sphere and to show to myself and to everyone else that I can and know how to win. In my hometown Yambol has opened a MMA club, where I and the boys started training. It didn`t take long until my first MMA competion, where I had an unconditional victory and it increased my desire to train more seriously. I won a few competitions and a qualification for the MMA European Championship, which took place in St. Petersburg, Russia. I came back with a silver medal from there.
Tell me more about this championship – the experiences, the emotions, the feeling to fight in front of such a legend as Feodor Emilianenko..
It was a great experience. I made a pretty solid preparation for this championship and I devoted myself entirely to show the best of me. I left with positive thoughts and a strong motivation to win. The feeling to compete under the flag of our country and to beat opponents from more developed countries is amazing and this is indicative of the fight spirit of our people.
I am glad that I met many world famous MMA fighters like Jeff Monson, Feodor Emilianenko, Alexander Emilianenko and others who were in the hall. I gave my best to present myself and our country in the best way.
What is generally important to you in a battle and what thoughts and feelings go through you when you confront your opponent?
I enter every battle with one thought only and that is to win. I believe in myself and my abilities. I respect my opponents and take notes from every win and every loss. Often in our sports it comes to critical moments, when the body is under an enormous stress, which leads to the limits of your strengths. At such moments the psyche of every fighter plays a key role in the outcome of the meeting. When you feel that you can`t continue anymore you have to press most strongly, then the victory is sweetest.
How much of your time do you spend on trainings?
I train every day and spend between two and four hours daily for workout. Most of the days I practice in two editions.
You also teach martial arts to children. Besides fighting skills, what else are you trying to teach and give them?
Yes, I teach also small children. I think that for every child at the age from 5-6 years it is useful to start to engage in any physical activities. The sports, which we mainly teach the children are judo and sambo. I think these are sports that not only contribute to the improvement of physics, but they build in each child also other valuable qualities that it may use in its life later and that are very helpful. The children also learn self-defense. They acquire confidence, self-esteem, gain a lot of knowledge, agility, speed, strength, endurance, concentration and others. I believe every child should be doing sports to be able to develop itself fully.
Why is it important for you to give over your experience and knowledge to these children and what are you striving to achieve?
We are a sport nation and we should strive our children to live better, to play more sports and to be healthier because they are the future of our country and they are the new generation that will lead things forward.
Along all your engagements with trainings and competitions, you somehow find the time for developing your own business. What do you think is necessary in order for a person to be successful in several different areas simultaneously?
I must find time for business, because each preparation and each competition requires a certain funding I have to provide for me by myself, because I have no additional support. I think the state has a lot to do on this issue, because this is not just my problem. I believe every person who wants to achieve something in her/his life, no matter what it is, must first determine a goal to strive for. Secondly, they must make an accurate and clear plan to follow. And third, they have to believe in themselves unconditionally. These are the things that I think everyone should have and follow in order to be successful.
What is the next challenge standing in front of you?
At this point I have a very busy program. At the moment the organization of a new sport club is in progress, which will be established very soon and in which I hope to develop the sport at a higher level among young people.
I train every day. There is a competition coming that I am preparing myself hard for.
I am also pretty involved with the work that I do, my personal business, but everything is under control, when it is properly organized.
What do you still dream of and what do you still strive to achieve?
Basically I am trying to progress in every sphere, which I am engaged in. I strive to achieve my goals and go only forward. I wish to myself everyone around me to be healthy. Everything else I can achieve it.
What is your message to our readers?
To believe in themselves, to love themselves and to follow their dreams.
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
© Mario Dobrichkov
