George Bountakis – interview – When I was Young

When I was young, the children at school used to tease me and laugh against me for I was weak and afraid of doing anything. Nobody wanted to play with me and I had no friends.
At the age of 10-11 years old I started watching karate movies. By watching them, I was trying to learn some techniques, moves of martial arts. I thought that those techniques would help me to protect myself from being beaten from my classmates all the time. Those techniques never helped me actually because I was beaten from children who were stronger than me, so I was never able to handle the situation. When I was young it was common accepted stronger children to bit weaker children just to feel superior and to show to others that he is of much value in comparison to others.
I could not put up with the whole situation. I did not want to go to school not to be beaten again and again. It was that moment that I told my father that I should start learning a martial art. At that particular period of time, Bruce Lee was famous to Greek people because of his movies. Bruce Lee was master of Karate martial art. He was a legend. I can never forget that at fifth grade a classmate of mine beat me in front of his girlfriend to show her how strong he was. That girl, after some years, became my girl!!
My father had a friend who gave him a piece of advice. He proposed my father to join me in a judo course. He told him that judo martial art exercises the whole body and would do me very good. He was also a member of the Greek Judo Federation. So, he knew very well the benefits of being exercised by using Judo martial art. And he mentioned to my father that judo was the most appropriate exercise for somebody to learn self defense. What is more, he continued that there were philosophical values that supported judo exercise, these were discipline, respect to you and to others and love for body exercise.
So, I started judo martial art. I was so eager to learn judo to be able to give a good answer to my classmates for beating me. I had my first lesson when I was 12 years old. It was in 1977. That period of time there were no tatami at Greece in the form we know it today. There were some pieces of a specific material, I cannot identify, it was something like wood, and we, the students used to spread that material all over the room and then we put on a cloth. We tied the edges of that cloth on the walls to be steady. It was trouble for us because it was needed a whole judo course to prepare that kind of tatami and a judo course to put it back to it place until the next lesson that we used that again. We, the athletes had that trouble because the hall we used for judo exercise was used by other athletes who were doing other sports. Also, in Greece there were no judo-gi .There were more problems for me. My family was poor, so my father had no money to buy me a judo-gi from abroad. For that reason my father bought a piece of hard cloth and made by himself a judo-gi by sewing the hard piece of cloth.
After I started judo courses I thought I could beat my classmates who all the time were there to bull me. So, after my first week at judo I went to school and had the idea that I could bit everyone. But, when I provoked my classmates I was beaten very angrily by them because I started the fight. I had no self esteem. I stopped believed in myself. I had no belief in my powers. I was shocked.
My judo sensei was the person that helped me to overcome my problem. He helped me to believe in myself again. He told me that in a few years I could make my classmates feel fear only by looking at them. I started exercising very hard. My sensei always used to tell me to have faith in myself, to be always persistent in my goals and patient to achieve them.
To make you laugh, in my second lesson at judo, a student pulled me so hard that a sleeve was ripped from my judo-gi. I was very sad at that moment, but now that I remember all these I laugh, all seems like a good joke for me. Of course, my dad sewed that again. After 4 years, at the age of 16, at high school, I won the first place in the youths judo competition. I became the National Champion of Greece. When I won I stopped thinking about revenge. I was a teenager then. I had totally different way of thinking than I had 4 years before and my feelings had totally changed. I never wished to beat anyone again. I had no hard feelings. My goal was to learn more techniques and to become very talented in judo. My character changed. I started believed in myself. I knew I could manage everything I desired concerning judo martial art. I loved judo. It was for me a new journey that I could have many outstanding experiences. And the experiences were to fight on an equal basis, with students who had the same weight and knowledge in judo. The only thing that counted for me was to participate in competitions. The participation made me feel that I belonged in another family except from my parents and I felt very proud of that new family. Nobody dared to beat me, not even to quarrel with me. And my self esteem was so high that I had my first girlfriend at that moment. It was that girl, that I was beaten in front of her years before.
I started travelling with the National Greek team abroad and in Greece of course. That was really outstanding for me that period of time. It was difficult for a teenager to travel so much. So, I was very special. I met different people, different cultures, I grew up.
Years passed and I had many experiences as an athlete and later as a coach. The most significant, the peak of my career was my student’s participation at London Olympic Games now, in 2012. My student’s name is Boukouvala Ioulietta -57kg
I always will remember my first sensei. He was the most important person for me. He helped me to love judo. He helped me to become who I am right now. Today, at OTNF club of Athens more than 100 children exercise every day. Their age is up to twelve years old. Those children are very sensitive. Their personality can easily be molded. Be sure, that this is a very responsible duty. And because I am the sensei of those children I make my best every time to make or the help that children love judo. To make them realize judo’s values.

Bountakis George,
Head coach of BUDO CENTER JUDO TEAM