Luca Valdesi (born 18 June 1976 in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) is a Karate world champion in both Team and Individual Kata events. Valdesi began his study of

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

at age six, under the guidance of his father Andrea, at several city gyms.

Overview

In 1995 Valdesi joined the prestigious Karate team of the Fiamme Gialle (the Italian Financial Police). National call-ups began immediately for Valdesi. Soon after the national call-ups, the first international wins arrived, initially with the Karate team of the Fiamme Gialle. Soon after, Valdesi began winning events as an individual. Valdesi has been winning the Italian Individual Championship since 1995 and the European Senior Championship since 2000.European Championship Results
accessed August, 2007 Valdesi is trained by the general coach of the Fiamme Gialle Karate Team, Claudio Culasso and by the general coach of the FIJLKAM National Team, Professor Pierluigi Aschieri, as well as his father, who looks after Valdesi during training sessions and at competitions.

Outside karate

In 2001, Valdesi married dancer Ada Spinella. In February 2004, Valdesi's son, Andrea was born. In November of the same year, Valdesi completed a degree in business economics, crediting his success to the support from his family.

References

External links

*
Luca Valdesi
at KarateRec.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdesi, Luca 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Palermo Italian male karateka Shotokan practitioners Karateka of Fiamme Gialle World Games gold medalists World Games silver medalists Competitors at the 2001 World Games Competitors at the 2009 World Games Competitors at the 2005 World Games 20th-century Italian people 21st-century Italian people