Paul Zadro (born 15 March 1963, at Innisfail, in

Northern Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

), is an Australian martial artist, sport administrator and promoter. He is currently the chairman of the International Sports Karate Association in Australia and an 8th Degree Black Belt in Kempo Karate.

Background

Zadro started boxing under

Jimmy Sharman James Sharman (20 June 1887 – 18 November 1965) was an Australian boxing troupe and entertainment impresario. His son also worked with him and took over for his father in 1955 after playing as a professional rugby league footballer. Bio ...

in 1972 at

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

, North Queensland, and he trained in Judo under the

Kodokan The , or ''Kōdōkan'' (講道館), is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. The ''kōdōkan'' was founded in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo. Etymology Literally, ''kō'' ( ...

Judo Association from 1973 to 1975. After moving to Sydney with his family, he studied Tae Kwon Do from 1975 to 1979 at the Marconi Club in Bossley Park, and attained the rank of Junior Black Belt. In 1979 he went on to study Ken Sei Kan Karate Do and continued on until 1981 at Greystanes, Sydney where he attained the rank of

Shodan SHODAN (Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network) is a fictional artificial intelligence and the main antagonist of the cyberpunk-horror themed video games ''System Shock'' and ''System Shock 2''. Character design SHODAN is an artificial in ...

(first degree black belt). From 1979 to 1983 he also studied Koshu Kempo under Tony Lucisano at Bossley Park, Sydney and he also attained the rank of Shodan in that art. He studied Brazilian jiu-jujitsu with good friend

Anthony Perosh Anthony Perosh (born 5 October 1972) is a retired Australian professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Perosh was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and ...

. Perosh still states that Paul was his first instructor until he went overseas to pursue Brazilian jiu-jujitsu. He was awarded his Sandan (third degree black belt) by the International Kempo Karate Academy in 1983, and Godan (fifth degree black belt) by WCMA in 1995. He currently runs and owns the IMC (International Martial Arts Centers). He is one of the longest-serving martial artist teachers in Sydney.

Sport promotion and administration

Zadro competed in full-contact tournaments in the 1980s, but he became concerned that they were limiting the broad appeal of the sport. "Kids, women, and people who wanted to compete without getting beat up so they could go to work the next day – they didn’t really have anything that catered to them". So he adapted the format of the Internationals from Long Beach to create the new World Cup competition circuit. He was the promoter for the World Cup of Martial Arts in 1995, 1998 and 1999. He has been the promoter of the C.C.P. International tournament eight times, from 1992 through to 1999. In 2008, he again organized the World Cup, this time in Australia, attracting 1000 competitors from 16 countries. In 1995 Zadro was appointed the NSW President of the International Sport Karate Association

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches, and is based in the United ...

; he is now the Australasia President and NSW Operations Manager.

Recognition and awards

In 1998 Zadro was awarded Promoter of the Year and inducted into the Eurasian Kickboxing Association Hall of Fame. In 1999 he was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the

Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame The Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame is an award for Australian martial art practitioners of any style, The hall of fame recognizes those who make an outstanding contribution to martial arts, consistently demonstrate excellence and unselfish ...

, as well as being their "karate promoter of the year". In May 2014 he was featured on the cover of Blitz magazine and in the major article, "Paul Zadro: International Man of Mastery".

Notable students

* Peter Graham, mixed martial artist *

, mixed martial artist

References

External links

International Martial Arts Centres (IMC)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zadro, Paul 1963 births Living people People from Innisfail, Queensland Australian male karateka