MY BT0FY | Part 1

Black Belt 10th Dan Grandmaster, trainer of the Ukrainian

Special Forces and founder of Kostrovs Universal Fisticuffs
Yuriy Kostrov has been studying martial arts for over 50
years. He Las been awarded LLe LILesL LILIe oI 0randmasLer
and EIack EeIL 10LL Dan Irom severaI InLernaLIonaI marLIaI
arts associations and federations in many countries around
LLe worId IncIudIn BouLL Korea, Japan, 0ermany, LLe
FLIIIppInes and LLe UB. Erom 2001 Lo 200S Le LauLL and
participated in the preparation of Special Forces units in
severaI counLrIes, and Is now a CLIeI InsLrucLor Ior a Lop
Ukrainian school for bodyguards.
E: georgekostrov@gmail.com | W: www.kostrov.org.ua
I was born In 19S0 In KIev, In LLe UBBF
which is no longer on the world map - but its
great history would forever become a part
oI my IIIe. We were LLe posLwar eneraLIon,
the children of soldiers who fought - and
deIeaLed 0erman NazIsm. We were brouLL
up as the descendants of winners, and all our
war games were based on the stories of our
fathers and grandfathers.
"Eecause our parenLs worked Lard Irom
early morning until late at night to provide
for their families, most of us grew up on
LLe sLreeLs. NeverLLeIess, Irom cLIIdLood
we were brought up with respect for both
our elders and our teachers, and we were
brought up to keep our word and to overcome
any obstacles keeping us from achieving our
oaIs. And BLLs were a parL oI our IIves, and
aILLouL I dId noL IIke Lo BLL, I aIways couId
deIend myseII and wLen I was In BrsL rade,
my father used to admonish me by saying; do
noL ever sLarL a BLL, buL II LLere Is no oLLer
way ouL, aIways LIL BrsL.' And so LLaL's wLaL I
did. Unfortunately my school teachers never
saw LLe beInnIn oI LLe conBIcL buL, Ior some
reason, always seemed to notice my pre-
empLIve sLrIkes!' FrobabIy Ior LLIs reason, aII
the pages of my school diary during that time
were marked with red pen warnings from my
LeacLers! 0n an aImosL daIIy basIs my LeacLer
was penning more and more comments about
my bad beLavIour and BLLIn, and requesLs
for my parents to attend school to discuss
my poor conducL. 0I course, my IaLLer wouId
then give me his educational talks, but when
I honestly told him how things were in reality,
he would always say that yes, I should always
stand up for myself, but do it in such a way
as to not cause any trouble and fuss! Those
conversations made me think hard how to
alter my actions ... and make them discreet,
very fast and accurate. As for my school
diary... well my parents kept it for many
years as a witness to my very quick temper.
I never excelled at any subjects at school,
mostly I had satisfactory or good marks,
but there were two school subjects where I felt
IIke a BsL In waLer, sInIn and ymnasLIcs. I
really loved those subjects, however it was a
bit like: ...at the end of the school year the son
brings home a report card, which contains
bad marks on all subjects apart from the
singing. The father stares at the table and,
BnaIIy says IndInanLIy, 'Look aL LIm. He
also sings!? And then in the fourth grade
something happened which, as I realized
many years IaLer, InBuenced my enLIre
life. At the end of the school year during a
gymnastics class, our physical education
teacher put the girls on the benches - as the
audience - and divided the boys into pairs.
He LLen ave us boxIn Ioves (I IaLer IearnL
that our physical education teacher was also
a MasLer oI BporLs In boxIn!) AL LLaL LIme I
was the smallest in my class, but at the same
time possessed qualities of speed, agility and
courage, pared with a good natural reaction
which I had acquired during my numerous
BLLs and sLreeL baLLIes. I won LLaL mInI
LournamenL, wILL LLe BnaI BLL beIn
between myself and another older boy in my
class who was repeating his school year and
thus much taller and heavier than me. A few
days later I was called into the gym where I
saw our physical education teacher standing
with someone I didnt know, and a boy from a
parallel class. I and the boy were given a pair
of boxing gloves and my teacher commanded:
'Eox!' TLe baLLIe IasLed buL a mInuLe, I
basically stuck to duck and dives, which I had
IearnL durIn my sLreeL BLLs, and LLen LIL
one precise blow to the boys nose. Just like
that! End of the story.
So, at the tender age of ten, I was selected
to train with the Dynamo Sports Societys
boxing school and trained there for two years
right until the next competition, which my
mum came to see. After seeing exactly what
was happening in the ring, she prohibited
me from ever attending any more classes
again, adding that it was only ever going to
happen over her dead body. I was obviously
very upset, but I loved my mother and did
noL dare dIsobey Ler. However, LLe LLIrsL Ior
a BLL wouId noL Ieave me and so, LoeLLer
with the local boys, I continued to play our
street war games: the Red Army v white
army, 0ermans v FussIans, poIIcemen and
partisans, detectives and robbers etc.
In our backyard there were the remains of
a building destroyed by a bomb during the
war. This was the main place of our games,
but we also played everywhere else; in the
ruins, basements, attics and rooftops of
nearby houses, and in one of our games our
task was to pass across the entire area only
via the attics and roofs of the houses and
aparLmenLs. 0I course, LLIs Iooks a sLupId
and very dangerous thing to do now - because
the height of the buildings was from between
three and seven storeys - but in those days
and because we were so young, we didnt
really think about the consequences. It was
during those games that we developed our
agility and strength in overcoming obstacles,
a sense of fearlessness in the face of heights
and, most of all, a sense of camaraderie. And
LLen, one Bne summer's day, I decIded Lo
climb to the top of the ruins of the destroyed
Louse In our backyard. My maLes were
watching me from the ground, cheering and
encouraging me with advice. Step by step,
Boor by Boor I wenL up and up, LryIn noL Lo
look down. Finally, I was at the top, on the
Iede oI LLe baIcony oI LLe 7LL Boor. TLe uys
at the bottom gave me a triumphant shout!
EuL I was sobbIn because I reaIIzed LLere
was no way for me to get down! From the
top I could not see any hooks and crannies
or protrusions which I could use to get down.
EInaIIy I was rescued by BreBLLers and
when I was back on the ground, one of the
Bremen ave me sucL a kIck In LLe ass LLaL I
Bew over LLree meLers across LLe pavemenL!
FrobabIy LLIs kIck knocked aII LLe passIon
out of me I had for adventure, and when
my parents learnt of my adventures, they
decided that something had to be done about
my uncontainable energy. So I was sent to
try my hand at wrestling.
I happened to be quite lucky and found a
wonderful coach, Roman Alexandrovich
Shkolnikov, the founder of the Russian
martial art and combat sport Sambo [Editors
noLe: BAMooborona Eez 0ruzLIya / seII
defense without weapons] in the Ukraine.
In 1964, Judo became an 0IympIc sporL
and Ior me, 196S became a mIIesLone In my
journey in the martial arts as I saw for the
BrsL LIme TLe 0enIus oI Judo, a BIm by AkIra
Kurosawa [Editors note: Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese BIm dIrecLor, screenwrILer,
producer, and editor. Regarded as one of the
mosL ImporLanL and InBuenLIaI BImmakers In
LLe LIsLory oI cInema, Kurosawa dIrecLed 80
BIms]. AILer waLcLIn LLIs movIe I bean Lo
dream of the white judo keikogi. Sport clubs
around the country were setting up judo
sections and my Sambo coach did the same,
and thus I began my journey in judo where,
aL jusL 19 years oId, I reacLed LLe rank oI
8rd Dan and MasLer oI BporLs oI LLe UBBF.
However I aIso ended up wILL a severe back
injury with the doctors verdict: You can do
no more judo. You should avoid being thrown
or IaIIIn on your back.' EuL, as usuaI, I was
full of energy and wouldnt take no for an
answer or say farewell to my sporting career
aL jusL 19 years oId! TLe BrsL karaLe cIub
was oIBcIaIIy seL up In Moscow In 1969, buL
it was still virtually unknown in the rest of
the USSR, and certainly in Kiev nobody had
any idea of such a thing as karate, and so I
started my boxing career once again and in
the course of one year I went from a novice
Lo MasLer oI BporLs. However, once aaIn I
was thrown back by yet another bad injury
while training for the Ukraine championship;
I accidentally missed blocking a heavy blow
from a sparring partner and, as a result,
ended with a detached retina of the left eye.
So I had to bid farewell to boxing!
"In 1971 I Look LLe oaLL and commenced my
compulsory military service in the Soviet
Army where I continued my training in
Sambo, as well as taking part in the Army
Sambo championships. I also received a
special training in combat Sambo, and this
was wLen I BrsL saw, and IearnL, wLaL karaLe
was aII abouL. My LeacLer was an Army oIBcer
who came across karate while serving in the
Far East and his style bore quite a mysterious
name to me at the time: Shotokan.
"In 1978 I was dIscLared Irom LLe Army and
returned to Kiev to study at the Kiev State
InsLILuLe oI FLysIcaI CuILure and Lo devoLe
my life to the study of karate and the martial
arts.
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1n Part B, YurIy chrcnIcIes hIs deveIcpment
wIth martIaI arts and karate when It was
banned In the USSR, and hcw he tcrmed an
undergrcund traInIng cIub and guaIIBed as
an Instructcr and ccach....
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My Story: Yuriy Kostrov My Story: Yuriy Kostrov
BprIn 2018 tcugh taIk magazIne 7 6 tcugh taIk magazIne BprIn 2018