Karate: the Kick Grappling Dojo, in Nîmes, a real institution

Au KGD, le mardi, c’est soir d’entraînement des compétiteurs dirigé par Bruno Adiletto (3e en partant de la droite). MIDI LIBRE – JERÔME MORIN

À Nice, lors de la Coupe de France, le Kick Grappling Dojo s’est encore distingué, début mars. Question d’habitude pour le club nîmois de Bruno Adiletto.

At first glance, the place doesn't look like much, located in a bend along the route from Sauve to Nîmes. However, when you open the door of this large building, more than ten years of history take place on the tatamis of the Kick Grappling Dojo (KGD), a shindokai karate club created in 2011 by Bruno Adiletto and whose mother, Jeanne-Marie , is none other than the president.

For more than a decade, this small business has not experienced a crisis. And everyone is welcome. "For ten years, in addition to shindokai karate, there has been K-1, explains Bruno Adiletto. Joffrey Martin wanted to be a coach. I told him OK, that I would give him some slots and keep mine."

The succession assured with Pierre-Louis Bessodes, 13 years old

Tuesday evening, shindokai is on the program. "There, we are on competitive training, these are combat techniques that we are working on", continues the coach.

A few meters away, the next generation already seems assured in the person of Pierre-Louis Bessodes, 13 years old, winner of the Coupe de France in Nice at the beginning of March. "It's been nine years since I graduated from the KGD, says the teenager, in sports studies… rugby at Emmanuel D’Alzon high school. In Nice, I was there to win, I wanted to bring home a title." Something done for the minimal, titled three times in the last four editions. "He’is an excellent fighter", notes Adiletto, his coach.

In the future, contact, full-contact and mix karate

As is often the case, the KGD's visit to the Côte d’Azur was crowned with great success. In 2023, four gold, two silver and eight bronze medals had been won in shindokai. "Compared to shotokan, there are still more moves. Traditional karate, I found that it was a little light, testifies the teenager regarding his choice of discipline.

"You do a combat sport or you don't do a combat sport", supports Dominique Callejon, 40 years old, in bronze in 2023 and in silver in 2024. Former resident of the club, Ibrahim Ararbi, 18, even wore the KGD internationally, winner of the European Cup in October 2023 and on the way to the 2024 World Cup.

In the future, Bruno Adiletto intends to vary the pleasures, also in order to extend his harvest of medals: "Next year, we are going to shoot in contact, full-contact and mix karate championships (a sort of MMA, Editor's note), always under the aegis of the FFKDA." Mixed karate, shindokaï, K-1 and pilates, fitness, bodybuilding, cardio-training, there is something for everyone at the KGD where there is no age limit to become a champion.

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