HUP

After decades spent in martial arts, combat sports, competition and coaching, I have come to one conclusion: we should not only train fighters, we should train human beings. Today, many young athletes want to box, fight, win medals and become champions. Competition is a wonderful school of courage and self-improvement. However, there is a danger: creating successful athletes without teaching them the values that should accompany success. Traditional martial arts teach us that strength is nothing without self-control, talent is nothing without hard work, victory is nothing without humility, and respect for those who helped us grow is a moral duty. A fighter receives a great deal throughout their career: time, advice, support, opportunities and guidance. Behind every medal stand family sacrifices, coaches, training partners and volunteers. That is why transmission is so important. In a martial arts school, senior students should help beginners. Competitors should set an example for children. When a fighter believes helping younger students is a waste of time or thinks they have nothing left to learn or teach, they miss one of the most important parts of their development. The true greatness of a fighter is not measured only by victories and titles, but by their ability to serve something greater than themselves. Medals gather dust.Trophies end up in display cases.But honor, loyalty, respect, courage, humility and gratitude last a lifetime. That is why I encourage every competitor, regardless of discipline, to also practice a traditional martial art. 🥋 Honor🥋 Respect🥋 Loyalty🥋 Courage🥋 Humility Champions win titles. Martial artists leave a legacy. 🇫🇷 FRANÇAIS 🥋 Pourquoi les arts martiaux sont indispensables à la formation d’un combattant Après plusieurs décennies passées dans les arts martiaux, les sports de combat, la compétition et l'enseignement, une conviction s'est imposée à moi : nous ne devons pas seulement former des combattants, nous devons former des êtres humains.

Results of the Swiss team from Black Belt Institute Saxon at the XFC European Championships 2026 in Rome: 🥇 8 European Champion titles won in:• Kickboxing• Boxing• Grappling 🏆 Main results:• Daniel Garcia: triple European Champion with one title in grappling, one in kickboxing and one in boxing.• Leon Salijevic: double European Champion in kickboxing in two different categories.• Attila Garcia: European Champion in grappling.• Léo Reset: European Champion in grappling.• Mattia Mangia: European Champion in boxing. 👏 Several other fighters finished as European vice-champions after very close finals against national teams from all over Europe. ℹ️ These are amateur European Championships organized by one of the most active combat sports organizations in Europe. XFC is officially recognized by CONI, the Italian equivalent of Swiss Olympic. 🇨🇭 A historic achievement for the club from Saxon and the Swiss team in Rome. Press contact:Sensei Marco Garcia Gonneau📞 079 205 40 40 Texts and photos royalty-free for journalist 🇨🇭 COMMUNIQUÉ OFFICIEL – CHAMPIONNATS D’EUROPE XFC 2026 – ROME Résultats de l’équipe suisse du Black Belt Institute de Saxon aux Championnats d’Europe XFC 2026 à Rome : 🥇 8 titres de Champions d’Europe remportés en :• Kickboxing• Boxe anglaise• Grappling 🏆 Résultats marquants :• Daniel Garcia : triple Champion d’Europe avec un titre en grappling, un titre en kickboxing et un titre en boxe anglaise.• Leon Salijevic : double Champion d’Europe en kickboxing dans deux catégories différentes.• Attila Garcia : Champion d’Europe en grappling.• Léo Reset : Champion d’Europe en grappling.• Mattia Mangia : Champion d’Europe en boxe anglaise. 👏 Plusieurs autres combattants terminent vice-champions d’Europe après des finales très serrées face à des équipes nationales venues de toute l’Europe. ℹ️ Il s’agit de championnats d’Europe amateurs organisés par l’une des organisations les plus actives du circuit européen des sports de combat. La XFC est reconnue par le CONI, l’équivalent italien de Swiss Olympic.

🏆 XFC European Championship 2026 in Rome After capturing his first European belt, Léon Salijevic immediately entered another category to face French fighter Warren Brelleur in Kick Light under 70 kg. And at that point, the level rose even higher. Standing in front of him was a true product of French kickboxing. Warren Brelleur had recently won a major kickboxing gala in Brittany and arrived with an extremely high technical level. Coached by three coaches, he displayed a style that was fast, powerful, explosive, and highly polished. Very quickly, the fight became extremely difficult for Léon. The French fighter hit hard, applied constant pressure, and truly pushed Léon to his limits. But often, it is in the hardest moments that true fighters reveal themselves. It is important to understand that Léon is first and foremost one of the best fighters on our team in boxe libre, with methods and reflexes very close to MMA. His dream is clearly to build a future career in MMA. And under pressure, when facing difficult situations, some of his free-fighting instincts naturally returned. Several times, he grabbed the opponent’s leg to attempt a takedown, which is completely forbidden in this discipline. The referee immediately warned him, and at one point we were even close to disqualification. The opposing corner later tried to use that penalty situation after Léon threw a very high kick while Warren ducked underneath to evade it. The movement created very close contact near the face with Léon’s knee, which would have been illegal. However, the referees immediately understood the action correctly: it was clearly a high kick and not an intentional knee strike. No damage was caused and the fight continued. And what a fight it was… The technical level from both athletes was exceptional. Warren attempted several extremely dangerous spinning kicks that Léon narrowly managed to avoid. Honestly, if one of those had landed cleanly, it probably would have ended the fight immediately.

🏆 XFC European Championship 2026 in Rome The next fight for our Swiss delegation was Mattia Mangia facing Italian fighter Matteo Piano in Light Boxing under 60 kg. Mattia arrived at this championship after an entire year of serious preparation. He trained with one clear objective in mind: winning the first European belt that was still missing from his career. Until now, Mattia already held a Belgian championship title in Boxe Libre. However, in boxing, he had finished as a finalist at the XFC Amateur World Championship last November. This European title therefore meant something very special to him. From the opening rounds, Mattia immediately imposed a very high pace. The physical and technical superiority quickly became visible. The Italian fighter struggled to keep up with the intensity imposed by the Swiss athlete, who combined movement, combinations, and precision with impressive control. Round after round, Mattia completely controlled the fight. His timing, distance management, and precision made a huge difference. It was clear that he had prepared all year for this exact moment. At the end of the second round, the referee directly approached Mattia. He had absolutely nothing negative to say about his performance, but simply asked him to lighten his body shots slightly in order to avoid unnecessarily injuring his opponent. Indeed, the Italian fighter was beginning to struggle heavily under the pressure imposed by Mattia and seemed close to giving up several times due to the accumulated damage. What also showed Mattia’s intelligence and sporting maturity was his ability to immediately adapt his boxing style. Since he still had plenty of energy left and was already fighting in the final, he chose to focus more on technical boxing and elegant movement rather than trying to force a knockout. We witnessed a beautiful gesture of sportsmanship and respect toward his opponent. After three rounds, Mattia Mangia earned a unanimous decision victory and captured his first XFC European belt in Light Boxing -60 kg. 🏆🇨🇭