Isak Dzanic is the first Bosnian to enter the United States (U.S.) Martial Arts Hall of Fame in Houston as a kung-fu master.
“I heard that I was nominated, but I did not expect to be elected and inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame. This is difficult to achieve, but the jury was unique and they included me among the celebrities from the world of martial arts. It is rare for a small man, especially from Srebrenica, to be in that place,” says Dzanic.
He lives in the village of Budak near Srebrenica with his wife Rahima. After visiting the U.S., he returned to his village, as he says, to his own house of fame. He keeps sheep and is engaged in agriculture.
How did it all begin?
Isak has been practicing kung fu for 40 years, and it all started by accident.
“I started practicing kung fu in 1984. There wasn’t a single club then, so I read literature, practiced, and then I went to Zagreb and started actively training, as well as training younger athletes. I had a lot of success with it and worked my way up to master,” he shared.
He is passing on his experience to young people from Potocari and Srebrenica in the club he founded six years ago.
His friends paid for his trip to the U.S.
Isak received an invitation to come to the U.S. Hall of Fame next year as well.
“But I said that I don’t have the money to come again. This time I was lucky enough to have my travel expenses paid for by friends from several countries, but I cannot rely on help all the time.”
“In the Hall of Fame, they asked me if I had financial support (salary or pension) from the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and when I said that I had no support from anyone, they were amazed. It was unimaginable to them that a respected sportsman who is now in the U.S. Hall of Fame, would not have support for his work. Nevertheless, they invited me next year to hold a seminar for young kung-fu candidates,” Isak stated, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
