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Vitalie Certan, Karate Combat Champion: “CBD helps me a lot”

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Vitalie Certan during one of his daily workouts. Photo: Daniel Lima

Despite being born in Moldova, where he started to practice Karate at age 8, Vitalie Certan, 29, came to live in Portugal at 12, where he continued to practice the martial art. Currently, he is the only fighter to represent Portugal in the major league of Karate Combat, a variant of Karate that includes full contact. Seven times national champion in three different categories, Vitalie has used cannabis, namely CBD, to recover from fights and sleep better.


How and when did you start practicing Karate Combat?
I've been practicing Karate since I was eight years old. Before that I trained at home, but it was more like copying what I saw in the movies. When I was eight, I enrolled in a Karate academy, still in Moldova. I came to Portugal when I was 12 years old and I wanted to continue with the sport, I signed up and was seven times national champion, in three different categories: twice in the under 60kg, twice in the under 67kg and three in the under 75kg.

And why Karate Combat? How does it differ from regular Karate?
The Karate Combat world league is three years old, it's a recent thing. I was part of the national karate team, but I always wanted to challenge myself a little more, go to the full contact, because in Karate there is not much contact – there is no KO, for example -, competitions are for points, and I realized that my area is different. When we don't just depend on ourselves to win, because of the rules, in this case, the referees, who can steal and give the victory to someone else… But when there's a KO there's a punch, the person falls… It's down, it's over. Therefore, I felt that I was sometimes robbed when I could reach the top. This is not an excuse, but when I first saw a Karate Combat match, I said, “I have to get into these kinds of sports.” As Karate doesn't have anything like that kind of show, many karateka looked for Kickboxing, Boxing, MMA… Basically, it's bringing the values ​​of Karate to an aggressive modality, it's something with more respect.

What were you looking for in the full contact part, why does that side attract you?It's my challenge to fight the other person's movements. I don't fight the person itself, we fight the movements. We have to separate the personal part of the ring well. I like it a lot, because it's more about us than the fight, and I like the competitive part, evolving every day, worrying about my health. It's an incentive for me to show my best performance, and then, of course, I love to fight, otherwise I wouldn't do this. That's where I meditate, it's that chess game, an intelligent game that I like, to be able to beat the opponent with tactics, especially with tactics. It's a game that I enjoy, being there feeling the adrenaline. If the strategic part doesn't go well, I can punch, that can happen to me, take that risk, and that has a huge transfer for our life. The decisions we make in our daily lives without being violent are much easier.

And outside the ring, have you used tactics to resolve a situation?
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a very calm person, nobody says I'm a fighter. It is necessary to know how to distinguish the world inside the ring and the world outside the ring. We have to have an on and off button at the right time, because I don't show my aggression there, I have nothing against that person. We know it's a game and, in fact, all fighters are much calmer for a reason: those who want to solve things by “beating” don't know what “beating” is because they've never been “beating” seriously. They hurt! Nobody wants to solve things by the "beat". The simpler, the better, because for us to “beat” we are also paid for that.

And how do you recover from a fight?
I worry about the basis of recovery, which is sleep, food, drinking water and respecting the body. In addition, also recovery training and also CBD, in oil and ointments also with CBD. 

How did you find out that CBD could help you?
I follow fighters (many are from the US) and I noticed that they used it. So I started to get interested, reading a little, a friend or another mentioned CBD, until one day I received a message on Instagram with a proposal for support from Power Roots. I strongly believe in the law of attraction. I was already very interested and wanted to try it out, because it's one thing to hear about it, another thing is to try it and have my opinion.

And how was that first experience?
I remember that I received CBD in oil, 10%, and the first time I took it was before bed. I was in a week stressed, where I wasn't able to sleep very well. I took it with my girlfriend and the next day we were amazed, because we hung up, we fell asleep more deeply and I woke up very well, I felt like I had that sleep where you don't remember anything. The best rest (and when muscles grow) is during sleep, and CBD helps a lot. In addition, it also works as an analgesic, because of the blows, as an anti-stress, because it calms the mind, in short, just read the benefits, see the scientific studies, there are many advantages.

The UFC recently announced that it would stop testing athletes, not only for CBD, which it had already done a few years ago, but now also for THC.
Yes, Boxing also leaves THC.

Have you also had any contact with THC?
With THC drops, no. I've tried smoking cannabis, but taking THC I haven't tried it yet. I know that CBD with THC is already sold nowadays, because the combination of the two helps more in recovery.

How was that experience?
It relaxed me, I fell asleep faster… We are talking about a long time ago, when I was 18 years old. My friends started, I also smoked, but then I had to quit because of competitions. But I know, from research I've done, that many NBA, UFC or NFL athletes, for example, use it to sleep, to achieve better psychological results, in recovery, because of body pain (muscular or blows from training), chronic injuries, among others.

Do you think it was something that should be generalized here in Europe?
Sometimes it's confusing because there isn't much information. I know it's a taboo, but then they let you drink alcohol and don't let you smoke? And now, which one does it better? If we go that way, I think it's better to smoke cannabis than to drink it, but I also know that THC takes a long time to leave the body, while other drugs leave faster. I've been tested many times, and on the one hand I'm happy, because I didn't like my opponent to take other things. But in relation to this, deep down, I would like more information and someone to show, bit by bit, what is good and what is bad, what is the best we can get out of cannabis, etc. I believe that there is still a lot to evolve, to open minds, for people to realize that this is much healthier than taking medication and that this does not affect the body so much. The pharmaceutical industry is very strong and a lot of people are making money from it, but there are more natural things and I always go for the more natural side.

Do you train every day?
Yes, I train every day, most of the time twice a day for three to four hours.

And what are your goals for the future, taking into account that you are already a national champion?
Be the owner of the belt! I want to be world champion in Karate Combat league, best case scenario, this year, worst case scenario, next year.

Who is your biggest opponent or what are you most afraid of facing?
There is no greater, nor do I fear anything. Fear is the worst enemy we can have, because it blocks us. I never go into combat with fear, I go there for fun. If I was afraid, I wouldn't go. Therefore, who have to be afraid are the others, not me. I'm working for the belt, I can't be afraid!
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Interview published in #3 of Cannadouro Magazine

 

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[Disclaimer: Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages ​​using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original and typos or errors may occur in other languages.]
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