Sensei VELIBOR DIMITRIJEVIC 7DAN
Sensei Velibor Dimitrijevic-Vebo, is one of the closest assistants to the late Taiji Kase Sensei and a member of Instructors Academy Shihankai. He is Serbian, born in 1953 and is a Graduate of Mechanical Engineering. He began to practice karate in 1969 and for all his DAN grading Taiji Kase had examined him. During a 15 years period from 1974 he was a member of the national team of Former Yugoslavia and took part in 3 World, 11 European Championships and 2 World Cups, while winning 15 medals.
He was a two-time European kata champion in 1981 and 1982. He took second place three times in 1979, 1983, 1984, and twice third place 1977, 1978. As a member of the kumite team he won two silver medals in 1979 and 1982, and two bronze medals as a member of kata team 1981 and 1986. He also won two bronze medals during the World Championships with the national kata team in 1980 and 1986, and individually he was 5th in 1980 and 7th in 1983.
In Yugoslavia he won 22 medals. He was eight times the kata champion and took second place four times in the same category. In his personal weight category, kumite, he was a two-time champion and took second place twice. Furthermore, in the open category kumite he took second place once and twice third.
In his native Serbia he was Champion in the open category kumite, and more then 10 times kata champion consecutively.
Such a successful sports career did not affect his determination to achieve higher goals then sport’s medals. Sensei Dimitrijevic considers a sports career as an unavoidable stage towards the search of the real essence of KarateDo. The ultimate goal should be reaching a level beyond technique and physical power.
At the time when Sensei Dimitrijevic began to practice karate, Shihan Taiji Kase was the Technical Advisor of the Karate Association of Yugoslavia up until 1980. It was his choice to select Sensei Dimitrijevic in the national kumite team to debut in the 1974 European Championship in London. However Sensei Dimitrijevic was greatly influenced by the creation of a karate attitude and technical development by one of Kase Sensei’s assistants, Sensei Takashi Tokuhisa, who at that time was probably the most technically advanced young Japanese instructor in Europe.
In 1988 Sensei Dimitrijevic came to Greece. Contacts with A. Panayotopoulos, Director of the private High School in Athens, proved that both men shared an almost identical karate approach and this led to a mutual understanding. The next step was the establishment of the Shotokan Karate Club "Ippon" within the Athletic Association of the Panayotopoulos’s School.
Sensei Dimtitrijevic became a member of the World Karate-Do Shotokan Academy soon after its foundation in 1989. Many seminars in Europe and personal contacts followed during which Sensei Kase acknowledged the extraordinary qualities of Sensei Velibor Dimitrijevic, appointing him as one of his assistants. It seemed like destiny had reunited them after so many years.
This time the contact with Kase Sensei was crucial for Sensei Dimitrijevic in order to adopt Budo karate as his life's philosophy. Today the following may sound like an anecdote but after one of the first seminars Sensei Kase told his assistant Sensei Dimitrijevic: "You were champion, you have excellent technique and exceptional kime, now it is time for you to start practicing karate". Sensei Dimitrijevic was almost forty years old at the time.
Led by his insticts and fascination with the Kase's Budo approach sensei Dimitrijevic could not resist the challenge. He began a new circle of his karate way, this time searchig for qualities beyond medals, technique and physical power. He is devoted to the idea and the concept of Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do.
Sensei Dimitrijevic lives in Athens where he teaches in his Hobu Dojo. Further more he is the President of Shotokan Karate-Do Academy of Serbia. (http://www.kasehakaratedoakademija.org.rs)
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Sensei Velibor - Vebo Dimitrijevic je jedan od najblizih asistenata sada pokojnog sensei Taiji Kasea i clan Tehnicke komisije Svetske Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do Instruktorske Akademije. Rodjen je 1953 godine i Diplomirao je na Masinskom fakultetu u Nisu. Karateom je poceo da se bavi 1969 godine i sva majstorska zvanja dodelio mu je Taiji Kase. Za Nacionalni tim prvi put je nastupio 1974 i tokom 15 godina ucestvovao je na 3 Svetska i 11 Evropskih sampionata i 2 Svetska kupa osvojivsi 15 medalja.
Bio je dvostruki sampion Evrope u Katama 1981 i 1982. Tri puta je bio drugi 1979, 1983 i 1984, a dva puta je zauzimao trece mesto 1977 i 1978. Kao clan Kumite tima osvojio je dve srebrne medalje 19790 i 1982, a kao clan Kata tima dva puta bronzane medalje 1981 i 1986. Sa nacinalnim Kata timom osvojio je dva puta bronzane medalje na Svetskim sampionatima 1980 i 1986, dok je pojedinacno u Katama na svetskim sampionatima zauzeo 5 mesto 1980 i 7 mesto 1983.
Na sampionatima Jugoslavije osvojio je 22 medalje. Osam puta je bio sampion u Katama i 4 puta je bio drugi. U borbama u kategoriji bio je dva puta prvi i dva puta drugi. Isto tako u borbama u Apsolutnoj kategoriji jednom je bio drugi i dva puta treci.
Na prvenstvima Srbije u borbama u Apsolutnoj kategoriji bio je jednom sampion i jednom drugi, i preko deset puta uzastopno sampion u katama.
Tako uspesna takmicarska karijera nije ga medjutim udaljila od namere za dostizanjem visih dometa od osvojenih medalja, smatrajuci ih samo neminovnom fazom na putu trazenja istinske sustine Karate-Doa. U vreme kada je sensei Velibor Dimitrijevic poceo da se bavi karateom Kase sensei je bio Tehnicki savetnik Karate Saveza Jugoslavije, a 1974 godine na Evropskom sampionatu u Londonu sensei Dimitrijevic je debitovao timu po Kazeovom izboru. U tom periodu svakako najveci uticaj za njegovo formiranje i napredovanje presudan je bio kontakt sa sensei Takashi Tokuhisom koji je u to vreme bio jedan od najistaknutijih mladih Japanskih instruktora u Evropi.
Od 1988 odlazi u Grcku gde u Atini vodi skolu Shotokan karatea "Ippon" u okviru privatne skole ciji je vlasnik Alkis Panajotopoulos, Doktor Svetske Istorije sa Univerziteta u Oksfordu, inace i sam karateka visokog ranga.
Sensei Dimitrijevic je postao clan Svetske Karate-Do Shotokan Akademije ubrzo nakon njenog formiranja 1989 godine. Nakon brojnih seminara sirom Evrope i licnih kontakata , Kase sensei ga imenuje za jednog svojih asistenata. Kao da je sudbina htela da se oni nakon toliko godina ponovo sretnu.
Ovog puta kontakt je bio presudan da Sensei Dimitrijevic prihvati Budo koncept Kaseovog karatea kao svoju zivotnu filozofiju. Danas zvuci kao anegdota kada mu je nakon jednog od prvih seminar Akademije Kase sensei rekao: " Bio si sampion, imas vrhunsku tehniku i izuzetan kime, sada je pravi trenutak da pocnes da se bavis karateom". Tada je vec bio blizu cetrdesete.
Vodjen instiktom i fasciniran Kaseovim konceptom Budo karatea nije odoleo izazovu, zapoceo je novi krug na svom karate i zivotnom putu, ovog puta u trazenju nivoa i vrednosti koje su iznad tehnike i vise od medalja.
Jedinstven po svojoj tehnickoj superiornosti uspeo je da pronikne u tajne Budoa i danas je jedan od malobrojnih sledbenika koji na autentican nacin promovise viziju i demonstrira ucenje sensei Kazea. Nakon Kazeove smrti zajedno sa kolegama iz Tehnicke komisije nastoji da se ocuva tradicija i ucenje velikog ucitelja i zvanicno je jedan od osnivaca Svetske Akademije koja nastavlja njegovo delo.
Sensei Dimitrijevic je Predsednik Kase Ha Shotokan Ryu Karate-Do Akademije Srbije. Poducava u Honbu Dojo-u u Atini , i odrzava seminare u brojnim evropskim zemljama.
Competition Results
I. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. 3rd place in Kata Team Bremen 1980
2. 3rd place in Kata Team Sydney 1986
3. 5th place in Kata Team Cairo 1983
4. 5th place in Kata Individual Bremen 1980
5. 7th place in Kata Individual Cairo 1983
II. EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. 1st place in Kata Individual Manchester 1981
2. 1st place in Kata Individual Zurich 1982
3. 2nd place in Kata Individual Brussels 1979
4. 2nd place in Kata Individual Munchen 1983
5. 2nd place in Kata Individual Dublin 1984
6. 2nd place in Kumite Team Brussels 1979
7. 2nd place in Kumite Team Zurich 1982
8. 2nd place in Kata Team Zurich 1982
9. 2nd place in Kata Team Dublin 1984
10. 3rd place in Kata Individual Essen 1977
11. 3rd place in Kata Individual Belgrade 1978
12. 3rd place in Kata Team Manchester 1981
13. 3rd place in Kata Team Madrid 1986
III. YUGOSLAVIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. 1st place in Kumite Light middle category 1985
2. 1st place in Kumite Middle weight category 1986
3. 1st place in Kata Individual 1975
4. 1st place in Kata Individual 1977
5. 1st place in Kata Individual 1979
6. 1st place in Kata Individual 1981
7. 1st place in Kata Individual 1982
8. 1st place in Kata Individual 1983
9. 1st place in Kata Individual 1984
10. 1st place in Kata Individual 1985
11. 2nd place in Kata Individual 1976
12. 2nd place in Kata Individual 1978
13. 2nd place in Kata Individual 1980
14. 2nd place in Kata Individual 1987
15. 2nd place in Kumite Middle category 1975
16. 2nd place in Kumite Middle category 1979
17. 2nd place in Kumite Open category 1979
18. 3rd place in Kumite Open category 1975
19. 3rd place in Kumite Open category 1976
20. 3rd place in Kumite Middle category 1980
21. 3rd place in Kata Team 1975
22. 3rd place in Kata Team 1985
IV. SERBIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sensei Velibor Dimitrijevic was Champion and Vice Champion in Open category Kumite, several times in his Middleweight category Kumite and more then 10 times consecutively Kata Champion in Serbia.
