More Than Just a Combat Sport

By Laris Cristian R. Dela Cruz

For most, Karatedo is simply seen as a combat sport, to strike your opponent to gain as many points as possible until the time limit has been reached. Of course, this is true, but for those who partake in this discipline, it represents much more. It is a form of art that provides the karateka – the athlete – good health, increased strength, coordination, and balance. The last attribute that was mentioned is the most difficult to obtain. For some, they would give themselves solely to their studies or work, while there are others who give too much focus to the other aspects of their life, extracurriculars or athletics for instance. This is what makes the LSM community proud of having Sebastien Neil V. Mañalac, a student-athlete of the ABM strand who is also affiliated with the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK).

Given the pleasure of having met and interviewed Sebastien, who is commonly addressed by his nickname; “Bash” by both his acquaintances and friends alike, it can be seen that through his accomplishments, sense of humor, and friendly demeanor, he has gained the respect of his brothers around him.

Sebastien, who is now 16 years old, has been practicing the Karatedo discipline since the age of 3. This endeavor was brought about by the influence of his father, who himself is a karateka and athlete. Just like most children taking on a new hobby, he found himself uninterested in the sport. Even so, after training, which led him to his first competition, he says that a fire ignited within him, a fire embedded with a competitive feeling that urged him to continue on this path, getting better and better with each passing day.

Just as mentioned earlier, to balance the different aspects of your life is something most struggle with. Sebastien is not exempted from this struggle. He acknowledges the need to balance both his academic pursuits just as well as his training. He carefully allocates his time wherever it is most needed. He further explains this by describing his typical routine everyday, where after school, he would normally still have a few training sessions that would have him come home late at night; 10-11 pm he says. Because of this, he is left with barely any time to prepare for school the following day and do the homework that was assigned to him. 

This is where discipline comes into fruition, he says “As a karateka/athlete, I was taught of having good discipline which can surely help in the challenges I face to balance school and my passion for karate.”

With this article only looking into a small portion of the ins and outs of Sebastien’s life, in balancing both his school work and the AAK, it would be wrong if his achievements and ambitions were left in the dark. Sebastien says that his proudest moment was to bring home the gold in this year’s Southeast Asian Championship which took place in Bangkok, Thailand. He explains why this is so: he had also attended the same tournament in the year prior, and unfortunately, the outcome was not as he had hoped. Seeing the difference in results, from what he saw as nothing to winning everything must have truly meant a lot to him. Another accomplishment of his would be his standing as 8th in the world rankings. “…having a Philippine flag in the top 10 ranks and having my name on it makes it so much sweeter bringing pride and honor for my club and my country.” Of course, this is only two of the many accolades he has in his career. 

Let us remember that Sebastien is only at the early ages of his career. This would mean that he is still in the position to continue pursuing the success he seeks. Above all else, he talks about his biggest ambitions being the Asian Championship and the World Championship. Besides this, he says that he simply and truly seeks to always be better than past versions of himself: “My long term goal is to continue to be better every single day and be the greatest in terms of that I will never be content and will always strive for more.” With this, he devotes his work towards the betterment of Karatedo in the Philippines.