Alexander Voinov, president of the Kickboxing Federation and founder of the famous club "Hermes-Profi," discussed the vibrant tournaments of the 90s, the problems of bureaucracy in sports, lost talents, and the opportunities for Kyrgyzstan to become a center for martial arts in an exclusive interview for the project cast24.kg.
Photo 24.kg
— Alexander Husaevich, thank you for finding the time for this conversation. You rarely give interviews. Why did you decide to talk now?
— In fact, I didn't think long about it. There are topics that need to be spoken about openly. Not so much about myself, but about the situation in sports.
— Let's start with the question: how is kickboxing doing in Kyrgyzstan today? Tournaments used to fill stadiums, but now it seems quieter?
— We accomplished the tasks we set at that time. Promotions and tournaments were organized with one goal — to attract the attention of spectators. It worked: parents started bringing their children to sections, and young people began to go to gyms on their own.
Many of those who once trained with us now work in various fields — in government structures, business, law enforcement agencies. But their roots are still from there; they went through the school of martial arts.
Some became champions, while others simply became strong and healthy individuals, and that is important.
— What was the popularity of those tournaments based on?
— We understood from the beginning that the atmosphere wouldn't save us if there was no quality execution. The audience in Kyrgyzstan understands martial arts. A low level of skill won't attract spectators, and they simply won't come. In those years, the level was high, and idols emerged. I would go to people's homes and see flyers with our fighters on the walls. That is an indicator: children hang on their walls not only Hollywood actors but also our fighters.
Moreover, we hit the trend — martial arts movies were popular, and there was a general fashion for fighters. We offered quality sports content.
— MMA is currently at its peak popularity. Should kickboxing be brought back to its former level?
— There is no need to artificially inflate anything. We did it right back then: first quality, then quantity. Otherwise, it won't work.
Now there is a choice: different sports and sections. It is important not to interfere with children making their choices and to create normal conditions for that. If there is competition among clubs and coaches, interest will arise. Without competition, there will be no growth, neither within the country nor abroad.
— You talk about a lack of sports management. Can you explain what you mean?
— A simple and clear example is the kickboxing world championship in Bishkek in 1999.
We literally "snatched" the right to host it: before that, the team had successfully performed at world championships and cups, taking prize places and even surpassing Russia. The opening and closing took place at the old "Spartak" stadium with a capacity of 30,000. Ticket sales went well because we invited many stars: a famous host, singers, dance groups. People wanted to come not just for the fights but for an event.
But there was a risk — October, an open stadium, unpredictable weather. I worried that if it rained or snowed, people wouldn't come, and we would have to refund ticket money.
I accidentally saw an advertisement for the insurance company "London Bishkek." I went to the director and suggested insuring the championship. He didn't immediately understand what I was talking about. I explained: if people can't come due to the weather, you reimburse the ticket price. In return — advertising, status, presence at the event.
The director of the insurance company looked at the sales through the ticket company — almost all tickets were sold!
In the end, we signed a contract. The opening took place in perfect weather. The closing — too. The director of the insurance company sat in the stands, gave me a thumbs up, and was happy that no one had to pay.
And the morning after the final fights, it snowed and the wind picked up.
That's what sports management is about: the ability to see risks, manage finances, find partners, and turn sports into a professionally managed process rather than a spontaneous celebration based on luck.
Unfortunately, we still do not have a system for training sports managers. Without this, we won't get far.
— One of your students, Eduard Temirov, who trains the Indonesian national team, said that Kyrgyzstan can become the "mecca of martial arts." Do you agree with this?
— In some ways, yes. We have unique natural conditions and a real "hunger for sports." Look at the gyms — they are full; this applies not only to wrestling or kickboxing but also to volleyball and other sports that are actively developing. People are eager to engage, and that is a huge plus.
The first factor is our mid-mountain region. Anti-doping agencies recommend that athletes replace pharmacology with training in the mountains. The mid-mountain area is essentially "permitted doping": hypoxia, increased lung capacity, adaptation of the body to loads.
We have places at an altitude of 1600-1700 meters, a mild climate, up to 300 sunny days a year, water that doesn't freeze, and minimal precipitation. It's no coincidence that athletes from other countries have long come here to prepare.
The Olympic champion in athletics Baranovsky trained with us for the Athens Games and became an Olympic champion there with a record.
Alexander Voinov
Later at the Beijing Olympics, he said he would like to hold training camps in Kyrgyzstan again, but his team was sent elsewhere, and the results were worse. This is a practical example of how our mountains work.
The second factor is the traditions of martial arts and wrestling. Despite the lack of a huge sports budget, we show serious results in wrestling. This is a pattern, not a coincidence, thanks to competition among regions, schools, and coaching centers.
The third factor is that we can and should hold major tournaments on our soil.
If we have our heroes, stars, and stories, there is no point in constantly going abroad. We can gather a team of professionals from media partners, advertising, and make a sports event interesting for the entire republic and diaspora.
— If you are offered to head the Ministry of Sports or a large government structure with authority, would you agree?
— No. These are different goals. If it comes to stirring up interest and changing the motivation system, this can be done without the minister's chair.
Government bodies in our country operate within a bureaucratic system: plans, reports, a unified sports classification, compliance with standards for titles. This is necessary, but motivation is almost not built in.
In the USA, for example, there is no Ministry of Sports at all. There are athletic commissions in each state that regulate rules, safety, and licenses. If an athlete gets knocked out, he is not allowed to enter the ring for six months, and can only train after three months. Violation of the rules punishes the organizer and promoter, depriving them of their license. So either you know the rules and value your license, or you don't work.
In our country, many don't even know what is allowed and what is not.
The system needs to be revised: less bureaucracy, more responsibility, and real motivation.
— You often compare our sports with American sports. What is the main difference?
— In the USA, coaches and the entire team around the athlete are high-paying professions. It is not the government that pays, but parents, clubs, sponsors, and advertising companies. When an athlete reaches the top level, his income is not a bonus for a medal, but advertising contracts.
An American Olympic champion may receive nothing from the government, but he is awaited with multi-million dollar advertising agreements.
Our athlete receives about 150-200 thousand soms. The difference is enormous.
Around the name of Mike Tyson, it is estimated that about $9 billion has been earned. Not by him, but by the entire industry around him. This is the result of proper positioning, competent work of managers and marketers.
Alexander Voinov
In our country, businesses often fear being sponsors because they live with the thought: "If we get noticed, tomorrow they will come to us with questions about where the money came from." This destroys a normal partnership between "sports and business."
— You have talked a lot about medicine, dietetics, and massage therapists. How critically lacking are such specialists now?
— Critically. This applies not only to martial arts. When I performed under contract in the USA, I always had a team: a doctor, psychologist, dietitian, massage therapist, driver, manager.
All of them were "included" in my fee: it was clear who earned how much and what they were responsible for. The higher my fee, the more the team earned. Everyone had a direct interest in me being healthy and ready for victories.
In Kyrgyzstan, we tried to create a similar system around "Hermes-Profi": a staff psychologist, cooks who prepared for our fighters for 11 years and knew everything about them, massage therapists, managers for international contacts.
The system worked as long as there were world-class fighters. But then the generation left, and physically I couldn't maintain the previous volume. The average strike of a good fighter is 130-150 kilograms. During a training session, fighters deliver dozens of such strikes, and there are several in the gym. As a result, you experience 15 tons of striking load in one session. At some point, the body says "stop."
But the main thing is that we lack science. There are no laboratories that conduct multi-parameter analyses, track blood condition, and adaptation levels to loads.
Alexander Voinov
The Japanese know exactly how many "transport cells" an athlete has and where there is a risk of losing form.
We often send an athlete to the main event "blindly." Money has been spent on training, nutrition, and equipment, and then we explain: "Well, sports is sports." This is wrong. If you received government money, you must do everything possible to achieve the maximum result. And here the coach needs scientific support.
— In conclusion, what does Kyrgyz sports lack today?
— To be honest, it is not people that are lacking, but meaning for them.
Yes, we need:
- sports doctors;
- dietetics;
- psychologists;
- rehabilitators;
- specialized cooks;
- qualified coaches and managers.
But they will only appear when it becomes an interesting and well-paid profession.
A person will not go to study to become a sports dietitian if he earns less than a coach in a school gym. He will choose another field.
There are two options: either integrate them into the motivation system around the athlete so that they are "in the fee," or provide normal government salaries, consciously investing in science and medical support.
Kazakhstan, for example, spent hundreds of millions of dollars preparing for one Olympics. Essentially, one gold medal cost them about 300 million. The question is: can't we build a system for that money where there would be not one medal but ten? I advocate for a systematic approach.
— You proposed to update the Soviet GTO system in a modern format. How should it work?
— The idea is simple. Every parent is interested in knowing the real level of physical development of their child. Not "by feelings," but by specific tests. The system can be simple and cheap: you only need a pull-up bar, a platform, a stopwatch, and a notebook. No expensive equipment.
For example, in the 1st grade, the goal is for the child to do at least one pull-up by the end of the year. If at the beginning of the year six out of ten children can do pull-ups, then the physical education teacher has a specific goal: to get the remaining four to at least one pull-up. In the 2nd grade — two pull-ups, in the 3rd — three, and so on until the 10th grade.
In parallel — running, jumping, squats. If today in the 1st grade 80 percent of children are physically healthy, and by graduation only 20 percent remain, then the physical education system has failed. It needs to be the other way around: keep 80 percent until the 11th grade.
With such a system, we will be able to graduate the most physically developed children in the world. This is the foundation of a healthy nation. And huge budgets are not needed — just will and simple organization.
— You experienced the turbulent 90s and have often said that strong athletes were drawn into crime. What was really happening back then?
— Business in the 90s was half criminal. The state received almost nothing from success; chaos and violence reigned.
A businessman trying to survive in such conditions needed physical strength. This strength was "bought" with cars, money, and gifts. Athletes took risks, succumbing to easy money.
Alexander Voinov
I lost my students. Ali Porsukov was shot because he did not obey. He wanted to become a world champion and was working towards that goal. Before his death, he told his father: "I will become a world champion." But he was killed without a chance to realize his potential.
My motivation has always been different: I promised the guys real fights in America, participation in big shows, contracts. And we delivered. We traveled the USA back and forth, were in Japan, Paris. The guys knew that if Voinov said it, then it would be so. This was an alternative motivation system, opposite to crime.
Now, fortunately, the situation is much better. This topic can be said to be closed. But the lessons of those years should not be forgotten.
— You talk a lot about character. What is more important — character or skill?
— These aspects are inseparable. Like the right and left hand: one supports the other. You cannot develop skill without character and vice versa.
Sometimes coaches shout at their students: "Break him! Break him!" I don't understand such words. A mother of a boy is sitting in the hall, and the coach says: "Break her son." What is the mother's state at that moment? For such things, licenses should be revoked.
Character is not formed in the ring. It is formed in everyday life, discipline, hikes, training camps — even in how a child takes care of his shoes or helps his friends.
In the ring, the athlete is required to do one thing — show skill and enjoy his work. There is no need to add unnecessary aggression and demand "be a man." It is important to develop the desire to beautifully and correctly perform what you know how to do.
— Modern youth is very different from the generation of the 90s. What hinders the formation of a healthy nation and interest in sports?
— There is another important point: children closely observe how their coach lives. They see what phone he has, what car he arrived in, how he is dressed.
If the coach comes on foot or in an old car, with an outdated phone and in a worn suit, many teenagers find it hard to accept his authority.
Alexander Voinov
They quickly label him as a "loser." This is reality, no matter how much we want to think otherwise.
To keep a child in sports, a coach needs not only to be a professional but also to have at least minimal support: a decent salary and working conditions. Otherwise, he will go into the private sector to feed his family.
— You said that Kyrgyz athletes have a special sense of patriotism. Can you provide an example?
— In the late 90s, when we were flying to the World Cup in Hungary via Moscow, one of the passengers on the plane from Tajikistan was found with drugs. After that, we were checked especially thoroughly.
There is a saying in sports: the flag is carried by the one who is confident that he will win. Usually, one or two people take the flag to raise it on the podium.
During the inspection, I was surprised to see that the flag of Kyrgyzstan was in every bag. Every fighter was confident that he would need the flag on the podium. They were not flying to "go and see Europe," but to win the World Cup.
For me, this is true patriotism: the confidence that you will go out, win, and raise the flag of your country.
— You are often asked why your ideas have not yet been implemented. Are you not heard, not invited, or are you disappointed?
— To be honest, much of this is our fault. We talk little, do not formalize proposals. We complain to each other, but do not persistently convey ideas to those who make decisions.
In my time, I was an advisor to the president on sports. When you go directly to the head of state, you are heard. But if your idea gets "into the system," it often gets distorted or doesn't reach at all, and that is even worse.
Now many sports facilities are being built in the republic — this is good. But at the same time, cadres, managers, medical professionals, science, and motivation should also be "built."
If we can formulate proposals correctly and convey them to the leadership, I am confident we will be heard. The country has a unique chance to restart the sports system.
— And finally, a personal question. Who is the greatest athlete in history for you? Do you have a role model?
— It is difficult for me to name one name. The deeper you understand sports from the inside, the less inclined you are to "deify" people. Sometimes you admire someone's results, and then you learn how that person lives and feel disappointed. For me, it is important to look not only at medals but also at human qualities, at what a person does outside the arena. For example, Jackie Chan. He performed incredible stunts without insurance, risked himself, and then directed part of his fortune to charity. How can you not respect him? He is a person with a capital letter.
Speaking of our athletes, I can name many names. I will not single out my students — that would be unfair to others. But, for example, Akjol Mahmudov is an obvious idol for many children. He positions himself correctly and sets an example.
Aysuluu Tynibekova is a person with whom it is enough to talk to understand what a strong personality she is, and only then remember her titles.
Alexander Voinov
Our boxers who have won medals are modest, decent guys with a high sense of patriotism.
It is important for me to see not only a champion in an athlete but also a human being. Then respect becomes genuine.
— Alexander Husaevich, thank you for this conversation and for everything you have done and continue to do for Kyrgyz sports.
— Thank you for raising these topics. I really want to believe that our ideas will not remain just words and that we can be useful to the country.
