James de los Santos has experienced remarkable success in his sport this past year.
He is currently ranked No. 2 in the world in e-kata online karate competition and just recently nailed his 12th gold medal this year with a victory at the Venice Cup 2020 to inch closer to world No. 1 Eduardo Garcia of Portugal.
He can vault to No. 1 in the standings with victories at the Okinawa World Series and the First Euro Grand Prix E-Tournament.
De los Santos says he is enjoying this welcome success because of his passion for the sport and his willingness to work hard and make the needed sacrifices in order to excel.
“I would say that I’ve become successful in these virtual international tournaments because I love what I do; put a lot of hard work and dedication into it. I have my parents who are supporting me, my kata coaches from Japan working with me online as well as my conditioning coach,” said De los Santos.
The world-ranked karateka also expressed his gratitude to the Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines Incorporated Hondu dojo in Quezon City where he films his routines.
“I’m also fortunate to have a dojo lent to me by MKKPI as my tournament venue. I wouldn’t have gone this far without their support. But the main thing is, you have to love what you do in order to become successful in your craft,” said De los Santos.
He is a participant in the ongoing online karate world series where athletes submit video of their performance in executing their kata.
Athletes are evaluated based on the technical aspect covering proper delivery of technique, proper stances and proper form. They are also judged based athleticism where the judges look for power, speed, balance and flexibility.
He says he dreams of showing that Filipinos are capable of succeeding in world class competition.
“It’s very important not just for myself, but also to bring pride to our country. I want to show that the Philippines can also become world class in the sport of Karate,” says De los Santos.
De los Santos has 8,110 points and is just 465 points behind World No. 1 Garcia of Portugal with 8,575. De los Santos hopes to top the Okinawa World Series and First Euro Grand Prix E-Tournament to finally achieve his dream of becoming No. 1 in the world.