Their personal qualities brought them great professional success. These are the stories of our successful people that we publish in the column “On the ladder of success”. Fakulteti.mk and the Educational Center of “Pivara Skopje” show you the way to the stars through the “Skills for Success” training.

For many, the surname Nedev is synonymous with karate in Macedonia. Dejan is the leading name in the Nedev karate family. The very epithet “karate fighter of the century” that he received twenty years ago speaks volumes about the influence that Dejan Nedev has on the karate sport in our country. Together with his brother Alyosha and his sister Jadranka, they continue the path laid out by their father Vencislav – part of the first generation of karate fighters in our country, who by the way is still active.

– There was never any rivalry between us, on the contrary, we always supported each other in training and in matches. It sometimes happened that my brother and I would meet and be opponents on the tatami mat, but the fights between us were always fair and chivalrous, sometimes he beat me, sometimes I beat him, but the most important thing is that through those fights we learned from each other and we progressed together – says Dejan.

Dejan celebrates his 30th anniversary on the international sports scene this year, and the list of his achievements so far is quite extensive. His first significant success is the bronze medal at the World Championship for seniors in 1998. From 1995 to 2001 he was Europe youth champion multiple times, in 2002 and 2004 he became European vice-champion in senior competition, and in 2000, 2002 and 2006 he was world vice-champion in senior competition. In 2011, he became the European champion in kumite-fighting for seniors, while in 2015 he reached the world title in the fukugo discipline. At the European championships in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, he was the European champion in the kata and fukugo disciplines.

The love for karate was passed on to me by my father Vencislav

Although he grew up in a sports environment and lived literally in the building where the “Rabotnicki” karate club is still located today, it was only a matter of time when Dejan first put on the white kimono and stood on the tatami, that is, the mats on which karate is practiced. However, despite the strong sports influence from home, Dejan decided on his own that he wanted to do karate, first as fun, and later professionally.

– I started practicing karate at the age of five. Me, my brother and sister grew up in the gym of KK “Rabotnicki”, and our father was the founder and head coach of the karate club. Ever since I know about myself, I have been practicing karate. I fell in love with this sport from a young age, and the love for karate was passed on to me by my father Vencislav, who is the most responsible for all my achieved results, as well as the successes of my brother and sister. My father has been active in the sport of karate for more than 55 years and is the only active karate fighter from the first generation, who first started practicing karate in Macedonia in 1967 – says Dejan.

I regret that I did not have the opportunity to perform at the Olympics

It all started back in 1993 when Dejan had his first official senior performance. In the years and even decades that followed, he managed to conquer everything that could be conquered in the world of traditional karate, and at the same time he also entered the coaching waters in order to ensure that the karate baton would be passed on with dignity.

– At the age of 12-13, I began to train professionally and perform for the Macedonian national team in traditional karate, and my first official competition was in 1993, when I participated in the European Championship for seniors in Turin, Italy. My main interest has always been karate. As a child, I wanted to become a top athlete and win medals at major competitions, so I managed to win everything, my only regret is that I did not have the opportunity to perform at the Olympics and win a medal there, but it was not up to me. Karate did not become an Olympic sport, and with that a great injustice was done to generations of karate fighters who, like me, did not have the opportunity to perform and win an Olympic medal – Dejan adds.

He has been a coach for more than 20 years, and since 2018 he is a doctor of science

Parallel to the competitive aspect of his life and the fact that he still devotes 3 to 5 hours a day to personal training, Dejan gave another, this time an educational title to his sports life, after first graduating and later a master’s degree at the Faculty of Physical Education in Skopje with Prof. Dr. Atanas Kajchevski. Three years ago, he completed his educational hat-trick with his doctorate at Sofia University.

– I graduated from Prof. Dr. Atanas Kajchevski, professor at the Department of Wrestling Sports, founder of karate in Macedonia and my father’s first teacher. In 2018, I got my doctorate at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” on the topic “Investigation of the dependencies between anthropometric indicators, motor abilities and skills of 15-year-old students in the conditions of teaching physical education and sports extracurricular activities in wrestling sports (karate, judo, wrestling and boxing)”. I decided in this direction because I wanted to make a connection between karate and science and to come to certain insights that later helped me a lot in my coaching work. By the way, I have been a licensed coach and international karate instructor for more than 20 years. I have to say that I am equally fulfilled by coaching and competing. What I try to initially teach my students is to be persistent, hardworking, fulfilling, to respect each other, to respect the elders because that’s the only way they will succeed in life – says Dejan.

Prepared by: Nikola Petrovski