Alina Guta Success Story

Alina Guta a karate athelete.

A brief introduction to yourself?
My name is Alina Guta, I am Romanian, 23 years old and I practice karate at Rapid Bucharest club since I was 8. Except for being a karate athlete, I am currently studying at the master of research in Economic Informatics.

How did you develop your fondness for karate?
In my first competition, I lost in the first round. At my second competition, the same. At my third competition… the same. I was very disappointed and one of my coaches at that time, who was still competing, gave me her gold medal and told me from now on, I will win only gold medals! And guess what… the next competition I was standing on the podium in the first place! And this thing has been happening again and again for many competitions. I was enjoying the training and I wanted to become better and better every day.

What drew you to Karate out of all other sports?
To be honest, my house was near the karate club that I am still part of, and when I was little I was seeing every evening children wearing some “white stuff” (I didn’t know they are called kimonos) and going into that gym. I wanted to start playing a sport, and my grandma proposed me to try karate as we live so close to the gym. I liked the idea very much, and after the very first training, I knew that this was my sport.

At what age did you start learning karate?
I started learning karate at 8.

What is your style and what rank do you currently hold in karate?
Goju Ryu, 2 DAN. I’ve had my 2nd Dan examination with Sensei Junior Lefevre.

What was the highest prize you won?
Before joining WKF 5 years ago, I was competing on WUKF. On that federation, I was multiple World and European Champion. At the WKF level, my highest results are 2nd place Series A Toledo 2017, 2nd place European Championship for Regions Kosovo 2017, 5th place Youth League Umag 2018 Kumite U21 -55kg. Besides these, I have won many medals in other important international tournaments, but these are my best results.

What do you like more Kata or Kumite?
To be honest, I think I am more talented in kata than in Kumite, but I prefer Kumite. At the national level, I do both disciplines, but at the international level, I am more just a Kumite player.

Do you have a favorite Sensei?
My sensei is of course my favorite, sensei Mihaela Mihalache.

How did you get to this position and how was your journey being in this sport?
The journey was not easy, I have made many sacrifices for this sport, but luckily I have managed to reach a high level both in this sport and in the academic field. When I was a child, many of my friends were out playing and I was going to training and competitions. When I was a teenager, my friends were going out but I was every time at training or competition. I don’t regret any of this because karate brought me many other more important satisfactions. This sport thought me a lot of things, such as being patient, disciplined, respectful, and ambitious. I have met a lot of people and traveled all over the world thanks to it. For me, this passion became a lifestyle so I can say that this sport is one of the most important parts of my life.

Do you take karate as your profession or is it just a hobby?
I am a professional athlete but in my opinion, in Romania, it’s very hard to be just an athlete. The money we receive is not enough for living a good life. I know I can do more than just sport in my life, so I try to go in parallel with sport and study/job for as long as it will be possible. When I will not have any more time for doing karate at a high level, it will remain just a hobby, but I will never give up on this sport, it is a part of my life.

Who’s been an inspiration for you throughout your sports journey?
My sensei was an inspiration for me in all this journey. On the moments when I was feeling down, both in my sports life and in my personal life she was near me and helped me to come back stronger.

What challenges did you come across on getting where you are at today?

You can share any injury story as well.
Luckily my parents supported me since my very first day in the dojo, so I didn’t face problems regarding money or support. I had only one bad injury that kept me out of tatami for 3 months.
I am motivated every day by the thought that I want to be better than I was the day before. I am my only competition and I want to become the best version of myself.

What motivates you the most about your profession as an athlete?
I am smart, very ambitious and a perfectionist and I think these qualities helped me very much in becoming a strong athlete.

Do you have something you want everyone to learn?
I would like everyone to focus more on what they can do for themselves, and to try every day to become the best version of themselves. Respect everyone and always be fair-play.

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