Community Corner
Neighborhood Notables: Learning the Rules with Vladimir Zolottev
Vladamir Zolottev of Ki Martial Arts and Westchester Krav Maga in Tuckahoe talks about his past, and how he's not only teaching kids the skill of martial arts, but of life, too.
In a no-nonsense brick building on Marbledale Road, there is a suburban dojo where martial arts from cultures far away from Tuckahoe are learned in the traditional way-- sensei to karate ka, mentor to student.
Vladimir Zolottev leads his Shotokan karate class at Ki Martial Arts and Westchester Krav Maga in Tuckahoe with equal measures of discipline and patience. He stands before the group, arms akimbo, feet planted squarely. He shouts commands for each move as he paces around his appprentices, hands clasped behind his back.
The students loudly answer, "Yes sir!" to each call, then move together with all the grace and coordination still-growing, constantly wiggling limbs can possibly manage. Wearing their karate uniforms-—white gis with colored belts—this group of boys and girls is transformed into martial arts apprentices absorbing everything their teacher Sensei does.
"What are the rules?" he asks and then repeats along with them.
"I do not lie. I keep my room neat and clean. I respect my parents. I respect my teacher..." they recite, mostly in unison.
"I help with household chores." Sensei Zolottev stops. "Someone tell me what chores they do."
A rosy cheeked girl can hardly contain herself. "Like when we cook dinner?"
Sensei Zolottev is impressed. "You cook dinner?"
"Once a month," she says with pride and nods toward her brother who is also in the class. "we make dinner."
Today is testing day for some of the students. They take turns demonstrating their moves and breaking boards with hand chops and loud yells. Though they should be silent, their peers wait on their knees along the sides of the bright red mat. They can't resist whispering, stretching, and sometimes wobbling over to the floor.
It wasn't that long ago Zolottev, now 33, was a little boy dreaming about learning karate. For a child growing up behind the Iron Curtain regime of Communist Romania, becoming a karate master took a lot of patience and perseverance.
"Like any child, I started watching Bruce Lee movies and martial arts movies and I liked it a lot," he says.
While American kids got their fill of martial arts movies in cheap cinema matinees or on television, for Zolottev it involved a lot of intrigue and a measure of danger too.
"Martial arts were banned," he remembers. So were movie theaters. Zolottev saw the cult karate classics on bootleg VHS tapes. "We paid someone a dollar or something who had a [contraband] VCR and tapes. We could have gotten into a lot of trouble," he says. Right away, he fell in love with the discipline of the martial arts.
When the Commmunist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu was overthrown in 1989 Romanian Revolution, Zolottev was finally able to study Shotokan karate and he threw himself into it wholeheartedly.
Despite a late start, Zolottev quickly made up ground, becoming an elite-level competitor in less than three years. By 16, he was a member of the National Romanian Karate Team. In fact, Zolottev remains 'on call' for the Romanian National Team, competing with them when they visit the United States or need him to fill an empty position. He has also achieved world class status in Tae Kwon Do.
These days Zolottev has taken up another discipline. With his previous training in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, Zolottev was able to quickly learn the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga. In less than 2 years of study with the Krav Maga Federation, he has become an instructor. He continues to train in the discipline with his own teachers Rhon Mizrachi and Ed Maisonet three times a week.
Even with his elite level accomplishments, Zolottev still enjoys teaching children. His own sensei noted his patience and ability to help others and got him started teaching when Zolottev was only 16.
"Not everyone has the qualities to be a good teacher," Zolottev notes.
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He enjoys passing along the rituals of discipline and hard work as well as the ethics that guide the culture of the martial arts. He talks with parents at every class and has even been asked to make stern phone calls when his students misbehave. While the skills are karate, the lessons are about life.
The final rule for children in his dojo: "I must show respect at all times."
