THE BLACKBELT MENTOR
As a troubled teenager, Giovanni Soffietto’s life was turned around by martial arts. Now, he’s using the skills that he has learned to fight society’s inequalities
The first time he visited a martial arts gym, Giovanni Soffietto was 13 years old. “It was very rough and ready, the sort that wouldn’t meet today’s standards,” he says. “I went in with an ego and got my backside handed to me.” While others might have been put off by the experience, Soffietto was transformed and returned to train every day. By the age of 16, he was assisting the coaches.
Outside the gym, his life was hard. His mother was an alcoholic who left his father to raise Soffietto and his siblings alone, and his family had very little money. “I was incredibly angry,” he says. “But martial arts can tame aggression in a way that’s really constructive. I never had a fight at school after starting Thai boxing.”
On his 18th birthday, he took out an insurance policy to start teaching Thai boxing and karate but was confused by the absence of a reliable governing body for martial arts tutoring.
So, he decided to create one: the British Martial Arts and Boxing Association (BMABA). To fund the project, Soffietto worked full time, taking night shifts so that he could be available during the day. By 2016, the BMABA was bringing in enough money to allow him to quit the night job.
As the company grew, he began thinking about the paper-thin line between his life and those of his friends, some of whom had ended up in prison. “I would have been sucked into that had my coach not been there. He inspired me to better myself,” he says. “A supportive coach who is there when parents can’t be and when schools are unable to help can make all the difference to young people’s lives.”
Through its charitable arm, the Fighting Chance Foundation, the BMABA now offers scholarships to those who display a talent for martial arts but can’t afford classes. Soffietto has also led a number of youth engagement campaigns, such as #DitchTheBlade, which is focused on helping those living in deprived areas to redirect their frustrations into taekwondo, karate, MMA or muay Thai.
At present, Soffietto is busy coaching other coaches as part of a push to make martial arts training more inclusive for those with mental or physical disabilities. He’s not just fighting the good fight – he’s winning it.
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