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Miro Zdunic Sensei 3rd Dan M.G.R.Y. |
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I was born on December 30th 1957 in Zagreb. I graduated from the faculty of economics
in Zagreb and now I work in a secondary commercial school where I teach several
subjects from the economic field. I am married and have three sons. Except for a few short breaks, martial arts have been my preoccupation since 1973. I started with Karate and moved to Wing Chun, then Tae Kwon Do, boxing, Aikido, and finally Ju Jitsu, Aiki Jitsu and Escrima. In the mid 90s I had great luck because I met Sensei Kukulj Damir. Even though I had changed many fighting styles during the years none of them made me find myself. Sensei Kukulj managed to change my views according to martial arts and my relation towards them just in a few days. While others had tried to limit and push me into their stereotypes, Sensei Kukulj actually did the opposite. He forced me, by hook or by crook, to find my own way, no matter how much it would clash with everything I had learned and done so far. It was him who removed all limitations, being either physical or mental, that others had imposed on me. |
Next great luck in my life was a contact with Kevin Pell Hanshi. In my first visit to the Shochu Geiko in October 2004. Pell Hanshi gave me a chance to show what I really know. After that, he stood behind me and gave me all the support I could imagine. Most of all, he called me his friend.
After years of training, many styles and teachers, with great support of Pell Hanshi, in the beginning of 2005 I decided to form my own style of self defence which I called The URBANA system. This system is composed of techniques which I practiced in Ju Jitsu, Escrima, Wing Chun, Aiki Jutsu and Aikido. The major goal of URBANA, as a self defence system, is to protect yourself with fast and fluid transitions from one technique to another and find an appropriate way to defend yourself from the attacker in any situation. The emphasis is put on speed and flexibility. There are no needless moves and the holds are brief and simple. It commands that everybody must stay with his feet firmly on the ground without unrealistic illusions about himself or his surroundings.
Today, I have five clubs, the The Urbana Centre Dojo, the Urbana Totem Dojo and the Urbana Zagreb Dojo (all in Zagreb), the Urbana Jastrebarsko Dojo (Jastrebarsko), and the Urbana Baracuda Dojo (Rijeka).
On Saturday the 17th of March 2007, Miro was awarded his 3rd Dan by Ishin Ryu Ju-Jitsu's founder and chief instructor, Kevin Pell Hanshi at the organisation's 17th Anniversary presentation dinner held in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire.