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Gestures made with the heart always hide something special, unlikely coincidences and important experiences.
It is December 3, 2021 and the twice bronze at the Italian championships and Paralympic black belt in judo Roberto Lachin, thanks to Cristina Dedè, he arrives in Luino and meets Leonardo Marano, master of Judo Bu-Sen Luino, who enthusiastically decides to give him carte blanche to teach a lesson with his pupils. “Only later did we find out it was there International Day of Persons with Disabilities ” says Marano. A difficult past that of Roberto who, however, has seen a succession of important revenge and rebirths. At 9 he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa which led to complete loss of sight in 2004. Without losing heart, despite the difficult transition, he graduated in Oriental Languages and Civilizations with a major in Japanese Literature, got married, had a beautiful baby and found a very faithful travel companion: his dog. One day, while accompanying his son to the first karate lesson, his dog instead of taking him to the toilet, as instructed, took him to a judo gym, where a teacher invited him to take a trial lesson. It is not known by chance or perhaps fate, but the important thing is that Roberto has never stopped since that day, collecting more and more successes. This was followed by the creation of “Mottapodcast”, a podcast broadcast in which he himself interviews blind people from all over the world. Accustomed to traveling to tell his story, always and only accompanied by his faithful guide dog, this time the Paralympic champion in Luino wanted to do something different. He decided to train the blindfolded boys, to enable them to do judo without seeing. He taught him how to move through words and noises, thus transporting them into his normalcy. With him too Luinese Elena Travaini, a visually impaired professional dancer, who enthusiastically ventured into this sport.
A message of inclusion, supported by the great master Leo Marano, who has seen generations pass by his door. “For me it was an important moment. Sport must be the flag of these values, ”says Marano. A declaration of “love”, which was also relaunched by Roberto Lachin with a post on his Facebook page: «Good morning friends today I want to tell you a beautiful story. Last Friday December 3rd was a very special day for me. During a visit to a friend to record interviews that will soon air on the Motto Podcast, I had the great honor of being a guest of the Master Leonardo Marano of Judo Bu-Sen Luino. For the first time I was able to let students of all ages and categories try the experience of judo in the dark. The boys blindfolded themselves and did warm-up exercises, throwing exchanges, ground wrestling and exercises to improve trust and connection between them. Work couples have often been changed to include disabled children, including the professional dancer, in the experience Elena Travaini completely unrelated to the world of judo. My desire, in having made this experience try, is to teach children and adults how the lack of meaning does not make us people to be excluded or treated differently. Their reaction after an hour and a half in the dark was to realize that there are objective difficulties in carrying out very simple actions but this does not mean that they cannot be done. They never lifted the mask and even when an exercise seemed very difficult they repeated it several times until it was perfectly executed. This little moment spent together I hope it can remain in their hearts and can guide them on the path of their life towards an open and inclusive mentality towards all.
I am infinitely grateful to Maestro Leo Marano for allowing me to tell my story and let these mythical Judoka touch my world! I can’t wait for next summer – he concludes – to be able to try a new outdoor experience with them, immersed in nature and ending with a nice barbecue all together ».
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