Juan Manuel González, Pan-American champion Uniquindian judoka

Juan Manuel González Ocampo is the Judo instructor at the University of Quindíois pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education and has just won the Panamerican Judo Tour Continental Championship for veterans, held last September in the city of Bogotá. Since he was a child he has been a fan of “those fighters who get in a ring and punch and kick.” In those times he did not miss the fights of the WWE world champions, at that time the WWF, such as Batista and The Undertaker, characters from the show, who, although they are fictitious, motivated him with their performances to want to learn. That’s why he took note of the fights on television and later, at school, he gave the same keys to his classmates.

“I liked Greco-Roman wrestling. In the beginning, my financial situation was not the most appropriate, so I began to look for an alternative similar to the fights I saw on television. That’s when I came across a poster at school that said: Free sports at the Municipal Sports Institute – IMDERA. I called and asked, and they told me there was a sport similar to wrestling and it was free. They invited me to a class at the Centenario stadium. I remember that I arrived on September 9, 2009 and I can truly say that it was love at first sight… I was overwhelmed,” Juan Manuel tells us.

After learning a little more about the sport, his dream became to reach the Olympic Games. “I think we all set that great goal of being the best, of playing the Quindío anthem in national games or Colombia’s anthem in the Olympics, and singing the notes. This year we won the Pan-American Veterans Championship and, with my efforts, I made that anthem sound at the top, and next to my name (…) I want to continue motivating my athletes, I am aware of the love and admiration they have for me, and now that they have seen their coach become a national and Pan American champion, they say they feel much more motivated to continue their training.

The judo team achieved a historic participation, with 6 medals: 3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze. Juan Manuel, in addition to being a Pan American champion, is the coach of María Zapata, the first blind woman to be a national champion, and Cristian Orozco, the first blind national medalist in the National University Games. These achievements not only represent a sporting triumph but also a milestone in inclusion and overcoming barriers. Both showed that with talent, discipline and passion any obstacle can be overcome. Their medals are a testament to their bravery and an inspiring example for all athletes.

The interview

Juan Manuel, how do you describe yourself?

SI always say that I am an adult living he dream of a child. I am always amazed at the great things that are achieved through the effort we make with our boys. It is not the fact of seeing an athlete with a medal but rather a being who feels and relates. I can’t say that there is only one achievement, they all excite me, they are small and big victories.

Which su greater motivation?

My motivation is to make my students see that dreams are possible. 15 years ago I dreamed of being the Colombian National Team and today, 15 years later, I achieved that dream of wearing the national colors and having the Colombian anthem play.

What is your training philosophy?

I tell my students that we train to have fun. I want them to be happy in each class, because apart from my role as a coach, I had a great time as a recreator, and I encouraged activities. So I always try to make sure my classes are not boring or monotonous. I try to generate a laugh. In my classes I frequently use rhetorical theory, teaching through something that is fun for them.Maybe they have to have fun and feel like they are going to train, but I also ask them to work hard, because discipline will always win over talent.

How has your experience been at the University of Quindío?

I have to thank the University of Quindío a lot, which was my formal work experience.I graduated in 2016, I have a degree in Physical Education and Sports, proudly Uniquindian. In February 2017 he was already linked as an Institutional Welfare Judo instructor. I really have to thank Rigoberto Salazar a lot, who was the one who gave me his hand, he believed in me and my process. Since 2017 we have been doing Judo, generating great processes, great transformations within the University of Quindío, it has been a quite successful process, when I arrived it was a new sport, it was being inaugurated with me. In 2019 we were champions of the area. In 2023 we were general champions of the area. That year we once again became general champions of the area and now we are national runners-up in the women’s branch and third overall among all the universities in the country that practice Judo.

What is the role of a coach in the training of a university judoka?

The role of the coaches and teachers of a judoka in training is really great. We as athletes have very important philosophical and ontological foundations. Judo is based on three fundamental principles: the first is the maximum use of efficiency and strength. The second is Jita Kyoei: peace and prosperity among people, and the third is Ju, which is adaptation.

We want to teach university judokas that they first have to learn to fight their own battles; that there are moments in life that are easy and others that are difficult, but we also teach them that we are in a world in which we must coexist in peace with other beings, even if they feel and think differently than us. In Judo, adaptation is the first thing we learn: to fall, and after each fall, we get up. That is the very teaching of life.

From the university, we must also be in line with its priorities and policies. We are Institutional Welfare, so we must ensure the well-being of our students and our athletes at all times.

What has the process been like with blind athletes?

It really has been a very significant process. I must thank my blind athletes. My first blind athlete was Jonathan Velasco. He, with his very particular way of being and his charisma, was little by little, without realizing it, who guided me in the best way to teach. He expressed his physical needs and stimuli to me and I responded to those stimuli and appropriated them to my teaching, with ideas such as making human puppets that stand on my feet, walking together. This has been a work of love, of desire, of the desire to be able to provide that capacity for movement to these young people with disabilities. My way of teaching has evolved thanks to people with disabilities. I tell them that I owe them everything.

Juan Manuel concluded the interview by thanking the University of Quindío and especially the rector Luis Fernando Polanía Obando, for their support, the most recent being allowing him to participate, in the city of Tampico, in Mexico, to continue fulfilling his dream of representing to Colombia as part of our country’s delegation at the first International Congress for Sports with Down Syndrome, where he will be co-exhibitor in the city of Tampico, Mexico, from October 19 to 23 of this year.

“I also thank the Colombian Judo Federation, which continues to trust me; and to the Federation of Visually Impaired Teachers, which allows me to continue representing our University of Quindío and my country in international events,” he added.