Photo: Manuel Santiago García during one of the visual judo tests at the I National Youth Games.
Manuel Santiago García, a Jew
The athlete representing Antioquia in the I National Youth Games won two bronze medals, in the up to 73kg and Open events.
Mindeporte Press
Pereira, November 23, 2024. When Manuel Santiago García gets on the tatami, his senses are heightened. The noise of the crowd becomes a distant echo, as your attention focuses on the vibrations of the ground beneath your feet. With the simple action of shaking hands with your rival you already get an image of their physical build. It is a moment loaded with information: the weight of the grip, the firmness of the fingers, the tension in the arm. Everything tells you about your opponent’s intentions and allows you to anticipate the first move. Each contact is a code that you decipher with precision, each detail a clue to build your strategy.
Every movement, every breath, every change in posture is transformed into a signal that your body interprets with almost instinctive precision. Feel the flow of combat as if it were a current that guides you, where technique and intuition intertwine. In the middle of the competition, his hearing is refined, capturing every word of his coach, every advice and every warning, but also the instructions his opponent receives. It is an invaluable tool: analyzing what you say to your opponent to detect flaws, anticipate attacks and adjust your strategy instantly. It is the use of the senses at their finest, a dance of perceptions that allows you to stay one step ahead.
The tatami is their stage, and there the language of the body and mind prevails in synchrony. In each exchange he finds an opportunity to adapt, to surprise, to show that he perceives the world with an intensity that goes beyond the visible, reminding everyone that true strength lies in the ability to overcome limits, to empower the body to that flow with the senses, mind and spirit.
That was something he learned since he started training judo at the end of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, in Medellín. This sport appeared to open paths for him. He always thought that because he was blind he would not be able to practice any discipline, that his options would be limited and that his condition would be an insurmountable barrier. However, judo came as a revelation, demonstrating that strength, technique and strategy do not depend on what you see, but on what you feel.
Their training began virtually. “It’s something difficult to understand, but we managed to create a style with the coach so that he could guide me in those classes. Only up to six months later can he go to in-person training,” he says with a broad smile. There he took his first steps, it was the beginning of a career that led him to represent Colombia in the Youth Parapan American Games and begin to dream of becoming a leading athlete in a sport that is slowly gaining strength in the country.
With each workout, Manuel discovered that his body could adapt and that his senses were powerful allies on the tatami. He learned to trust tactile cues, read his opponent’s balance and energy, and use his hearing and intuition as key tools. What began as an unknown activity became his passion, a door to a world where limitation became motivation.
Today, Manuel not only trains to compete, but to inspire. Every time he gets on the tatami to represent Antioquia or Colombia, he knows that his effort transcends the sporting field: it is a message of hope, an example of how to face adversity and turn it into an opportunity to achieve greatness. His dreams now have no limits, nor does his determination.
