ONE Championship strawweight contender Rene “The Challenger” Catalan’s influence in Southeast Asian martial arts is certainly undeniable.
Aside from nurturing up and coming athletes in the Catalan Fighting System gym, the 40-year old was recently invited to Indonesia once again – this time not to train, but to coach the Jawa Timur Surabaya East Java Wushu Team for the Indonesian national open.
“We all met in wushu, last December, they asked if they can train here for 15 days to prepare their athletes,” shared Catalan.
“When they went here, they really liked how we trained here. They liked our athletes, and now the relationship between Indonesian and Filipino coaches is an open door.”
A renowned veteran in wushu, Catalan was surprised to see the amount of undiscovered talents that could potentially take the world by storm in the future.
He was in Indonesia for eight days, coaching and mentoring the team of athletes and coaches in his entire duration of his stay. He poured his heart into handing down every bit of knowledge that he has, which ultimately resulted to medals for them.
“When I coach, I share my ideas wholeheartedly. These are the things that you won’t learn in the internet. It will take time,” shared the 40-year old.
“I invited them once again to the Philippines so we can continue to work on our tactics. I told their coaches that it will take time to see the whole result because of our limited time,” he added.
And should the country continue to invest in its grassroot program to develop its martial artists, Catalan is convinced that Indonesia is bound to be number one in the art of wushu in no time.
“I saw the Indonesian athletes, I think there would come a time wherein they’d be number one,” he added.
“They’re in the province but they’re like our national team already because of the support and the facilities.”
