National team coach Pekka Varis

Pekka Varis from Oulu is a well known character in the Finnish Taekwon-Do field. He used to be an active competitor and represented Finland at least in power test and team events. After competing Varis has been seen umpiring and coaching both in Finland and abroad. Last season Varis was a part of the national team coaching as the right hand of Mariusz Steckiewicz. Pekka is well known to be funny company, telling the worst jokes with his sympathetic Oulu dialect. But the man can also take things seriously when it's the time to do so. I have learnt to know boo sabumnim Varis better during last seasons' competition trips, where he has been as an umpire, a coach or a competition tourist. The trips and freetime go swell in the company of Pekka, though the level of our talks may make people inside the hearing distance frustrated. Luckily the team members are usually of the kind that they lower the quality of their talks on the same, intellectually less challenging, but in some way entertaining level.

Name: Pekka Varis
Birth date: 190570
Grade: 3rd degree
Started Taekwon-Do: 1990
Years in national team: 12 (as a competitor, umpire or coach)
Best achievements: As a competitor team bronze in European Championships Coaching/instructing: ITF Taekwon-Do Oulu, Finnish national team
Club: Oulun ITF Taekwon-do ry (ITF Taekwon-do Oulu)
Other hobbies: Motorcycling, rock-music, gym, travelling, reading, good food, relaxing, discussing, having fun and low quality stories

This season (06-07) you act as an assistant coach for Mariusz Steckiewicz in the national team of Finland, as you did last season. How do you see your role and is it somehow different compared to last season?

Last season was short on my part. I came in a bit over two months before the European Championships. I don’t think that my role will change radically, but this season I’ll be able to participate the national team camps more often and that way I’ll get in the team better. That’s a very important thing, though basicly I’ve known all the team members for years.

The season is only in the beginning and there’s only one camp behind. Mariusz is the head coach and I’m the assistant coach. Mariusz is the one who is mainly behind the national team camps, but in sparring I’ll have some responsibility. Sparring is my speciality and I aim to digging the best fighter out of every team member before the competitions, mentally and physically.

You are known as a true scout, who knows the toughest opponents, their sparring styles and even the nicknames of the coaches’ pets. You were away from championship circles for sometime, are you already back on the map when it comes to knowing opponents?
Naturally it’s difficult to evaluate myself, but I think that things are bit by bit starting to be under control again. 2003 I wasn’t there at all and 2004-2005 I participated the EC’s as an umpire. In the World Championships 2005 I was there as a tourist to “spy” and from thereon I’ve gone through every major Championship.

I know some colleagues in Europe well and also some from outside Europe, so I get information that way. I also try to watch competition videos carefully. In my opinion one of the important tasks of a coach is watching opponents and creating tactics according to what he’s seen.

Which countries do you find to be the strongest in the field of competition at the moment, which are developing and which are challengers ready to surprise?
The Netherlands is making a convincing comeback after a long time, which is a good thing. The Dutchmen are kind of artists in sparring and most of all skilful individuals. Then naturally Slovenia, Poland, Argentina and Finland. England has also a good team every now and then and Ukraine is in a good upswing in sparring as well. For some reason the Russians’ engine isn’t starting up, even though according to rumours there are tens of thousands of practitioners in their federation.

Do you have a favourite fighter at the moment that you’d especially like to watch in international competitions? How about on of all times?
Not actual favourites but many good ones that are worth watching. To mention a couple: Ales Zemlijc from Slovenia (-80kg) who is, in my opinion, one of the best at the moment. He has excellent tactical eye and he’s a good fighter in every way; fast, strong and technical. In hyper weight Zak Espi from England, who was clearly the best in last spring’s European Championships. It’s nice to see if his condition is as good this year.

In female divisions Katya Solovey from Ukraine (-52kg) and Finland’s Saara Koivisto (-70kg) are difficult to beat. Both have the culture of winning and lots of healthy self-esteem. Excellent fighters.

The same goes when it comes to the favourites of all times, but I have to say that others have a long way to go to the achievements of Barada and the Tapilatus. In addition to fighting skills those guys are also personalities, which are always needed in competitions. When those men were in the ring everyone was watching.

There have always been good fighters coming from Oulu. What do you put emphasis on in sparring training? Are you training other contact sports besides TKD in the north to develop some skills or qualities?
For two – three years we’ve been training quite much punching and punch-kick-combinations, which has been somewhat visible in competitions too. The aim has been to create simple and effective sparring. However, after the new scoring system we’ve been training high kicks more.

In my opinion training other martial arts is even recommendable, but they don’t necessarily help to get better results in Taekwon-Do. ITF sparring is an area of art entirely of it’s own. A sport serving best is in my opinion definitely boxing.

The Taekwon-Do club of Oulu used to be the biggest club in Finland in the 90’s. I remember that at least according to rumours there would have been as many as 50 people coming to beginners’ courses. What is the situation at the moment?
The numbers have been normalized since the boom back then. There are usually 10-20 newcomers in a beginners’ course. There are lots of martial arts to choose from in Oulu.

You have some promising competitors, e.g. Amir Elovaara and Risto Jokelainen. Are these gentlemen going to be seen this season in international rumbles? What about newcomers, do you have any promising ones in the group?
Both Amir and Risto have set being in national team in Spring 2007 as the goal of this season. So this is where we stand. Amir has had bad luck with health before competitions (WC’s 2005…), but now the aim is to get a good period before the major tournaments. Many people know what the dude is capable of when he’s in condition. In Risto’s case the goal is to get the national team career started now and work is being done to achieve that goal. Besides these guys there’s a couple of promising new colour belts. We’ll be hearing about them later.

What are your own goals in Taekwon-Do? Are you aiming for more degrees at some point?
Indeed I am. I’ve had third degree for a couple of years already and my plan is to train for a grading after this European/World Championships –project. I haven’t been too hasty about new degree, but there has to be continuation, of course.

What does Taekwon-Do mean to you, and what do you like the most in it?
Taekwon-Do has always been a hobby for me, nothing more than that wouldn’t come to question in my case.

Sparring has always been ”my thing” of TKD’s different aspects. After a good sparring training, whether you’re conducting the training or training yourself, you feel almost without exception good. In addition the competition projects (like I like to call them) have been memorable. Camps, preparing for competitions and the competitions themselves. The feeling at the competition place is something you can’t experience anywhere else. Succeeding as a team brings an outstanding feeling and rewards the hard preparation. Apart from that I’ve made friends around the world and been to places I wouldn’t have gone otherwise.

The richness of the art is that you can live it in many ways. Anyway, you have to train all the aspects, even though you would like one more than the others.

And the last but maybe the most significant question: What or who the heck is arri?
Long and difficult story to tell to ”the laity”, but in short it goes somewhat as follows. The word ARRI comes from a certain sketch I saw in TV. I applied it in the Euros in Czech Rep. for a member of the team in that Championship called Ari Lehtinen. The thing was ceiled when in the same competition the women of our team cheered (joyfully, lead by the captain Terhi Leino) for the Finnish men during team sparring. When Ari was in the ring the cheering ARRI – ARRI – ARRI - came in my ears from where the girls were standing… That’s where it started and eventually it’s cultivated to different forms during years. ARRI, however, is also a universal word, that can in principle be used anywhere… Like in the example of the picture (I have an ARRI in my back). So, the official ARRI is Ari Lehtinen, even though the guy probably doesn’t always know what it’s about… (greetings to Ari )

You are well known to be a friend of bad humour – a fact you can find some argument for above – and you don’t even try to hide it. Now you’d have a perfect chance to tell an especially bad joke…
A bit difficult one to answer, but since women and minors also read this I think we’ll have to re-check on this one sometime later… …or let’s have a suitable one anyway. Two years ago, when the Finnish Championships took place in Vammala, the coach team of Oulu (me, J. Paitsola and J. Lampi) went to get something to eat from Mami’s Grill opposite to the hotel. We ordered 3 hamburgers and 3 milks, and got one meat pie, 2 chicken burgers and 3 cokes. How this happened remains a mystery, but it was good and the service efficient. So greetings there too… Btw, I ended up paying everyone’s food in that fuss and you can probably guess if the guys have paid back. I gotta call them right away… (thanks for the reminder)...

Thanks a lot, Pekka and good luck for your work with the national team as well as your other projects. And of course most of all lots of arri!
Thanks to yourself and very much ARRI for your trainings and most of all for competitions!