FILE – James de los Santos (2nd from left) with sensei Kazuo Saito
(left), Masa Saito, and Nozomi Yamanaka. Photo taken from James De los Santos’ Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Rising through adversity has always been a common topic in sports and karateka James De los Santos is no different.
De los Santos has been making waves with several gold medals in online tournaments since the pandemic and is now ranked No. 2 in the world e-karate rankings.
But his success wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the challenges he faced along the way.
At 13 years old, De los Santos was a victim of bullying and with the help of his uncle, karate became his way out of it, and watching the 2005 Southeast Asian Games ultimately led him to his passion.
“I was a victim of bullying and it was my uncle who suggested to my dad that I start karate,” said De los Santos in a Zoom interview with Inquirer. “I didn’t like it before because it was an activity in the weekend and it came to a point when I wanted to quit.”
But the moment De los Santos saw national karatekas in Gretchen Malalad, Nelson Pacalso, and Maria Marna Pabilloregain reap honors in the regional games 15 years ago made him change his mind as he went on to pursue his career in karate in hopes of becoming a part of the national team.
“In 2005 my sensei told my dad that I watch the SEA Games, so I decided to watch. I even skipped school just to watch the games then I saw the national team compete, and that’s what made me realize that I love the sport and [I would love to] compete for the national team someday,” said De los Santos, who has since become an accomplished karateka himself.
In 2010, De los Santos fulfilled his dream of becoming a national team athlete. Seven years later, he was a bronze medalist in the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia.
“I made it five years later and that’s what really motivated me more to represent the country,” said De los Santos, a six-time Philippine National Games champion.