Toulouse Multi Boxing: Antonio Mastropasqua, maestro of savate
A figure of Toulouse Multi Boxe where he has been teaching the art of French boxing since 1997, Antonio “Toto” Mastropasqua, 57, has led his athletes to the highest international level. Meeting with this trainer as discreet as he is renowned.
> Child of the Bay of Naples
At the edge of the Gulf of Naples, about twenty kilometers west of the capital of Campania, is Pozzuoli, a port known since antiquity. This is where Antonio Mastropasqua is from. “It’s my city, that of Sofia Loren too,” laughs the TMB coach whose parents were accomplished athletes. “My father was a good level footballer, my mother is a former international swimmer. Antonio chose combat sports. “English boxing and contact karate. So I worked very early on fists and kicks and by force of circumstances, I switched to foot-fist specialties such as savate, full-contact, kick boxing. »
> 107 fights on the counter, all styles included
Before training, Antonio Mastropasqua first fought. “I was semi-pro in English boxing but I practiced several specialties. I am seven times Italian champion in English boxing, full-contact and kick boxing. I also have two European titles in kick and full and a world title in full-contact. In total, I have 107 fights to my credit,” confides the TMB technician with some pride.
> Fell in love with French boxing savate
Curious by nature, always ready to learn new techniques, it was in the early 90s that “Toto” Mastropasqua chose to learn savate. “In Italy, it is in the region of Genoa and Milan that savate is mainly practiced, less so in the South. We also talk about the Genoese school at home. But me, I wanted to discover the French school so I went to do internships in France between 1990 and 1992.” And there, the charm operates immediately. “Yes, I immediately added the organization of this sport, training, clear competitions and the classification of athletes. At the time, I found it much more square than the other disciplines. »
> August 1993: hello France!
In the summer of 1993, Antonio Mastropasqua decided to take the plunge. He settled in the Pink City where he trained with Punch Blagnac and Tokyo Kickboxing in Toulouse, a club that would become the TMB in 1997. “I don’t speak a word of French when I arrive. I learned in the field, taking a few courses, watching TV. I was lucky that people were kind to me”, underlines the Italian technician, a graduate in chemistry but also in sports studies “whom I followed with the Italian Olympic Committee. With his Italian sports teacher, he obtained equivalences in France. Federal diploma, State diploma, State diploma, he rose through the ranks to find himself today as a technical adviser to the Occitanie League of French boxing savate, but also involved with the students of Staps in Toulouse for combat sports. .
> TMB: a coach, titles
It is his club, where he assumed his passion for training. At Toulouse Multi Boxe, “Toto” Mastropasqua is at home. Since 1997 and the creation of the club by doctor René Dahan, who is still the president, the Italian technician has seen generations of shooters pass by, whom he has managed to lead to the highest level. Under his leadership, the Pink City club won 66 national titles, 11 European titles and 17 world crowns in French savate boxing but also in K-1 and kick boxing. The secret of the Mastropasqua method? “Being kind to my athletes, always close to them, I accompany them all the time. I can be in Marseille one day with one and the next day in Paris with the other. You have to be as present as possible. Me, I only cut 15 days at Christmas and a month in the summer. The rest of the time, I’m always at the club or on the competitions. »
> TMB, an exportable brand and know-how
The success of “Toto” Mastropasqua has not gone unnoticed in the world of savate. Thus, the TMB technician also collaborates on an ad hoc basis with foreign federations. “I was approached by Italy, Cameroon, Algeria and Morocco. But his big project at the moment is to open subsidiaries in Europe. “We have opened three academies in Italy, in Genoa, Pavia and Naples, which is a point of pride for me. By adopting the TMB brand, these subsidiaries adhere to the fundamentals, a teaching, a TMB method. It is a partnership with training and support. Twice a year, we meet in France and Italy, between staff and athletes. “Spanish and even English clubs would be recognized by the know-how of the TMB maestro!