National Combat Hopak Cup

Many people know Hopak as a traditional dance but there’s also a fighting version that includes techniques of wrestling and saber fencing from the Ukrainian Cossacks.

Ostap Fliunt is only nine years old and he’s already the Kyiv regional champion of Combat Hopak. For five years now, he has been training almost every day with his No. 1 supporter, his father. For the first time, he is going to compete with kids from across Ukraine in shadow boxing, combat, and the Ukrainian dance, Zabava. But despite the challenge and the pressure, Fliunt looks calm and confident.

“Well I’m going to tournaments right now, but I will be more experienced, train better, work more and try to win. In this tournament, I want to win the Ukraine Cup. I have already won the Kyiv cup, and want to win the Ukrainian Cup. I believe I can win,” Fliunt said.

Fliunt trains in a Combat Hopak school called Shablezub which means “saber tooth” in English. His trainer, Oleh Pavlyshun tries to best prepare him for every tournament. Pavlyshun said it’s important to emphasize the physical aspects of training because Fliunt’s technique is already good enough. So he usually does a lot of exercise, running, pushups and jumps before competitions.

A crucial aspect of Combat Hopak is that it gives kids the consciousness of Ukrainian history and of the current threat that the country is facing, Pavlyshun said.

“It is important for Ukrainian kids to do combat hopak because it is important for them to see their heroes, who defended our Ukrainian land. And they want to follow that example. They know and feel that there is a threat and they also want to be strong and defend the country if need be. They can defend their family, their mothers and their land,” Pavlyshyn said.

Now, it’s time for the young champion to take part in his first fight. After wearing the traditional Cossack outfit, he enters the ring, greets his opponent and fights for three rounds, lasting two minutes each, with all of the techniques he knows.

The jury took the final decision, and Fliunt won his first fight. But the competition is far from over. Now, he has to beat his three next adversaries if he wants to become the new champion of Ukraine in his category, the greatest dream of the little Cossack.