All business success is preceded by personal success. So imagine our happiness when our ORYX Assistance got upgraded by Ajdin Memišević, a former successful karate player. Ajdin has been tackling and battling in the sales department of ORYX Assistance Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2020 and we couldn’t be more proud.
Aside from his excellent sales skills, few people know that this 32-year old Sarajevo native used to do karate, winning awards at that! We sat down with him a few days ago to find out all about that.
Ajdin, how did you take up karate and why specifically karate?
I started karate at the age of 9, thanks to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies, and my father.
My father also loved martial arts, he recognized that in me early on and enrolled me in classes. Why karate, you ask? Well, apart from sports, it teaches children discipline, self-control, perseverance and intuition. It turned out that my dad recognized his son’s talent, because eventually I became the national karate champion, the Balkan champion, won bronze at the USA Open in Las Vegas, and I also won fifth place at the European Championship.
Are you still competing?
No, I haven’t competed in years. Sometimes I miss it, it’s hard to get rid of that routine. That’s why, even now, I sometimes go to practice, for the soul, and do training with the first competitive team in the club, not at full strength, but just so that I can defend myself.
Now you are training new generations.
That. I started working at the Champion karate club as a coach with younger selections back in 2005. In the beginning, I only assisted, and later I took over the selections. This fulfills me, I am happy with the successes of my students, both in sports and in life, many of them today are hardworking, honest and exemplary athletes, pupils and students.
Given that your father instilled in you a love for karate, do you see this tradition continuing with your own kids?
I hope so. My two-year-old is still small, he can only start training at the age of 4, but I just “know” he will follow in my footsteps. 😊 Blood is thicker than water. But no matter what he chooses, I’m here for him!
What other colleagues say about Ajdin
- Ajdin very quickly grasped and took over the strings of the BiH market, and his partners immediately accepted him. The fact that he is detailed and organized contributes the most to his results. (Goran Jovanović)
- In the sales business, Ajdin successfully combines competition, persistence, patience and reaction speed from his days of doing karate. When you add to that a 2-meter-tall man, Sarajevo soul, Bosnian charm and awesome sense of humor, that’s the winning combination right there! (Mate Petrović)
- It is a great pleasure to work with such a great guy, who is not only great in appearance, but more importantly has a great heart! Always a positive character, easy to work with and a lot of fun. And the most important thing, there is always someone to defend us. (Kire Hristovski)
- My go-to person and karate guy! Ajdin is a man with big muscles and an even bigger heart! After 4 months of living together in Zagreb, we created a friendship for life! (Marko Stanišić)
