VIDNOYE (Realist English). Arthur Vardanyan was born in 1988 in the city of Kirovakan, Armenian SSR. He is the youngest Honored Coach of Russia in pankration. He has twice been awarded by the Minister of Sport for the outstanding achievements of his students. He holds the category of International Class Coach in Mixed Hand-to-Hand Combat. He has been in the profession since the age of 16.
Mr. Vardanyan, your team won the Moscow Cup in pankration. What does this collective victory mean for you personally?*
Yes, this is truly a significant event for our Vardanyan Team club, both for us and for the “Thor” branch in Zheleznodorozhny, where the coach is Ivan Akopov. For over 9 years, we consistently lost at this tournament.
For us, this was a big chance.
This time we decided to join forces to compete against teams from other cities and republics. And we were right—our teams became champions.
In your opinion, what was the key factor that allowed your students to win the team competition?
There was one key factor. Each of my students knew that in case of victory, the team would make history. Every student who participated in this tournament entered history as the best.
This is exactly the victory we have been striving for, one could say, all our lives. It was a real dream. Everyone understood that only self-belief could lead to success.
How do you build the atmosphere in the team so that athletes can show such high results?
Creating the right atmosphere in a team is very difficult. There are many honored coaches who know how to prepare an athlete for victory but don’t know how to create a strong family—that kind of atmosphere where children understand what they are working towards.
Many leave sports because they don’t see a future in it. For my students, I create that future from an early age. Already 10 athletes have personal sponsors. They are ambassadors for major companies that provide them with equipment, pay for trips and entry fees.
Regularly, the guys receive cups, awards, and valuable gifts: electric scooters, billboards and banners in the city center. We motivate the children in every way to build that very atmosphere of purpose, so they see what they are striving for and what awaits them in the future, looking at the current champions.
Can this victory at the Moscow Cup already be called the best result in your team’s history?
Absolutely, it is the best result in my team’s history. And most importantly—we can once again confidently state that we are the best team in Russia. We have confirmed it once again, and all disputes are now settled.
Pankration is a tough sport. What is your main focus in training: physical, technical, or psychological preparation?
On everything, but special attention is on psychological preparation. Although in 2025 we won absolutely all team tournaments we participated in (Moscow championships and championships in pankration, mixfight, regional competitions), my team still lacks a lot.
The team is big, there are about 50 competing athletes. Some lack physical preparation, others suffer in endurance, some are technically weak. And the most difficult is the psychological mindset.
I even had to invite renowned sports psychologists several times to work with my athletes.
I am the youngest honored coach of Russia in pankration, and I have my own key to victory. I know how to structure this work in a team, but unfortunately, I am not at liberty to fully disclose this information. I ask for your understanding.
How did you manage to prepare so many medalists? What is the secret of your system for selecting and preparing champions?
Selecting and preparing champions is daily work. To give you an idea, this year I have already conducted 7 free training camps for my athletes and several hundred personal training sessions as a gift.
All of this is for the future, for our gold medals. I don’t want to exaggerate, but I clearly see that I haven’t yet encountered another coach or club in Russia who invests so much on a non-profit basis.
Your athletes won 29 medals (7 gold, 8 silver, and 14 bronze). Did you expect such a medal “harvest”?
Last year at the same tournament, we had only one gold medal, brought to the team by our young athlete Armen Avetisyan. This year, given the incredibly intensive year-long preparation and the training camps held, I, of course, expected more. But honestly, not seven gold awards. One could say I didn’t expect exactly this result, but I knew it would be better than last year’s.
Which of your students, the gold medalists, would you like to highlight particularly and why?
I particularly want to highlight our seven-year-old wunderkind Armen Avetisyan, nicknamed Golden Bro. He has been training at our club for one year and eight months and has become a true superstar on a global scale. He simply doesn’t lose.
At just 7 years old, he already has 16 championship belts. This is an absolute record not only for our club—I’m sure there is no such talented boy in the whole world. He competes in jiu-jitsu, grappling, pankration, MMA—absolutely all types of martial arts. And he wins everywhere.
How do you work with those who didn’t make it to the top step of the podium? What do you say to athletes who won silver and bronze to motivate them for future victories?
This is the most difficult task for me because children can be so deeply disappointed by defeats that they eventually leave high-level sports. Unfortunately, 85% of children quit sports precisely for this reason. But an honest loss is not so terrible.
It’s worse when you win a fight, and the judges make an unfair decision. We work on this a lot. It’s personal communication. I invite the athlete for an additional individual training session, conduct it so that they believe in their future if they continue to work hard. I build the dialogue so that they sincerely believe in themselves.
Even if they don’t entirely deserve the praise I give them, I still support them in every way. Yes, we also scold for a loss, but it should be about 20% criticism and 80% praise.
If they lost a fight, I can single out one successfully executed strike or throw and draw their attention to it: “Look, this strike of yours turned out excellent, we practiced it for a long time. Even though you lost, this element was executed brilliantly.” I always try to focus them on what worked best.
Is the triumph at the Moscow Cup the final goal of the season or a launchpad for more ambitious tasks?
It is the final goal not only of the season but, one could say, of all times. Currently, there are no more grand or difficult tournaments held in Russia—and not only in pankration, but I can confidently say, in all types of martial arts. But there are more interesting tasks.
According to Russian sports regulations, there are no other tournaments I would set as a goal to win. However, this December, the Moscow Region Championship in pankration will be held, and we also intend to take the team cup there.
What are your immediate goals for yourself and your team after such a confident success?
We have one goal—to become the best in the world. For this, I created a “golden” team, selected the seven best athletes, and we have been conducting special preparation for half a year. It will continue for a long time.
I decided that for me to be recognized as the best children’s coach in the world, after a year and a half of preparing these seven athletes, I will challenge the Russian national team and the world national teams in all types of martial arts—10 vs. 10.
I plan to hold all these match meetings on the territory of the city of Vidnoye, so that everyone can see that our single team is stronger than both the Russian national team and even the world national team. I am confident we will do this. This is our main task now. We are moving towards this goal very strongly and quickly.
What would you like to wish all athletes, parents, and coaches who are just starting their journey in sports?
I wish everyone patience. I wish every boy involved in sports to believe in himself. Every child is a potential that unfolds over time. You need to believe in yourself and the coach. And here, parents play a key role. When enrolling a child in a gym, they must fully trust the coach.
