It is a great honor for me to receive this award alongside martial arts greats such as Mr. Semmy Schilt, Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Ken Lee and many others.

The fact that the great Ray Sefo, Tom Harinck, Jerome Le Banner, Don Wilson, Zelg Galesic, Branko Cikatic, Bernard Ban, Dan Inosanto and many others received this award in the past keeps me very humble and focused to pursue the same path but now with even more motivation and focus as a coach, fighter and referee.

I am immensely grateful and I take this award very seriously as it represents my effort invested in Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Ju jitsu as well as the others martial arts I tried myself at along the way, all these years. I have dedicated 22 years of my life to sports, investing a lot of effort, dedication, love and time into my mission and thank you for recognizing that.

Receiving this recognition in beautiful Split is very meaningful to me since it is the city which treasures precious memories of my sports career.
I want to express my gratitude to Mr. Hrvoje, the Board of Directors and the Board of Masters,

Yours truly,
Mladen Jokmanović (Montenegro)