Fredonia Fireplace Division honored Robert Olmendo’s achievements on their message board.
Fredonia has a six-time Martial Arts Corridor of Famer in its midst — and he needs to throw himself into serving to the group.
Robert Olmedo traveled to San Antonio final month for his sixth induction, joined by his spouse, Gina, and son, Alexander. The skilled martial artist and bodyguard has lived in Fredonia for just a little over two years and needs to share his passions and philosophies along with his new city.
Olmedo, a Fredonia Fireplace Division first lieutenant, has led fairly a full life.
Born in Chile, he took up martial arts as a boy so he might shield his twin brother, Alfredo, from bullies. He will need to have protected him properly — Robert acquired his black belt at age 14. (Now he has six of them.)
Nevertheless, he nonetheless had a lot to study.
Robert Olmedo poses with {a photograph} of his birthplace in Chile at his residence in Fredonia.
Picture by M.J. Stafford
“At the moment, you don’t know what is actually martial arts. You’re pondering martial arts is kicking, who’s extra macho, who’s kicking extra excessive,” he mentioned. “Little by little it began to alter. … Avoiding battle is crucial factor, it doesn’t matter what occurs.”
Olmedo emigrated to America in 1982, working on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. He later studied at John Jay Faculty to develop into a bodyguard. He had a martial arts college, in Connecticut for some time and has been an authorized private coach for greater than 28 years.
Olmedo wound up guarding some very well-known individuals. “First I began with John F. Kennedy Jr.,” he mentioned. “He was an excellent man, I miss him … Princess Diana used to return in right here to New York Metropolis, England, Argentina, different locations, and I used to go together with her on a regular basis.”
He has additionally guarded musicians Sheryl Crow, B.B. King, and Carlos Santana.
“A bodyguard, you don’t need to be greater,” he mentioned. “If you understand your ability at martial arts — you understand, I can put you out with one finger. However, you understand, earlier than you employ weapons (or) you employ martial arts, you employ the pinnacle… You study so many issues. You need to be an EMT — if one thing occurs, they’ve a coronary heart assault, care for them immediately as a result of generally they don’t make it to the hospital.”
He additionally is aware of eight languages: Chinese language, English, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
Olmedo has a protracted listing of individuals he needs to dedicate his achievements to. There’s his dad and mom, “who gave me the most effective values in life,” alongside along with his spouse and son, “for love, respect, self-discipline, concord, assist and endurance.” He additionally gave a shout-out to his former college students, his buddies from world wide, his instructors all through the years, the individuals of Fredonia and Dunkirk and their fireplace departments.
He plans to open a health and martial arts coaching heart within the space, much like what he had in Connecticut. Proper now, he’s coaching individuals in his basement. His son Alexander, 24, assists him. Like his father, he holds a black belt.
Olmedo mentioned, “For essentially the most half, (individuals) don’t have respect, they suppose that they know the whole lot. No social ability… I can’t wait to show these youngsters, deliver their dad and mom, ask ‘What would you like, what can I do to your child?’ As a result of some youngsters, they don’t pay attention to oldsters, however they hearken to individuals from outdoors.”
Olmedo’s primary purpose is to supply a spot for space youth to get mentally and bodily match. “Now we have nothing for our youngsters right here. There’s nothing, solely bars and bars and bars. It’s very unhappy,” he mentioned.
“Typically now we have to be humble. There’s a lot machos right here. They suppose that they know the whole lot as a result of they’ve a gun and knife,” he added.
“I’m a distinct particular person once I train martial arts. Completely totally different. I’m the identical man, however quite a lot of self-discipline. In case you don’t wanna pay attention, there’s the door, you’ll be able to go away. I don’t need to waste my time.”
Olmedo encourages individuals to contact him at [email protected].