Luigi Zoia

Zoia (the name is also spelled as "Zoja") is a traditional Italian karate sensei and has achieved the sixth dan black belt level. Also, he has been Italian champion various times, European champion and the runner-up to the World Championships in Shotokan Karate. As an entrepreneur, he brought from the United States to Europe the first Investable Hedge Funds Index.

A student of the first generation of the master Hiroshi Shirai,^[1] he began practicing karate Shokotan in 1965 in Milan. He achieved the Black belt after only one year, he became a member of the Italian national team from 1968 to 1976. He was Italian champion in 1969 and successfully defended the title in the following years 1970 and 1971. In 1970 the publishing house Panini dedicated a sticker album to Zoia as Sports Champion for the year 1969/1970.^[2]

Zoia won the title of Italian Karate Champion in 1969, 1970 and 1971, of European Karate Champion for three years in a row in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He also achieved the title of Vice World Champion in Karate in 1971, in 1973 and 1975. During the World Karate Championship held in Tokyo in July 1973, the Japan Karate Association rewarded him with the award “Kantosho” as "the most complete athlete and fighter" of the Championship.

During his military service, carried out in the Carabinieri Corps in 1972, his proposal to establish the karate section in the sports group of the Force got accepted. He was the founder and first teacher, and he received a military decoration. During his leadership, the Carabinieri Team won several Italian awards ^[3] for his merits in sports.^[4] In the period 1975–1976 he was a member of the board of directors and vice president of the Italian Sports Federation of Karate (FESIKA).