Aleksandra Politopulos: James Bond in armor

Our She fights for ... rubric has prepared for you a story about Aleksandra Politopulos - an amazing, dangerous, and versatile girl from Serbia.

Our She fights for … rubric has prepared for you a story about Aleksandra Politopulos – an amazing, dangerous, and versatile girl from Serbia. She combined the most dissimilar occupations: Aleksandra works in the security sector, is fond of HMB, and especially duel fights and dances. Are you intrigued? We are!

“Considering that I was in the world of martial arts since I was a little girl, I always loved full-contact sports. Naturally, after seeing videos of HMB fights on the internet in 2016, I immediately fell in love with it. Ever since then I was very interested to see it in real life and maybe try it out.

But back then I had no idea it’s even possible for women to be in this sport. So, call it destiny or whatever, but two years after that, my dance group was a part of the evening program at Just Out, the biggest medieval festival in Serbia. There, I had the opportunity to watch the fights live for the first time and I was instantly hooked. I started practicing HMB in 2018 and I’ve been active ever since. At some point, I sustained an injury and I had to take a one-year break, but I’m finally back and ready for new challenges”.

Aleksandra represented her country at the Battle of the Nations 2019 in the Shield and Sword category. This girl, by her confession, is absolutely in love with this category and has succeeded in it so much that she has gained the right to enter the lists of the most important HMB tournaments in the world again to fight for gold in this category again. She even has a special nickname in the HMB community of Serbia – “the Sword Girl”.

I’m obsessed with Triathlon, but the Sword and Shield is my favorite category because it seemed like the hardest one.

I love how fighting moves are similar to dancing rhythm, I love the logic of defense and attack, so when I watch champions fight it’s like pure art to me”.

As a fighter, she tries to use every opportunity to talk about our sport, to acquaint other people with it. Especially girls. Aleksandra knows not by hearsay all women’s fears about HMB and tries to help girls-athletes cope with them.

“I always try to promote this sport in the best possible way, and maybe be an example of how it can change your life for the better. I’m trying to reach out to the girls who think that this is a man’s sport and convince them otherwise

A few years ago I was that girl who was afraid to enter the lists. But I was never afraid of possible pain or being beaten by my opponent. Women have different fears.

What if I look ridiculous? Am I ready enough? What if I drop my sword? Or embarrass my team?… But every fear and thought I had stopped the moment the fight began.

It’s not an easy task to learn how to win a fight against yourself. And it is a constant struggle to convince ourselves that we are capable of doing and achieving something.

Serbian team captain Aleksandar Urosevic and my best friend Milica, believed in me from the start, even when I didn’t. I’m forever grateful to them for being there as my biggest support and proving me wrong.

But I can promise to the girls that are afraid of joining HMB, that this sport is going to help them grow stronger in every possible way.  You just need to have a strong will, patience, and good support, and you’ll get there in time”.

Despite the desire to become the best in her favorite duel category, Aleksandra wants to experience everything that HMB sport has to offer:

“I would love to try group fights at some point. It seems that girls are having so much fun and put in hard work during training and tournaments that I feel very drawn to it as well. The training tactic is different, and so are the fights and rules. You are not alone as you are in duels. I really can’t wait to see how that is going to work out for me “.

Aleksandra is a real fighter. She is disciplined and determined. It is not surprising that a girl with such qualities chose a very unusual and interesting job:

For many years I used to work for the security sector, the oldest one of its kind in Serbia. It was like a system within a system of this country, made by the secret service that fought criminals and terrorism. I was the coordinator in charge of employees, weapons, vehicles, communication with clients … etc. I’m still working for the same company but in a different position “.

In addition, it is worth noting that for all her love for martial arts and such a profession, this girl is seriously engaged in dancing! She also creates costumes for performances. It is difficult to think of an occupation that our today’s heroine would not be engaged in!

In the course of the conversation, we became very interested in what attracts this unusual girl to HMB. Why does she love this sport so much? Her answer was unexpected and has nothing to do with the sports component of HMB. Although fighting is undoubtedly the part that she likes, however, she focused on something else: “Fighters. Support. The audience. The whole community. The way I felt welcomed and supported when I first joined HMB. Even though this is a competitive sport, everyone is very supportive no matter the country, and the team they are in. I think that’s amazing and very important. That’s why this sport is growing and developing more and more every day”.

What about her own development in sports? Aleksandra tries to grow above herself not only physically, conquering new sports peaks, but also morally. Psychological readiness for battle, in her opinion, is no less important. However, she realizes that there is still room for growth and there is still a lot to learn.

“It feels like I’ve just touched the sport and that there are so many exciting new experiences around the corner.”

We will be happy to watch the battles of this incredible warrior and we are sure that she will carry out everything she has planned and will certainly come to her goals. And we will all support her with our applause from the stands.

HMBIA News

top