Tomaž Barada

Tomaž Barada (born 15 November 1973 in Maribor) is one of the most dominant combat sports athletes Europe has ever produced. The nickname The Machine tells you everything: relentless conditioning, a crushing competition pace, and a record in the ring that borders on the impossible. He retired from professional competition with 84 consecutive fights without a single defeat. He combined two worlds at the highest level—ITF Taekwon-Do (7th Dan) and professional kickboxing under W.A.K.O.—and dominated both. In ITF sparring, he won the individual World Championship three times (1999, 2001 and 2003, under 63 kg) and the European title six times. He won the prestigious King of Taekwon-Do knockout tournament in Tokyo three times—the same tournament his brother-in-law Stephen Tapilatu had won in 1995 and 1996. In W.A.K.O. kickboxing, he claimed five World titles and five European titles. His connection to the Dutch Taekwon-Do world runs deep. He is married to multiple Dutch champion Bianca Tapilatu, making him the son-in-law of Master Wijnand Tapilatu (8th Dan) and brother-in-law of Stephen Tapilatu. The bouts between Stephen and Tomaž are regarded as among the finest sparring matches in ITF history. After retiring from competition in 2004, he became one of Europe’s most influential sports administrators. He is currently President of the All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation (AETF) and Vice-President of the Slovenian Olympic Committee. Every year, he and Bianca organise the Barada Camp in Slovenia—in May 2026, it drew over 550 elite athletes and dozens of world champions from 26 countries for training in sparring and patterns. His daughter Tyra Barada has followed both parents onto the international circuit, competing in pointfighting and kickboxing.