Last Saturday April 6, sport was in the spotlight in Monaco where the 2nd Monaco Open took place in Pàijedaa martial Art born in the principality. As is often the case when it comes to sport, Albert, who himself participated in a record number of Olympics in his favorite discipline, bobsleigh, was present. He was accompanied by Charlène and their children, Jacques and Gabriella, who have just celebrated their 10th birthday.
If they were in the stands to applaud the fighters, another young member of the family was on the tatami. His name: Raphaël Elmaleh. And that day, he shone with his talent!
This Tuesday, December 17, the little boy celebrates his eleventh birthday. It was born from the love story between Charlotte Casiraghi and Gad Elmaleh. In early 2012, when Paris Match recounts the beginnings of their relationship, Gotha observers find it hard to believe it. A princess, with a comedian? The revelation had caused some shock, with some imagining that this evening in a famous nightclub during which the two lovebirds had remained seated on a sofa exchanging languorous kisses would remain without tomorrow. They were wrong. A week later, both spent the weekend in the comedian's apartment and, ultimately, their affair would last several years until October 2015, when they announced their separation, while claiming to remain close.
Raphaël, the son of Charlotte Casiraghi and Gad Elmaleh, photographed in his stroller
Fin 2013, Raphaë was therefore bornL. During his early years, he was protected from the pangs of fame. But when you belong to the Grimaldi family and are also the son of one of the most popular comedians in France, you don't stay in the shadows for long. In June 2015, a few months before his parents separated, the couple is photographed in the streets of Saint-Tropez with their child in a stroller. We will never tire, from then on, of seeing her angelic face so recognizable with her slightly protruding ears, her brown hair and her magnificent azure blue eyesappearing over the years on the balcony of the Monaco Prince's Palace with his cousins, his mother Charlotte or his grandmother Caroline.
Monaco, this is where the child lives all year round, with his mother. But Gad tries to be there for him as much as possible. This is how in August 2023, a journalist from the daily The World interviewed the comedian in Cap d'Ail, a town adjoining the principality: “It’s for (his) 9-year-old archangel that we find him here”wrote our colleagues. «I try to be there for him as often as possible»confirmed the interpreter of Petwho is regularly seen with his son hanging out on the side paddocks during the Monaco Grand Prix.
Silver medal and bronze medal for little Raphaël
Like his cousins Jacques and Gabriella, who practice an incredible number of disciplines, between two stupidities of their age, little Raphaël has very quickly signed up for sporting activities. But he certainly stands out from the other princes because of the great originality of the sport in which he is already noticed…
This is how this famous last April 6, during the Pàijeda Open, little Raphaël Elmaleh, whose schooling is otherwise chaotic, won the silver medal in the assault category and the bronze medal in technique : two exploits recorded on the official website of the pàijeda federation. The opportunity to learn a little more about this little-known practice…
“Pàijeda: Monegasque martial art, art of defense of peace”we read on the federation’s website. A martial art that defends peace? Beyond the beautiful oxymoron, we can only salute the vocation of the discipline, but what does it consist of? Purepeople a joint Claude Pouget, its founder, who still teaches it today, but this martial arts champion did not wish to answer our questions, explaining to us that “everything was told on the site.”
Here is a brief summary: “Pàije” means “Peace” in the Monegasque language. “DA” are the initials of “Defense Art”. So much for the etymology of this sport whose creation is very recent since it dates back to June 11, 2020the date on which Prince Albert II was informed by its founder, Claude Pouget, that a new martial art, a defense and combat sport, had emerged in the small territory. Very quickly, the sport was given official status, a federation was created, courses were launched and practitioners recruited. Today there are more than a hundred of them, including many children, alongside Raphael !
Pàijeda, more than a sport, it is a Monegasque cultural tool
This new sport, a combination of around twenty existing combat practices, highlights, like other martial arts before it, ethical values, such as respect for the moral code, respect for the rules linked to self-defense. «It promotes, we can read on the site, the human and ethical values dear to the Principality of Monaco..» Finally, “it encourages its practitioners, particularly the youngest, to support, through their action, mutual aid, humanitarian commitment and sustainable development.” This is how the Pàijeda Federation has contributed to field actions by international organizations and recognized institutions.
With many technical terms using the Monegasque language, Pàijeda, beyond a sport, is also a fantastic tool for spreading the culture and values of the principality. A wonderful way to have a healthy mind in a healthy body. What could be better for the awakening of a princess's child…
