The 3rd Czech Weight Category Championships took place on April 6th in Praha. About 60 fighters took part in the event organised by sensei Jiri Potys - President of CzKKO. Tomas Kassl from Praha was awarded as the best fighter of the championships.

results

     On 6 April in Dordrecht the Dutch Weight Category Championships were held. 60 fighters from 20 Dutch clubs took part in the event, that gathered about 800 spectators. Due to the open status of the championships the following guest countries participated in it: Spain, Denmark, Germany and Belgium.
     The tournament was supported by the official Dutch Budo Federation of which Dutch Kyokushin  Karate Organization is a member. The Dutch Budo Federation is part of the Dutch National Sport and Olympic Sports Organization. Officials of all these organizations were present. For the coverage in the next edition, the main editor of the most important Dutch Budo magazine was present too.
     Fighters as well as the judges represented a high level. Prize for the fastest knock out went to Vincent Du Pree, who used jodan mawashigeri technique in the 25th second of his fight. The most spectacular was the final in men heavyweight cateogory between German's Eduard Wallmen and Pablo Estensero from Spain. As both of the fighters are experienced and were well prepared for the tournament, there was no result in the first three minutes of the fight, nor in the 2-minute extension. The weight difference was only 3 kilograms. Number of the broken boards (3 techniques) was 13 boards for each. The last extension was two minutes after which decision was obligatory. After this extension there were two red and two white flags. The referee gave his decision to Wallmen, but both fighters were equally matched.
     The championships were broadcasted LIVE by the local radio and TV. A professional video tape was made during the tournament.
     Chairman of the organizing comitee was shihan Ton van Rijin - Vice President of DKKO. The main referee was shihan Peter Vogt.

results

     The Jubilee 30th Polish Weight Category Championships were held in Warsaw on the weekend of 29-30 March. The most prestigous ever polish tournament gathered 113 fighters from 67 clubs, including polish star fighters like: Ewa Pawlikowska, Tomasz Najduch, Sypien "golden couple" , Adrianna Bienkowska, Agata Pastuszka, Paweł Mandok. The tournament was played in the Warsaw's Academy of Physical Education and gathered 2000 spectators.

     The opening ceremony started with awarding the 200 polish branch chiefs. The 30th Anniversary Cups were handed to the 60 most appreciated ones as well as to the 30 polish european and world championships medalists. Representant of Polish Sports Confederation - Mieczyslaw Bigoszewski awarded Shihan Andre Drewniak and sensei Mariusz Mazur - organiser of the championships with the Cup from the Polish Ministry of Sports and Education. Following Shihan  Drewniak in his speech sumarized the achivements of Polish Kyokushin during the 30 year history.

     Ewa Pawlikowska, Adrianna Bienkowska, Sylwester Sypien and Tomasz Najduch confirmed their leadership again by winning their weight categories. Additionaly Najduch was awarded with the cup for the best fighter of the championships.

     The big advantage of very well prepared tournament was the press coference organised in Warsaw's old city, which was followed by the kyokushin demonstration. Three TV channels were present during the event, what definitely helped to popularize Kyokushin in Poland.

     Main judge was PKKO President shihan Andre Drewniak.

     On the 22nd and 23rd of March the annual black belt test was held in Honbu Dojo. Nearly 50 karateka from all around Japan and also from Korea attended the test. On the first day there was kihon, ido-geiko and kata part. In the evening those who were taking the 5 dan exam had to fight the 50-nin kumite. All of them completed it successfuly. The next day was the day of fighting examination. Kancho Shokei Matsui was present, watching the fights from morning to the late evening.

     Following the success of Bulgaria's Emil Kostov in the One Match Fight against Japan's Hiroyuki Kidachi last month, another two top-ranked European fighters were invited to Japan. 
     Current Openweight and Superheavyweight Category European Champion - Tomasz Najduch challenged two-time Japanese Openweight Category Vice Champion - Yasuhiko Kimura, while Piotr Banasik - current Openweight Category European Vice Champion met Tadakuni Tokuda, 4th at the last year's Japanese Openweight Category Championships. Coach of the two Poles were shihan Andre Drewniak. The bouts were held during the Japanese Junior Championships at Tokyo's Yoyogi Dai-Ni-Taikukan on 13 April.
     Additionaly Tomasz Najduch was chosen among the world's top 10 fighters to win the 8th World Openweight Category Championships in November this year. Najduch received the cup for best fighter of the Jubilee 30th Polish Weight Category Championships two weeks ago, winning the Polish Championships for the 9th time in his career. Piotr Banasik - currently European "number 2" is professional army officer. Thanks to a letter from Polish Karate Federation, he received a special pass to be able to go to Japan.

See the fighters' profiles and photo galleries here

     Polish team was welcomed at Narita International Airport by sensei Andrzej Zacharski, who has been studying and training in Tokyo since January 2003. During the Polish team’s stay, he acted as interpreter and secretary. Thanks to the organisers, the fighters were able to come to Tokyo early enough to do some training at Honbu Dojo too.

Honbu Dojo: training before the fight

     In the first One Match Fight Piotr Banasik, for whom his first fight in Japan was a big challenge, started without any inferiority complex. A couple of times he tried to surprise Tadakuni Tokuda with jodan ushiromawashigeri, but was unable to reach his opponent's head. In the next round Banasik allowed the Japanese to dictate the fight. Tokuda came in close repeatedly, in doing so stopping the Pole's legs - his strongest point. Due to the lack of wazari and visible advantage, after the 3rd round judges made their decisions. One of the five Japanese judges – sensei Ryu Narushima showed a draw, while the others declared Tokuda the winner. 

     Tomasz Najduch as an experienced fighter in the beginning tried to guess Kimura's preferences and adjust his style accordingly. He surprised everybody by fighting switch-stance - including Kancho Shokei Matsui, who was watching the Poles' fights closely. After the first round, two of the judges called a draw, and two others found in favour of the Japanese.
     In the second round, after a powerful punch into his opponent's body, Najduch re-aggravated a hand injury, first incurred at the 30th Polish Championships, which he had won in Warsaw two weeks ealier. This affected him for the rest of the fight, and the judges took note. Despite the injury, the Pole did not give up and continued to fight for the next two minutes. 
     As in the previous match, Najduch's exhausting 7-minute contest against Kimura finished with the judges declaring the Japanese the winner.

Comment of Polish coach Shihan Andre Drewniak:
     "In the second challenge of this kind in European Kyokushin history, both Tomasz Najduch and Piotr Banasik showed their potential. They fought equal battles, which lasted 7 minutes, and there was no point difference. Technically they gave nothing to their rivals, creating a couple of dangerus situations. Surely the fact, that they were participating in this type of challenge for the first time, in the birthplace of karate, was an additional burden. They may not have won, but they did themselves proud. Their first fights in Tokyo with contenders to the title of world champion are in my opinion a very precious learning experience. I am grateful to IKO Honbu for the invitation and hospitality."
     During the farewell supper with shihan Katsuhito Gorai, on behalf of Kancho Shokei Matsui, he thanked the Polish fighters for participation and invited both of them to take part in the Americas Cup in NY and World Championships in Tokyo.

     The Polish team's visit to Japan was also an occasion for many fruitful meetings. During the talks with Kancho Matsui and Shihan Gorai, information about the current Kyokushin situation in Europe and the world was exchanged. In order to improve the co-operation between IKO Honbu and EKKO, a new secretary of the International Office was introduced to EKKO General Secretary Shihan Andre Drewniak. Senpai Joji Hibino takes over this position from Takaaku Enami. Shihan Gorai i Sensei Ryu Narushima, during individual meetings, confirmed their participation in this year's East European Summer Camp in Cracow. Additionaly, co-operation with the World Karate magazine and karategi manufacturer ISAMI was strengthened .

photos