The first stage of preparation of the Ukrainian national team in Kyokushin karate for the World Weight Championship began on June 3, 2022 in Lviv.
The 7th World Karate Championships in weight categories is scheduled for September 24-25, 2022 and will be held in Kielce (Poland). Initially, the tournament was supposed to be held in June 2021, but due to the pandemic, the date was changed. The postponement of such a large-scale event is a rather big problem not only for the organizers, but also for the fighters, since preparations for it last several months.
And it would seem that life is getting better and everything is falling into place, but the world is faced with a problem more serious and destructive than a pandemic. On February 24, 2022, Russia, having started a war against Ukraine, turned and destroyed this world with even greater force. It is not only Ukraine that suffers from the war, its consequences are felt by the whole world.
Poland is not only the organizing country, but also provides great assistance and support to Ukraine in this war. Despite the war, the World Championship was decided not to be canceled or rescheduled for the second time.
Throughout the hundred days of the war, Ukrainian athletes from many sports, along with actors and artists, have attracted the attention of millions of people from all over the world with their performances and victories, and thus provide information and financial support to the country in this difficult time.
Seven athletes got into the Ukrainian national team:
-65 kg: Bogdan Lemishko, Taras Gavrilets
-75 kg: Paly Severin
-85 kg: Illia Serhiienko
+85 kg: Igor Kotlyarevsky
– 50 kg: Alena Veresnyak, Prishlyak Anastasia
The Ukrainian team will become part of the European team, which consists of 24 men and 12 women. Many people think that 6 people is not that much, but the World Championship has a limit on the number of participants – each category is limited to 32 athletes in the men’s categories and 16 in the women’s.
We note the fact that such a quantitative composition is the largest in the history of Kyokushin karate in Ukraine.
The preparation of the Ukrainian national team will take place in several stages. The first stage will last from June 3 to June 12 and will take place at the central dojo of the Sports Club “KANKU”. This stage is led by the president of the NFKKU Shihan Alexander Korol, the chairman of the coaching council of the NFKKU Shihan Mutin Sergey, and the head coach of the adult national team Shihan Shimkiv Ivan.
The camp is an introductory stage, the purpose of which is to determine the physical and technical level of the athletes and see what form they are in. This is due to a violation or lack of not only preparation, but also the training process. At this stage, those points that should be worked on more will be identified and, based on this, a plan for the next stages will be drawn up. The first stage also included work in pairs and physical training.
As a result, the instructors will prepare recommendations for each athlete and tell them what everyone should work on before the next training camp.
According to the head of SC “KANKU” Shihan Sergey Mutin, with these camps we also want to show that we are trying and continuing our work despite everything that is happening around. That you should not close yourself in and protect yourself from the whole world, sit at home and be afraid. And we are glad that the top athletes from our club and other sections are returning to the dojo, and looking at them, many students are returning to the dojo. Where we can support them morally, divert their thoughts and overcome their fears and thereby help them survive this horror that surrounds us.
The training of athletes was made possible by the financial assistance provided by the head office and representatives of WKO Shinkyokushinkai around the world. The 5 million yen (~$35,500) donation will be used to support the NFKKU and prepare athletes for the World Championships.
The World Karate Championship is like the Olympics. Athletes go to him for years and invest a lot of strength, energy and give this part of their lives. This event is held every 4 years and it is a dream of any athlete to win a license and take part in a tournament of this level.
Recall, like many other organizations, WKO Shinkyokushinkai does not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in tournaments, so this championship will be held without representatives of these countries.
