On 3-4 December 2016 the 5^th Youth World Championships were held in a beautiful sports hall at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria, with the participation of 666 fighters from 33 countries in three age categories: 12-13, 14-15 and 16-17 years. Board and accommodation were provided in the four-star hotel Astera in Golden Sands, near Varna. 

The main judge and a teacher on 3-day the International judges course with the participation of 46 judges was Shihan Ramil Gobbasov (Russia).

Day before the event, about 500 competitors  participated in a united training conducted by Shihans: Hatsuo Royama, Andre Drewniak i David Pickthall.

Shihan Andre Drewniak (KWF) officially opened the World Championships emphasizing the event's motto TIME TO BE UNITED was up-to-date and also thanked Shihan Ivo Kamenov for making the championships so prominent. Shihan David Pickthall (IFK), Shihan Hatsuo Royama (Kan) and the Secretary of KWU Sergey Suvorov also made speeches and a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Shihan Juri Trutniev was read. The guests of honor were Shihan Henny Bosman (South Africa), Shihan Hristo Traikov (Bulgaria) and Sensei Daniel Trifu (Australia). The finals were dominated by Russian, Japanese and Bulgarian junior fighters. 

The organizer provided live Internet TV streaming of the championships and the Press conference during which they also discussed why Sosai Mas. Oyama's ideas are still so attractive in the modern world.

Sayonara combined with disco was held in the hotel. Accommodation, board and flights from Sofia to Varna for all 700 participants were covered by the organizer of the World Championships.

The organizers invited everyone to participate in the next summer camp in Varna in July 2017 and the 3^rd KWU World Championships in the Metropolitan Plaza in Tokyo in November 2017.

The thirtieth Kyokushin European Championship took place on 25-26 November 2016 at the Papendal National Olympic Center in the Netherlands. 423 participants represented 26 countries including: Japan, USA, Australia, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon and Israel. A 30-minute concert performed by the famous Dutch drummer group Taiko started the jubilee event. The President of KWF Loek Hollander and the President of EKF Antonio Pinero 50 years ago created the Kyokushin European Organization and thanks to them Kyokushin in Europe and Africa have developed so much and helped stabilize the World Kyokushin after the death of Sosai Mas. Oyama. Among honorary guests were Vice President Hristo Traikov (Bulgaria), Secretary Andre Drewniak (Poland), Treasurer Lars Hogquist (Norway) and members of the KWF Board: shihan Leslaw Samitowski (USA), sensei Daniel Trifu (Australia), sensei Mauricio Alvaro (Costa Rica) and CR of Japan Noriyuki Tanaka.

 On Thursday, a group of fighters paid tribute at Arnhem Military Cemetery to killed Allied Paratroopers fighting for the liberation of Europe in the Arnhem forest. On Friday, the first day of the Championship, fighters competed in all categories of kata and junior kumite. On Saturday, the second day, fighters competed in all categories of kumite.

As part of the accompanying events, an International Judges Course, the General Meeting of the KWF and the EKF General Meeting were held. It was settled that on 13-14 October 2017 will be held another 31^st European Championships in Swinoujscie (Poland) and in May 2018 the 32^nd European Championships in Bucharest (Romania).The 2nd World KWF Championship is scheduled for 2018 in Tokyo, next 3^rdWorld Championship is scheduled for 2020 in Chicago and the 4^th World Championship in 2022 in Moscow.

The organizers of the jubilee championship was the Dutch Kyokushinkai Federation led by CR Rien Brink, Secretary Paul Lorist, shihan Aloys te Braake and other members of the Board, and many volunteers who created an unforgettable event.

RESULTS 

GALLERY

On September 27, 2016 The 12th Mas Oyama Memorial Cup Tokyo 2016 was organized by IKO Kyokushinkaikan, lead by Kancho Yoshikazu Suzuki and Daihyo Kuristina Oyama.

Tournament gathered 251 participants from: Japan, Korea, China, Canada, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Indonesia, India and Haiti.

Tournament Committee Chairman was Shihan Susumu Miyake. Opening ceremony speech was made by Kancho Hatsuo Royama  (Kyokushinkan). Sensei Nicholas Pettas was an honorary guest.

Arkadiusz Sukiennik of KWF Poland, took 3rd place in Kumite Senior (+35 years old) Heavy Weight category.

GALLERY

photos: Andrzej Zacharski

The KWF Kyokushinkai Costa Rica and Shidokan Costa Rica Organizations have successfully completed their Fourth edition of the Bushido Challenge 2016. The high level of fights and of the Organization gave fighters and fans a great Tournament. Both Organizations have been working hard on uniting Full Contact Karate in Costa Rica, and as a result we had the participation of KWF, Shidokan, Shinkyokushin, Kyokushin Kan, IKO Matsushima, Shieyjuku, Kyokushin Union, and many other independent groups. This year we had the participation of fighters from other countries such as Mexico, Pánama and Chile. In order to ensure a fair tournament regarding judges, we had judges from KWF, Shidokan and Shinkyokushin.

KWF Costa Rica had an impressive performance obtaining 9 First Places, 6 Second Places and 3 Third places out of a possible 25 podiums for our Organization.

The next Edition of the Bushido Challenge will be held on May 2017. For more information please contact KWF Costa Rica Country Representative Sensei Mauricio Alvarado at kyokushincrc @gmail.com.