On the week of July 21-25, the annual East European Summer School was held in Cracow, Poland. This year more than 250 participants gathered to train together with  Shihan Katsuhito Gorai and World Champion Hitoshi Kiyama who were invited by the organiser - Shihan Andre Drewniak. Apart from polish students, there were also guests from: Czech R., Latvia, Belarus and Germany.

      The visit of Japanese guests started from the meeting in Sports Ministry, Warsaw. 
     On the next day in Cracow's European Hotel the press conference took place. TV and radio reporters were present during this conference as well as during the trainings.
      Shihan Gorai focused mostly on Kihon and Ido Geiko, finishing with introduction of kata "Bassai-Dai" and "Tekki sono ichi". This kata used to be trained by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama long time ago and this year in Poland was introduced for the first time abroad Japan. Sensei Kiyama, whose classes were welcomed very wormly, presented his Kumite strategy including many of his champion's tricks.
      On the last day of the camp the examination took place, where approximately 100 students challenged for their new grade. The event finished with Sayonara Party where students performed music and comedic skits to entertain the instructors.

Training	Photo session	Examination
Kumite	Sayonara	Closing ceremony

     Directly from Poland the Japanese guests and Shihan Drewniak went to Czech Republic, where another seminar was conducted.

     From 10th to 14th of July  in Sports Center Schaars-Hoek, Heino (Holland) The 37th International Kyokushin Karate Summer Camp was held.
     Approximately 140 participants and 32 instructors took part in the event,  the program of which was prepared by Shihan Loek Hollander 8 dan. For his invitation arrived also: Shihan Antonio Pinero 7 dan from Spain, Shihan Joe Claronino 7 dan from G. Britain, Shihan Andre Drewniak 7 dan from Poland and Shihan Tsutomu Wakiuchi 6 dan from Italy.
     On the last day examinations up to 4dan took place. Approximately 50% participants passed the test prepared by new European Examination Committee.

The next year camp is planned also in Heino.

Opening	Trainings	Examinations
Examinations	Tameshiwari	Night training
Sayonara	Certificates	See you next year

     After the first day of the 21st All Japan Weight Category Championships Osaka, in the gymnastics hall of Osaka Gymnasium, the kata seminar took place. More than 200 karateka - mostly japanese Branch Chiefs, black and brown belts participated in the class. 
     The seminar was led by Kancho Shokei Matsui and assistant Shihans: T. Sugimura, I. Fukuda, K. Gorai and T. Akimoto. The main topic was introduction of "Bassai Dai" kata , which was practised long time ago by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama.

gallery:

   On 12-13th of June The 21st Japan Weight Category Championships were held in Furitsu Taikukan Hall in Osaka. Tournament gathered 280 competitors and 6000 spectators. During the opening ceremony Kancho Shokei Matsui handed 8 dan certificate and belt to Shihan Makoto Nakamura and 6 dan certificate to Shihan Masatoshi Yamada.

Comment: 
     Many surprises appeared during this championships. Some favourite fighters and previous Japanese champions were defeated by the promising rookies and some new star fighters showed up during this tournament too. According to Kancho Matsui's statement "The level is growing up every year". 
     One can say that the Japanese definitely have restored after winning back the championship title last year. Out of 14 foreigners taking part in the championships, only four reached the finals. Only in the superheavyweight category, in which none of the japanese star fighters like Yasuhiko Kimura, Gun Irisawa or Kentaro Tanaka took part, the hosts had to bow to the foreigners. The hard-fought between the Russians, young and not well experienced Japanese and "The White Warrior" from Czech Republic, was won after all by the last one - Jan Sokup, who had spent the last three years in Kagoshima (south of Japan) training together with the current world champion - Hitoshi Kiyama. Other European, who spent the last three months training in Honbu Dojo - Alejandro Navarro, after excellent performance in "Ichigeki", once again flashily showed himself in Osaka. The Spaniard made a big impression on the Japanese audience and was pretty close to get to the finals.
     Most probably these two promising karateka will meet again this year in Warsaw, fighting for the title of "The Strongest European" on November 27th.

Galleries:

              
Opening Ceremony          Eliminations                    Finals                              Medalists         

  On 19th of June in New York's Manhattan Hunter College Sportsplex All American Open Karate Championships was held with participation of about 100 competitors and 1000 spectators.

results [PDF 87 Kb] & photos