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.