We arrived at the WJKA WORLD KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (BELGIUM-WEVELGEM) early in the morning on Friday, much to our surprise after only five hours of traveling by car from London. After a quick technical check-in, we had a lot of time to explore the city and time to rest in the hotel before the WJKA World Karate Championships (World JKA KARATE Association). About 300 competitors from 15 countries had been registered on the starting lists. The SKC team was represented by seven competitors. On the first day, trophies were up for grabs in the kata categories. The second day was filled with kumite competitions. The SKC team won 4 medals that day.
After the Sunday finals in the Kumite categories of cadets, juniors, seniors and older seniors the bronze medals were picked up by three of our SKC competitors. The first bronze medalist was Maciej Strzyzewski in the Kumite category of boys 10-12 years old who in the fight for third place defeated the Belgian representative. It was the first time Maciek took part in a competition of such a high ranking. It was a great experience for him to be amongst the best competitors from around the whole world. The next person who received a bronze medal is Tamara Lipinska in the category of girls 10-13 years old. Tamara 10 years old came in third place, beating competitors who were much older and taller, which only enlarges her victory. 
In the category of kumite seniors, Kamil Hejmanowski finished in third place, beating five competitors along the way. Kamil was very well prepared for these Championships, only bad luck struck. A leg injury caused him a loss in a fight to enter the final. I, Jacek Lipinski won the gold medal in the older kumite seniors category by beating England and Belgium on the way to the final. WJKA is a traditional karate organization where kumite fights between seniors as well as older seniors took place without any hand protection. The fights take place in the ippon shobu system, which means a moment of inattention and the duel may end ahead of time, while the lack of hand guards can end with a quick injury for both the attacker and the defender. All kumite categories were open meaning there was no division into weight which made the fights a more colorful spectacle.
Overall, the trip was a success, we gave our best and gained a valuable experience."Fight. You have nothing to lose. If you don't go out to battle, the battle at the start will be lost." - Jacek lipinski
Did you know?
- Wevelgem is known for its annual Gent-Wevelgem road cycling race, which has the finishing line in this city.
- The city has the largest German military cemetery in Belgium. 47,000 soldiers are buried there who died during the First World War.
Questions for Sensei Jacek
1)How do you feel winning 1st place?
2) Did any competitor scare you?
3) How long did you train for this competition? 4)How did you feel when they said bare knuckle competition?
Questions for Sensei Jacek Lipinski:
1) Did you feel out of place, competing with no protection?
2) What was it like, having a 10 year old daughter win a medal in a competition against people who were older?
Questions for Tamara Lipinska:
1) Did you use a method to calm yourself before a fight? If yes what methods?
2) Where you intimidated by others since you were so young?
Question for Sensei Jacek and Kamil Hejmanowski
What was it like competing with no hand protection?
Question for Tamara
How did it feel to win a bronze medal?
Questions for all How did you feel winning 4 medals? Were you happy with he competition?
Questions for Tamara Lipinska How did you feel when fighting against other people that were older and stronger than you?
Were you happy with the results?
Questions for Sensei Jacek:
Are there any other tactics you used when fighting with no hand protections?
Why are there no hand protections during traditional fights?
Why did there being no weight categories make it different?
Question for Sensei Tamara:
Was it difficult to fight against people that were much taller than you?
-Victoria S