Lucky for us, not too far from home. The 1st Kenneth Funakoshi FSKA World Karate Championships.

The 1st Kenneth Funakoshi FSKA World Karate Championships took place in Crawley, in the K2 Sports Centre from the 7-10th July 2022. Over 530 competitors participated in this event.

First of all I would like to give a special thank you to Kyoshi Debi Steven for the amazing organisation of this event and Chief Referee José Chagas for the good work with the whole referee team. 

We will start with the obligatory preparation period. We received information about this competition in November, allowing us a lot of time to prepare for the event. However, the world of karate is always busy, multiple events are organized by various federations. We has to make a choice between the WUKF World Karate Championships in the USA or the FSKA World Karate Championships in Crawley. I desired to compete at the USA event, however I unfortunately knew the reality that would come with that decision. I would have had to go either alone or with a small group of our SKC athletes. I had to make a decision as a coach instead of a competitor; I chose the FSKA World Karate Championships in Crawley. A total of 40 SKC competitors took part in this championship. As a result I am hoping the sporting level of the club as a whole increases significantly in the future. This decision further allowed competitors who did not have the time or finances to attend the event in the USA to compete in a high-ranking event. I do not regret my decision at all, I knew I had made the correct choice when I saw the smiling and satisfied faces of all our SKC competitors. I have a little bit of hope that I will not have to make such decisions in the future, but that events will be laid out in a manner that they do not overlap. 

The SKC competitors taking part in the competition were prepared for KYU or Dan exams, not specifically for sporting competitions. After the pandemic it has been hard to return to the standard process of preparation for a large-scale competition; however, I think this a struggle for a lot of karate clubs, not solely mine. Therefore, I would say the preparation for this event was carried out at 50% capacity. Certain things, such as those above, took priority. One can always say it could have been better or it could have been worse; however, I would say our SKC competitors prepared and trained to the level they could in that moment in time. 

Preparation for the SKC athletes differs significantly to my personal preparation. I have a special training cycle I stick to; it takes around 6 months for high-ranking competitions such as World Karate Championships. It is divided into three sections, strength training, endurance training and speed training. Within this 6-month period I try to take part in 1 or 2 other competitions to draw conclusions, to understand what is going well and what I must work on. With my experience and my age I understand and have knowledge of the correct way to prepare for a high-ranking competition. I improved my strength here in London, and then I jetted off on holiday to Africa with my family, which gave me the perfect conditions to improve my endurance. My endurance was improved by training with the TRX, gym and running on the beach.

During the journey to preparing for the FSKA World Karate Championships, I participated in the BASK International 2022 karate competition and Malta Open. These events allowed me to draw appropriate conclusions. 

Every morning, 2 months before the competition, I covered a distance of 12km on bike, after which I had a light training session, which included elements of stretching, endurance with training bands and kata. In the evening I would have my intense karate sessions. I would say I was well prepared for the competition in Crawley. I adhere to this main principle, the more work and effort I put into preparation, the better my success or failure tastes. 

In the FSKA World Karate Championships, karate clubs represented England instead of national teams. Several Shotokan karate clubs represented England, Sport Karate Coalition being one of them. The event was held on 6 tatami’s. The rivalry between competitors was based on two main categories kata, formal learnt and polished sequences, or kumite, fighting. These were further divided into individual or team categories. Sport Karate Coalition was represented by 42 competitors, 2 referees, Sensei Ewa Lipinska and Sensei Wieslaw Krasowski, and 4 coaches, myself Jacek Lipinski, Adam Zietalewicz, Piotr Sznicer and Tomasz Bylinski. Unfortunately due to health issues, 2 of our competitors had to withdraw from the competition at the last minute. 

Medal summary: 36 overall medal positions, 5 x Gold, 10 x Silver, 21 x Bronze.

The first day of the FSKA World Karate Championships was for competitors over the age of 18 years old. Day 1 had been an immensely successful day, all our SKC athletes should be proud of themselves. We lived through a lot of emotions and put our hearts into our categories on the tatami. We gained a lot of experience and learnt new lessons. Moving forward we must all reflect, understand our strengths and our weaknesses. 

Medals:
Gold medals:
 1.Team Kumite Mix +18 years old - Tamara Lipinska, Wieslaw Krakowski and Jacek Lipinski
 2.Individual Kumite Male +40 years old - Jacek Lipinski
Silver medals:
 1.Team Kumite Male +18 years old - Jacek Lipinski, Wieslaw Krasowski, Piotr Sznicer, Adam Zietalewicz and Kamil Hejmanowski 
 2.Team Kumite Women +18 years old - Tamara Lipinska, Kaja Polomska and Agnieszka Wyrostek
 3.Team Kumite Men +30 years old - Jacek Lipinski, Wieslaw Krasowski and Adam Zietalewicz 
 4. Individual Kumite Women KYU 18-29 years old - Kaja Polomska
Bronze medals:
 1. Team Kumite Mix +18 years old - Urszula Gryncewicz, Michel Niski and Piotr Sznicer
 2. Team Kumite Women +18 years old - Joanna Krasowska, Urszula Gryncewicz and Calypso Simonian
 3. Individual Kumite Women KYU +18 years old - Urszula Gryncewicz
 4. Individual Kumite Women Dan 18-29 years old - Tamara Lipinska 
 5. Individual Kumite Men 30-40 years old - Adam Zietalewicz 
 6. Individual Kumite Men 30-40 years old - Wieslaw Krasowski

DAY 2 had been another successful day at The 1st Kenneth Funakoshi FSKA World Karate Championships, Crawley. Competitors of ages 11-17 years old participated in day 2. There was a lot learnt and a lot of experience gained. Hard work is the key to success, it is now time to analyse what went wrong and what went well to be better next time. We all experienced a lot of emotions that day, coaches, competitors and parents. Congratulations to all who participated. All SKC members should be proud.

Our medals:
Silver medals:
 1. Individual Kumite Women 15-17 years old KYU – Calypso Simonian 
 2. Team Kumite Boys 15-16 years old - Mikolaj, Jakub Woronicz and Max. Sport Karate Coalition and Eagle Institute joined forces to create this team.
 3. Individual Kumite Boys 13-14 years old - David Sznicer
Bronze medals:
 1. Individual Kata Girls 15-17 years old KYU - Calypso Simonian
 2. Team Kumite Mix 13-14 years old – Victoria Sybicka, Krzysztof Koba and Frank Giezek. 
 3. Team Kumite Boys 13-14 years old – Frank Giezek, Dominik Krasowski and David Sznicer 
 4. Team Kumite Mix 11-12 years old – Nikola Wachal, Atila Emin and Dominic Spodnik
 5. Team Kumite Girls 11-12 years old – Alicja Zywiecka, Nikola and Maja Wachal.
 6. Individual Kumite Boys 11-12 years old – Dominic Spodnik
 7. Individual FUKU-GO Girls 11-12 years old - Alicja Zywiecka 

Day 3 had been another successful day for our SKC athletes; competitors of ages 10 and under years old participated.

Gold medals:
 1.Team Kumite Boys 9-10 years old - Leon Jaf, Oliver Bylinski and Kacper Szczecina.
 2.Team Kumite Girls 7-10 years old - Sara Spodnik, Julia Bylinska and Liliana Szczecina.
 3.Individual Kumite Boys 9-10 years old - Leon Jaf
Silver medals:
 1. Team Kumite Boys 9-10 years old - Jakub Poplawski, Victor Sznicer and Adrian Tuszynski.
 2. Individual Kumite Boys 9-10 years old - Jakub Poplawski
 3. Individual Kata Boys 9-10 years old - Oliver B
Bronze medals:
 1. Individual Kumite Boys 9-10 years old - Julian Dyrga
 2. Individual Kumite Boys 9-10 years old - Oliver Bylinski 
 3. Individual Kata Boys 9-10 years old - Adrian Tuszynski
 4. Individual Kumite Girls 7-8 years old - Sarah Spodnik
 5. Individual Kata Girls 7-8 years old - Liliana Szczecina
 6. Individual Kata Girls 7-8 years old - Sarah Spodnik
 7. Individual Kumite Girls 6 years and under - Julia Bylinska
 8. Individual Kata Girls 6 years and under - Julia Bylinska

The most important thing is the we returned home from The 1st Kenneth Funakoshi FSKA World Karate Championships in Crawley whole, with no major health issues. Whilst at this event I had the possibility of seeing old friends and meeting new ones, I was able to discuss karate in general with coaches and I learnt something new. Parents being educated in the sport of karate is vital to the success of competitors, it aids in the communication between coaches, competitors and the parents due to the better understanding of terms and understanding what the child must focus on to improve.

I like to participate in FSKA competitions due to the values they bring to competitions, the tradition and the family aspect. The 1st Kenneth Funakoshi FSKA World Karate Championships in Crawley was prepared professionally. I very much so enjoyed the para-karate open kata category. I believe every competition at sucha high rank should include this category, it represents the inclusivity of karate as whole, each and every person is well come to the sport. This competition as a whole included a lot of emotions: tears, laughter, we put our hearts and souls onto the tatami and our categories. I would like to hope we all reached the right conclusions. The SKC team will be participating in the FSKA World Karate Championships next year. 

Now, it is time for you all to relax and enjoy your holiday. Spend your time actively, as new karate competitions are just around the corner, in the month of September. 

We would like to give a special thank you to our sponsors for this event, 4 YOUR HOUSE, www.4yourhouse.london for the purchase of specialised karate sports bag for the senior team.