Malta, beautiful as always.

The WKA (World Karate-Do Alliance) World Karate Championships were held from 22-24.03.2024 in Malta. As always, this was a very positive experience. Over 1000 athletes from various countries competed in this event. This showcased how much of an international sport karate is, celebrating the different cultures and countries that hold karate as its discipline and passion. Our success is linked to the experience we gained from competing at such a high level championship.

Over 30 countries competed at this championship, including the United States, Ireland, Nigeria, Brazil, Ukraine, Poland, Wales, Nepal, Azerbaijan, Italy, Scotland, England, Germany, France, Egypt, Algeria and many many more. This showcases how universal and wide spread our sport is.

As usual, our trip began with us meeting at the airport. Our time at airport went very smoothly. The 3.5hr flight to Malta went very quickly. At the airport we were greeted by our driver of our private transfer bus, which took us to the hotel. After our check in, 12 of us went to the beach for some free time and some relaxation. I on the other hand made my way to the registration desk to check in our athletes for the championship. When we all returned to the hotel we made our way to dinner, had a motivational talk, showered and went to bed for a well deserved rest. 

The next day we woke up early, had breakfast and made our way to explore Malta, we later had lunch. All our evenings looked the same, dinner, a motivational talk, shower and bed. The three days at the championship looked similar, waking up early, breakfast, transfer to the hall, competing at the event, lunch, transfer back to the hotel, dinner and bed. Our club, Sport Karate Coalition, represented 12 competitors. We competed in kata and kumite categories, both individually and in teams.

We’ve come home with amazing results, everyone should be proud of their achievements! 🇲🇹 We would like to give a huge thank you to Shihan Krzysztof Chałupka from International Karate Association Poland for making our starts in this competition possible.

In Malta we represented International Karate Association Poland, our teams put together earned us 5th place in the overall ranking from the championships. A huge accomplishment!

Once again, congratulations to all our athletes!  A big thank you to Tamara Lipinska who was in charge of our media throughout this trip, as well as being an assistant group leader.

Medal Summary: 🥇x7🥈x11🥉x10

Jacek Lipinski
🥇Individual Male Seniors Shobu Ippon Kumite🥋
🥇Individual Veteran Male Shobu Sanbon Kumite

Calypso Simonian, Ola J (International Karate Association Poland) & Anika T (International Karate Association Poland)
🥇Team Female Junirs Shobu Sanbon Rotation Kumite

Julia B
🥇 Individual Girls Kata 8 years old
🥇 Individual Girls Kumite 8 years old

Maja W, Alexandra J (International Karate Association Poland) & Lena S (International Karate Association Poland)
🥇 Team Female Juniors Shobu Ippon Kumite

Maja W, Lena S (International Karate Association Poland) & Lena D (International Karate Association Poland)
🥇 Team Female Juniors Shobu Sanbon Kumite

Calypso Simonian
🥈Individual Female Juniors Kata 

Julia B, Sarah S, Liliana S
🥈 Team Girls Kata 9 years old

Liliana S
🥈 Individual Girls Kumite 8 years old

Nikola W
🥈 Individual Girls Cadets Kumite

Jagoda W, Maja W & Oliwia T
🥈 Team Girls Cadets Kata

Maja W
🥈 Individual Female Cadets Shobu Ippon Kumite

Cleopatra S, Ottilie V, Antonina Z (Hurricane Shotokan Karate Club Walton-On-Thames)
🥈 Team Female Juniors Shobu Ippon Kumite

Cleopatra S, Ottilie V, Antonina Z (Hurricane Shotokan Karate Club Walton-On-Thames)
🥈 Team Female Juniors Shobu Sanbon Kumite

Jakub W
🥈 Individual Male juniors Shobu Ippon Kumite

Jacek Lipinski, Krzysztof Chałupka (International Karate Association Poland), Tomek Stellmach (Hurricane Shotokan Karate Club Walton-On-Thames)
🥈 Team Veteran Male Shobu Sanbon Rotation Kumite

Jacek Lipinski, Krzysztof Chałupka (International Karate Association Poland), Tomek Stellmach (Hurricane Shotokan Karate Club Walton-On-Thames)
🥈 Team Veteran Male Kata

Jacek Lipinski & Krzysztof Chałupka (International Karate Association Poland)
🥉 Pairs Veteran Male Kata

Calypso Simonian & Anika T (International Karate Association)
🥉 Pairs Female Juniors Kata (17+ years old)

Calypso Simonian
🥉Individual Female Juniors Shobu Ippon Kumite

Julia B & Liliana S
🥉 Pair Girls Kata 8 years old

Liliana S
🥉 Individual Girls Kata 8 years old

Sarah S
🥉 Individual Girls Kata 9 years old

Ottilie V
🥉 Individual Female Cadets Shobu Ippon Kumite

Oliwia T, Lena S  (International Karate Association Poland), Anika T (International Karate Association Poland)
🥉Team Female Juniors Shobu Sanbon Rotation Kumite

Oliwia T
🥉 Individual Female Cadets Shobu Ippon Kumite

Jakub W
🥉 Individual Male Juniors Kata

Conclusion:

At the championship we were one family, all helping each other, sometimes we understood each other without using words. We explored a part of Malta; we gained an immense amount of experience. We returned home happy and satisfied. For every competitor, participating at such a big championship is an incredible step forward for them, they begin to think differently, and they begin to understand at what level their karate is truly at. At the end of the championship, we had the opportunity to exchange club tops and club tracksuits with other karate teams. A huge congratulations to all the referees for their work, especially Lucienne Galea who led the team. A huge congratulations to the organizers of this competition, Chris Galea, and the WKA President, Orang Ranjbar. The next large scale WKA event will be the European Karate Championships next year.