The XII WKC (World Karate Confederation) European Karate Championship for Cadets, Juniors, Seniors and Masters was held from the 13-15.10.2023 in Catania, which is near Palmera, one of the biggest cities in Sicily. Catania greeted us with amazing food, beautiful monuments and incredible views of Etna.
Our squad for this competition was made up of 7 athletes: Tamara Lipinska, Urszula Gryncewicz, Malgorzata Wozniak, Anna Piotrowska and myself. Krzystof Chalupka and David McTaggart joined our team in Catania. After a couple of hours in the airplane we were met by the beautiful sunshine in Catania. We quickly made our way to the hotel, and then to not lose any time we made our way to the city centre to explore. We visited The Cathedral of Sant’Agata, Amenano Fountain Ferdinandea Gate of Catania, Ancient Amphitheater Roman Ruins, Fish Market La Pescheria, Basilica della Collegiata. Along the way, we stopped by a few Sicilian restaurants to try traditional dishes. Late in the evening we returned to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.
The second day consisted of us waking up early in the morning, preparing our equipment and making our way to the sports hall. At the hall we verified all our documents in order to be able to participate at the XII WKC European Karate Championships. On this day only kata categories were taking place, I won gold medal in my category Kata male Shotokan Masters +40yrs. Later we stopped in a restaurant in the late evening before making our way back to the hotel.
On the third day all the individual and team kumite categories took place. This day was a hard day for us all due to the amount of categories we were all participating in. On this day we won 5 gold medals in Shobu Ippon, Senior Female +60kgs bare fist Kumite TAMARA LIPINSKA. Open Weight Shobu Ippon, Master Male +40 Years Open Weight bare fist Kumite JACEK LIPINSKI. Shobu Sanbon, Masters Male +40 Years Kumite JACEK LIPINSKI. Shobu Ippon, Masters Female +40 Years Open Weight bare fist Kumite URSZULA GRYNCEWICZ. SENIOR Kumite Team Male 21 Years + bare fist Kumite Shobu Ippon: Jacek Lipinski, Krzysztof Chalupka,David McTaggart.
We won 3 silver medals in Shobu Sanbon, Masters Female +40 Years Open Weight Kumite URSZULA GRYNCEWICZ. Shobu Ippon, Masters Female + 40 Years bare fist Kumite MALGORZATA WOZNIAK. Open Weight Shobu Ippon, Master Male- +40 Years Open Weight bare fist Kumite KRZYSZTOF CHALUPKA.
And 5 bronze medals in Shobu Sanbon, Senior Female 60+ kg kumite ANNA PIOTROWSKA. Shobu Sanbon, Senior Female 60+ kg Kumite TAMARA LIPINSKA. SENIOR Kumite Team Female +21 Years Shobu Sanbon: TAMARA LIPINSKA, MALGORZATA WOZNIAK, ANNA PIOTROWSKA, URSZULA GRYNCEWICZ. SENIOR Kumite Team Male 21 Years +: Shobu Sanbon: Jacek Lipinski, Krzysztof Chalupka, David McTaggart. Shobu Sanbon, Masters Female +41 Years Open Weight MALGORZATA WOZNIAK. On this day tired, yet satisfied we made our way to the airport to fly back to London.
Conclusions:
In this organisation (WKC) in the kumite ippon categories the athletes fought bare fisted, which was a new experience for a few of our squad members. During our 3-day visit we explored a lot of the city, won 14 medal positions, and most importantly returned home all safe and healthy. At the XII WKC European Karate Championship countries such as Bosnia, Germany, England, Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Scotland and Ukraine participated. A huge thank to Bill Hair from Scottish Karate Alliance for giving us the opportunity to participate in this championship. The 2024 WKC World Karate Championships will be held in Sheffield. I hope we will compete in this championship and we will once again bring as many medals home.
Well done to everyone that took part- fighting bare fisted must be very challenging! Good job for earning 14 medals and I hope you had a good time.
Well done for all the medals. It looks like a lot of fun. I hope you had a good time. I wish i could’ve come. Good job.
You did amazing. Congratulations on the wins and the medals. Well done for the hard work. Hopefully it was fun. Well done
Alan