XXII FSKA World Karate Championships Italy 28-30.10.2022

“Passion first and everything will fall into place.” - Holly Holm

This sporting season has been filled with a high level of preparation due to my attendance of 4 World Championships. After my return from the SKDUN World Karate Championships in the Czech Republic I had little time to regenerate and to prepare. Therefore, everything had to be precisely planned out in order for me to be able to keep my level of karate high.

The latest championships in which we took part were the XXII FSKA (Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association) World Karate Championships which were held in the sunny country of Italy, in Treviglio, a town near Milan. For these championships Tamara and myself represented the athletes and Ewa represented SKC as the coach.

The categories were held on 6 tatami’s in the Palafacchetti Sports Hall. Over 650 athletes competed from countries such as USA, India, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Poland, Portugal, Italy and various others. The categories at this FSKA World Karate Championship were divided into Team: Kata and Kumite, Individual: Kata, Kumite, Fokugo as well as inclusive Kata. The main organisers of the event were Sensei Alessandro Cozzani and Michele Julitta who are responsible for FSKA Italy. The day before the championships began, competitor registration, referee seminar and the athlete semiar with Shihan Kevin Funakoshi took place.

This last year has been a year filled with starts, ranging from high ranking competitions to competitions to test my current level, more important competitions and less important competitions. Some competitions were excellent training measures, I was able to reflect on my starts and receive feedback. Regardless of which competition I started in I approached all with the appropriate means, taking all seriously. All the competitions allowed me to be better prepared for the most important starts of the season. 

Before our start in the XXII FSKA World Championships we spent some time in Sardinia in order to acclimatise and calmly prepare for the championships. In Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia we had time to train and actively explore the island. 

After a few days in Sardinia, we flew to Milan from which we drove by car to Treviglio. The first day, as usual, included the document check after which we drove to the hotel. The next day, we had a light breakfast and made our way to the Sports Hall. My categories took place on the first day. In the Fukugo veteran category I won first place and in shobu ippon kumite I repeated this result, in total I was on the Tatami eight times, winning two gold medals and a lot of valuable experience.

After a whole day at the competition we had time to visit Santa Maria Del Fonte Santuary. 

On our the third day in this area, it was time for Tamara’s category. Tamara won a bronze medal in Individual Senior Shobu Ippon Kumite. In her first fight Tamara won with a competitor from Italy by scoring 2 wazari before the end of time. In the second fight Tamara fought another competitor from Italy, losing with one wazari in favour of her opponent. In the next fight Tamara won winning one wazari and one ippon. After another long day at the sports hall we returned to the hotel tired yet happy.

Summing up our start in the XXII FSKA World Karate Championships, we are very pleased with winning two gold medals and one bronze medal. However, the most important is our reflections of our starts and performances. After each competition, we are always richer in experience and knowledge. This competition was conducted at a high organizational and sporting level and at this point I would like to thank the technical director of the competition José Chagas Chagas for good work with the entire team of referees.

The last day of our stay in Italy we were able to visit Milan, the fashion capital and the second largest city in the North of Italy.