After a break of two years, during which the Pilatus Cup had to be canceled due to the global pandemic, the traditional international junior tournament took place on March 19th, 2022, for the 21st time. Competitors from 10 IFK Switzerland Dojo and a delegation from BKK Wales found their way to Kriens, Switzerland, to compete in Kata and Kyokushin Kumite.
Here are podium pictures and results:
The XI Summer Camp IFK Kyokushin Uruguay took place on March 10-13, 2022.
As in previous years, Dojos from different cities of our organization gathered to celebrate being able to train in person together. Training sessions started before sunrise and continued throughout the day, with additional sessions at night. Different scenarios, including the beach, tatami, grass, and a special one surrounding a campfire at night, made this a unique experience.
This year we had participants from Montevideo, Mercedes, Dolores, Salto, Marindia and San Carlos. In addition to the 10 sessions, special training and meetings were held for instructors and advanced kyus.
Exams for KYU grades and DAN grades were held, with 3 of our colleagues successfully earning their 1st DAN.
Like every Summer Camp, this one left us with unique memories that will be treasured for years to come, and anecdotes that we will share over time!
On behalf of everyone, I want to thank each of the participants for their time, commitment and dedication; and above all for the positive energy at all times.
Families are also to be thanked for their continued support, as well as the instructors for their dedication and commitment.
We will see each other in 2023 for our XII Summer Camp!
OSU!
Sensei German Carballo
On 12 of February 2022 a whole day national referee seminar of the IFK Switzerland Kyokushinkai took place in the Dojo of Wohlen. Under the leadership of Shihan Anton Gansner and Shihan Dolores Emmenegger-Jaros, both 5th DAN, a total of 34 karateka's trained their skills as judges in the two disciplines Kyokushinkai and Kata. We received in a workshop useful feedback from the course participants. This will implemented in future courses.
Many thanks to the Karate Club Wohlen for their hospitality and to all seminar participants for their exemplary discipline and great participation.
The IFK Kata Committee launched its online judges course in the USA on the 22nd January 2022 and was well received by all who took part.
We thank the Kata Committee for all their hard work in presenting the course and special thanks go to Shihan Sunil Tailor for creating the online content. We believe this will be a tremendous training tool in addition to the international courses run by our instructors.
The IFK is happy to announce Aruba has joined our family under the leadership of Senpai Zairo Ruiz
We welcome Senpai Ruiz and hope he can form a good relationship with the neighboring countries in the Americas continent.
Contact: Zairo Ruiz
Email: zairoruiz@gmail.com
11–15 January 2022 near Yekaterinburg there was held Russian Winter Camp with Shihans Alexander Tanyushkin, Victor Fomin and Andrey Bura.
There were over 100 participants (mainly black belts) who learn to manage with different documents of Ministry of Sport (Shihans Andrey Bura and Andrey Khimichenko), had detailed training during 6 hours Kumite referee course (theory and practice with Shihan Andrey Bura) and 6 hours Kata referee course (specialized training, theory and practice with Shihan Alexander Tanyushkin and Victor Fomin) and enjoyed traditional night training session (with Shihan Andrey Bura).
On the final day Shihan Alexei Gorohov and Shihan Stanislav Vinokurov had detailed training Kumite. The Camp was completed with black belts’ grading and Sayonara party.
“We are a Budo art
- it is up to the karateka to seek out the knowledge they are looking for, whether that be in kihon, kata, or kumite.”
Osu Shihan David, As the first year of your tenure, draws to a close have you had time to reflect on your role
Shihan David Pickthall: Firstly, it was a tremendous honour to be selected by Hanshi and the Country Representatives to take over in the role of President of the IFK, and I count myself lucky that we managed to have some board meetings with Hanshi before he passed on July 2nd of last year.
For us all, the shock was overwhelming. We knew he had some health issues in 2017 but the treatment seemed to go well and apart from his inability to travel he was still teaching regularly up until the pandemic.
When we talked, Hanshi still spoke of his desire to get back in his dogi and teach sessions at his Wimbledon dojo.
I appreciate this interview was scheduled for the summer of 2021, six months after taking over my new role, however, we needed time to mourn and reflect on the loss of our founder.
Things will never be the same again, I spent nearly 40 years traveling with Hanshi. We went over twenty times to Russia together. It seems surreal we won’t get to see him in a dogi again. I made him a promise when he asked me to take over and I will do my utmost to keep the IFK at the forefront of the Kyokushin world.
Q": Please can you tell us how you came to start your Kyokushin training and what it was like in the early days?
Shihan David Pickthall: I started at the Crawley dojo in 1976 in the junior class with my older sister where we had a selection of good instructors as well as Hanshi.
Sensei Maureen Begg used to give me extra help, so I managed to get a 6th kyu in under a year and Hanshi allowed me to join the senior class at 15 so I could train at the same time as my sister.
The BKK had Sensei Tatsuo Nakamura as a resident instructor from Japan at the time and he was a regular at Crawley, so the sessions were very tough. It was good old-fashioned static basics and the emphasis was on trying to perfect that technique.
It was still early days for a knockdown in the BKK, but dojo sparring was fierce and the students were conditioned to be hit.
Shihan David Pickthall and Hanshi Steve Arneil
Q: You run your own dojo at Crawley can you tell us a little of the history and your students?
Shihan David Pickthall: In the late ’60s John Jenkins was doing karate in Crawley and he linked up with Peter James. They spoke to Hanshi and the dojo became part of the BKK in 1969. Sensei Ray Pearson was part of the first demonstration in the town and he still regularly visits our dojo.
In the ’70s there was some tough karateka going through the dojo. Steven Jones was one of the most talented students the BKK would ever have seen and rivaled Jeff Whybrow at the time. Unfortunately for the BKK Steven relocated to Sweden in the late ’70s and is still a Shihan in the WKO Shinkyokushin Organisation.
I have been teaching at the dojo for Hanshi since I was 21, but it was only in August 2008 that Sensei Neil Madeley and I took ownership of the dojo. We try to make it a true club atmosphere with input from several other students and parents. We have had many top competitors at the dojo in all aspects of the style and I think most people who come to Crawley will agree the training is based on being a good all-rounder. In truth the top students or elite is not the lifeline of a dojo: It’s the normal students keeping the sessions alive that give competitors a base to train.
If your dojo is only for the top students it won’t last long. It’s important to encourage the students that find it more physically difficult or are more time-poor. You need everyone to feel like part of the club and organisation. You never know – they might end up being the next star.
As well as my own students I devote a lot of time to coaching competitors from different dojos. It’s not important that they are registered to another club, the main point is that they are committed to learning and they want to grow as a competitor.
Q: You were the BKK Kata Coach and then transitioned straight into the role of BKK Knockdown coach and had quite a lot of success. To what do you attribute this?
Shihan David Pickthall: Well, success is relevant to commitment. I was lucky enough to have a large number of students who dedicated themselves to trying and achieving their goals. My role was to help them reach their targets whether it was a national or international level.
I normally tried to take a few less experienced fighters with some of the mainstays - that way they get to see how to handle the pressures.
I always welcomed the challenge of competing in non-IFK events as it is important to test yourself against all Kyokushin groups. Politics should not enter the fighting arena.
I was also always interested in the evolution of fighting styles throughout the eras, and I am surprised that so many coaches always go back to how they did it in their day. We are past that. We had our time and whilst I wouldn’t swap it for the world, you must look at what is current and find ways to beat that style.
Q: You are seen as an all-rounder in Karate terms especially when it comes to competing. Do you think that perhaps now we place a greater emphasis on the competition now to the detriment of other aspects of karate?
Shihan David Pickthall: I have said this before but actually, I don’t. If you look at the top competitors, they are doing 5 or 6 sessions a week and adding all the extra preparation needed. If a student wants to learn more it is down to them to be like the fighter and to put in the extra hours.
I would have sympathy for a student if their attendance was 100% and they never get to train the areas they wish. But let’s face it, for many the commitment is not as great these days. I know lifestyle pressures can dictate that, but that is the fault of neither the instructor nor the organisation.
We say we are a Budo art and if that is the case then it is up to the karateka to seek out the knowledge they are looking for, whether that be in kihon, kata, or kumite.
I also disagree with instructors that preach about knockdown not being an important part of our art. If you look properly at our history it was Sosai that started knockdown tournaments. He made rule changes, removing grabbing and throwing from events after the 1979 World Championships, and he dreamed that one day we would be an Olympic sport.
He also never said you should forget the skills of our traditional martial art, but the biggest evolution of our art/sport was during his lifetime.
Since then, there have been minor modifications to the competition ruleset, but in my view, that is more to distinguish different federations.
Shihan David Pickthall
Q: So with that in mind how do you see the development of the IFK in its first 25 years?
Shihan David Pickthall: Initially, the IFK had a massive task to establish itself on the global stage. The IKO was still the dominant force, and it wasn’t until the splits within the Japanese organisations started happening that it became easier to grow strongholds in many countries.
I think the 2005 World Championships was a bit of a turning point for us. It had many good fighters and showcased the quality of the IFK globally.
Towards the end of 2010, I took the role of International Development and set a target of bringing on board two countries a year into the IFK organisation. I am pleased to say we are exceeding that target and we have almost doubled, growing from 31 to 61 countries and more importantly, we are expanding in regions that previously we had difficulty reaching such as South America.
As everyone knows introducing new countries is not an easy job because both the IFK and the new Country Representatives need to have a clear understanding of the expectations, and good communication is paramount to the success of the integration.
Our biggest success is the introduction of an Executive Board and having a clearer decision-making process, which will only improve with time. For the last five years, the board and Hanshi have been working to produce guidelines to assist our members and the Country Representatives are fully supportive of this work. Respect is key, and at the moment it seems we are a very united federation. Our committees are working well and as we introduce regional sub-committees we will empower our members to grow our family and feel part of our success.
From left to right: Shihan David Pickthall, Hanshi Steve Arneil, Shihan Liam Keaveney
Q: Now you have taken the role as President how do you see the interaction between IFK with the other organisations.
Shihan David Pickthall: It is vital to keep an open dialogue with all organisations. If we can all show the correct etiquette and respect to each other and work towards giving all of our members more opportunities then surely we are approaching our goal in an honorable way.
Sometimes we must be mindful that there is no conflict against our Country Representatives in certain countries, but generally, we have built good relationships with the world leaders.
Our Country Representative guidelines are open and transparent, we do not impose draconian rules forbidding interaction with the other organisations. As long as our members are respectful and follow our guidelines we welcome a close unity with like-minded federations.
Q: This year sees the IFK celebrates 30 years. What would you like the next 30 years to bring?
Shihan David Pickthall: I would say we have already started the work that will guide us through our next era. We are lucky enough to have outstanding members that have challenged us for the last eight to ten years.
They were clear that the IFK must change and develop into a truly international organisation that can build processes to help expand, enthuse and educate the membership. The Executive Board has taken this directive and we aim to bring the IFK world closer together by giving our members the ability to shape the future.
Of course, this future will not be for all. I am sure some people will not share the same vision as our Country Representatives and that, I am afraid, is life in the martial arts world. With so many Kyokushin federations to choose from, we must be prepared for some movement within federations but I and the board accept this.
Hanshi Arneil was older than I am now when the IFK was started and look where we are today.
We are in a healthy position: still growing and adding new countries each year, even in a pandemic. We are trialing a mentoring program that allows a current Country Representative to assist a new country to assimilate into our federation. We have International Sub Committees for Kumite, Kata, and now Media that will all feedback to our EB.
We were also one of the founding members to start the KWU which is now hosting global events of the highest standard.
Q: That’s a good lead-in to my next question. What exactly is the purpose of the Kyokushin World Union and what difference do you believe it makes to the IFK?
Shihan David Pickthall: The KWU was the brainchild of the Association of Kyokushin Russia, and it was to unite the major organisations at that time to come together under the umbrella of the KWU purely for competitive events. It gives the world’s best athletes the opportunity to test themselves at the highest level.
Unfortunately, some of the leading organisations did not agree to sign the cooperation agreement but the AKR, Kyokushinkan, KWF, and the IFK worked together to create a united set of competition rules in the framework of an Olympic event.
Each country is allowed one competitor in a category but there is a far greater range of weight divisions. The events have not been limited to only founder member athletes and at some events, the host nation has been given an extra place in each weight.
I love the concept of these events because they are so inclusive. With the Olympic weight categories giving more opportunities to the athletes.
As for the IFK, it has been a revelation for our federation, leading the medal table at all five World Championships. I believe it has raised the profile of our athletes, with our best fighters continually winning medals.
From left to right: Shihan David Pickthall (IFK President), Shihan Andre Drewniak (KWF Secretary General), Shinan Antonio Pinero (KWF President), Shihan Alexandr Pichkunov (KWU Secretary General) in Poland, KWF World Championship 2021
Q: Is there anything else you would like to say as we finish our interview?
Shihan David Pickthall: Yes, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Executive Board and all the Country Representatives who unanimously voted for me to take the position of President of the IFK. I feel incredibly humble that so many of my peers would put their faith in me to guide the IFK into the next chapter of its journey.
For twenty-five years Hanshi took me around the world whilst the IFK was built into a respected world organisation. I feel it is my duty to honour his achievements and hopefully make us stronger for our future leaders.
Osu Shihan many thanks for your answers here today.
Interview by IFK media committee head Shihan Shane Lalor
KWU Kyokushin European Youth Championship and KWU European championship among men and women in weight categories
Date: 1-3 April 2022
Place: Yerevan, Armenia “DINAMO” sports complex, str. Vardanants, 69 building
Organizer: The ministry of education, science, culture, and sports of The Republic of Armenia and Armenian Kyokushin karate federation
Supreme Judge: Shihan Ramil Gabbasov (Russia)
Deputy Supreme Judge: Shihan Andranik Hakobyan (Armenia)
Secretary: Meri Gevorgyan (Armenia)
Since January 10, the Committee for organizing the European Championship has been functioning under the Federation of Kyokushin karate Armenia. Office working hours are from 10.00 to 18.00 Armenian time; break from 14.00 to 15.00. Our employees willingly and quickly will respond to all your questions.
Mobile/Viber/WhatsApp: +37494404245 and E-mail: info@kyokushin.am
Conditions of access to the participation of all age groups:
Representatives of national federations, who have passed national qualifying Championships with calling in all interested groups of Kyokushin in a particular country at the age from 12 to 17 years old up to 3 fighters from each country in each weight category with a style qualification not less than 6th kyu. The organizing country has the right to a double quota.
Representatives of national federations, who have passed national qualifying championships with calling in all interested groups of Kyokushin in a particular country at the age of 18 years old with a style qualification not less than 4th kyu and 1 fighter from each country in each weight category. The organizing country has the right to a double quota. https://kwu.kumitetechnology.com/en
Time and place of keeping national qualifying championships are defined jointly by representatives of international organizations, listed in the “Members” section on www.kwunion.com
The competitions will be held by the rules of KWU, which are posted on the official website – http://www.kwunion.com/documents/
The official list of the judges will be presented by KWU. Only accredited judges can be chosen for judging.
Judges, who would like to take part in the judging seminar on April 1, 2022, in Yerevan, must send their application on this email: info@kyokushin.am with the headline – “Judging Seminar”. In the case of successful passing of the seminar and the exam, the participants of this seminar have a chance to be chosen as official judges for the Youth KWU Kyokushin European Championship in Yerevan 2022. Candidates for judging will pay all their expenses themselves.
Applications for participation:
Deadline for applications (attachment № 1): March 1st, 2022 The country representative will be sent a code to fill in the participants: https://kwu.kumitetechnology.com/en
Provisions could be downloaded here:
IFK Uruguay began 2022 with a national seminar for instructors at the Hombu (Abumi Dojo) on Saturday 8th.
Sensei German Carballo, Country Representative, led the morning and afternoon training sessions focussing on keep improving and standardizing technical aspects of the IFK syllabus throughout the different dojos.
In addition to training, sessions also covered:
- Goals for the organization and for each individual dojo and instructor, which were shared and discussed
- National plan and key events in the 2022 agenda
- Refresh session on kumite referee rules
Instructors from all the dojos attended coming from Montevideo, Canelones, Maldonado, Salto and Soriano.
As we approach the anniversary of our first year with Shihan David Pickthall as President we look back at the conversation between Hanshi Arneil and the IFK Executive Board.
This important moment reflected the progression in the growth of the IFK but has such sad emotions as our Founder would pass away within half a year.
Osu!
The 22nd, annual black belt seminar took place on Saturday, January 8th, in the Dojo of the Karate Club Wohlen. This first event of 2022 was participated by 37 Yudansha’s from IFK-Switzerland Kyokushinkai.
Sensei Piotr Szeligowski, 4th DAN, was responsible for the seminar topic "Exercises with the Resistance Band".
Sensei Piotr did an excellent job of teaching the seminar topic with his enormous experience in informative way and thus explained the "link" between theory and practice clearly and understandable.
Many thanks to Sensei Piotr for the very informative hours.
Further thanks to all seminar participants for their excellent discipline, so that we could hold this seminar with the Covid-rules.
OSU, IFK Switzerland Kyokushinkai
Kumite and Kata categories
Saturday 8th of January.
Pre Infant, Infant, Teen, Adult.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Beginners and advanced.
8 confirmed organizations, athletes of important trajectory and national and international experience.
Registration closes Monday, December 20th.
Sandnes Karate Club organised a seminar for IFK Norway from 26-28 November with Shihan Andrew Turner 6th Dan.
Country Representative Shihan Svein Dallavara also assisted taking sessions for the Norwegian fight team.
Thanks to Sensei Arnt Anensen for organising the event.
The British Clicker and Kata Championships were held on the 27th November with the event poignantly named the ‘Hanshi Cup’ as a tribute to our founder who passed away in July.
290 athletes from 20 dojos took part in the first event in Britain since the pandemic.
The full results are listed below
On November 28, the annual "Armenian Open Championship" was held by IFK Armenian branch. Besides the Armenian team, the Georgian and the Iranian teams also took part. Approximately 300 Armenian athletes participated successfully, registering brilliant victories and spectacular fights. Those who won prizes will participate in the KWU Youth Championship of Europe to be held in Yerevan on April 1-3, 2022.
WE WELCOME SHIHAN STEFANO BLOKLAND OF THE NETHERLANDS TO THE IFK KATA COMMITTEE. HE WILL JOIN SHIHAN JANINE DAVIES, SHIHAN VICTOR FOMIN, SHIHAN ITZIK ISHKANEZI, SHIHAN SUNIL TAILOR AND SHIHAN DOLORES EMMENGGER-JAROS IN THEIR ROLES OF REVIEWING RULES, MAINTAINING STANDARDS AND IMPLEMENTING TEACHING STRATEGY IN KATA.
EMMA MARKWELL WORLD CHAMPION
The Kyokushin World Federation hosted their World Championships in Krakow, Poland on the 19-20 November with over seven hundred participants from thirty three countries.
Competitors from IFK Great Britain, IFK Hungary, IFK Norway, IFK Poland, IFK Sweden and IFK Ukraine took part and we achieved two World Champions with Emma Markwell winning the Womens +65kg and Jawand Mann the Boys U18 -80kg titles.
We thank the KWF President Shihan Pinero for the invitation and the General Secretary Shihan Drewniak for allowing the IFK to participate.
The IFK also had successes for Hungary and Sweden in this prestigious event with all medalists listed below:
Emma Markwell Great Britain +65KG Women Gold
Jawand Singh Mann Norway -80KG U18 Boys Gold
Jazmin Reichert Hungary +45KG U14 Girls Silver
Jawand Singh Mann Norway U18 Boys Kata Silver
Siri Tegner Sweden -50KG U16 Girls Silver
Blake Collins Great Britain -80KG Men Bronze
Ebba Tegner Sweden -60KG U18 Girls Bronze
JAWAND SINGH MANN WORLD AND VICE CHAMPION
JAZMIN REICHERT VICE CHAMPION WITH THE HUNGARIAN TEAM
BLAKE COLLINS WITH HIS 3RD PLACE WARD
SIRI TEGNER VICE CHAMPION AND EBBA TEGNER BRONZE MEDALIST
The IFK held its first online continental meeting on the 14th November with the IFK President Shihan David Pickthall chairing the proceedings and Vice President Shihan Liam Keaveney was in attendance.
Nine of the eleven member countries were able to attend the meeting where they discussed future plans for the IFK and the region.
Head of Media Shihan Shane Lalor joined the first part of the meeting to discuss the media presence of the region.
IFK Argentina will host the Copa Steve Arneil Tournament for infants and Juveniles on December 5th at Club Bnaco Provincia.
The event will feature both Kumite and Kata .
We welcome Shihan Katalin Mato of Hungary to the IFK Kumite Rules and Officiating Committee, she will join Shihan Alex Kerrigan, Shihan Andrei Bura, Shihan Andrew Turner, and Shihan Anton Gansner and Shihan Shane Lalor in their roles of improving standards of officiating and reviewing kumite rules.
The IFK Executive Committee
The official website of the International Federation of Karate (Kyokushin). Established in 1992 by Hanshi Steve Arneil.
forever in our hearts Hanshi Steve Arneil
