IFK Russia was the most successful organization at the Association Kyokushin Russia Championships, taking home ten gold medals, ten silver medals, and eight bronze medals out of fifteen categories. Kyokushin-kan earned four golds while IKO won one gold medal.
On 17-19 February 2023, the BFKK held its annual Winter camp with Shihan Janine Davies and Shihan Wai Cheung as guest instructors. More than 80 karatekas from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany attended the camp.
Under Shihan Janine, the camp focused on increasing the participants’ technical standards, and Shihan Wai’s insight into body mechanics and movement matched this goal perfectly. This made the camp interesting for both novices, advanced students, and instructors, who all got a lot of new material to work with.
Students from several dojo’s also attempted a grading during the camp, and the BFKK can proudly announce 2 new 9th Kyus, 3 new 8th Kyus, 1 new 7th Kyu, 3 new 6th Kyus, 10 new 4th Kyus, 1 new 2nd Kyu, 3 new 1st Kyus, 1 new Nidan and 1 new Sandan.
Congratulations to all who passed the grading and to the Dojos involved!
The IFK World Black Belt Seminar will be held in Yerevan, Armenia after the European Championships on 24th -26th April 2023.
The Seminar will have IFK President Shihan David Pickthall, Board Member Shihan Eddy Gabathuler and Head of IFK Kata Shihan Janine Davies.
On the 26th April the IFK Dan Test will take place. All applicants for the Dan test must complete their paperwork and submit it through their Country Representative to office@ifk-kyokushin.com no later than one month before.
The IFK European Full Contact Championships will be held in Yerevan, Armenia on 21st-23rd April 2023
Categories from U14 up to Adults will participate.
This event is open to all organisations however countries will have a maximum of three or four athletes in any weight division depending on the age group. IFK representatives will have the priority of two of the allocated spaces.
Full information will be published shortly.
IFK Russia once again dominated at the Association Kyokushin Russia Championships last weekend finishing top of the medal table winning 10 gold, 10 silver and 3 bronze.
Results:
Women 50 kg
1st place - Anna Kuznetsova (Kemerovo Region) IFK
2nd place - Anastasia Kosyanova (St. Petersburg) IFK
3rd place - Anna Efremova (Moscow) KI
Women of 55 kg
1st place - Liubov Bakina (Kirov region) IFK
2nd place - Elizaveta Gromova (St. Petersburg) IFK
3rd place - Maria Savelieva (Moscow) WKO
Women of 60 kg
1st place - Yulia Shtaferina (St. Petersburg) IFK
2nd place - Ekaterina Shemina (Kirov region) IFK
3rd place - Natalya Beisembaeva (Moscow) IFK
Women of 65 kg
1st place - Ksenia Zasorina (Khabarovsk region) IKO
2nd place - Svetlana Tuchkova (Volgograd Region) IFK
3rd place - Elisavet Fiks (Moscow) IFK
Women 70 kg
1st place - Atakulova Nurzat (Kemerovo region) IFK
2nd place - Elena Zaikovskaya (Moscow) IFK
3rd place - Alena Kushnaryova (St. Petersburg) KI
Women 70+
1st place - Valeria Kolesnikova (Moscow) IFK
2nd place - Ekaterina Shcherbakova (St. Petersburg) IKO
3rd place - Olga Ivanova (Tyumen Region) KI
Men 60 kg
1st place - Sergo Armenyan (Moscow region) KI
2nd place - Vladislav Polubinsky (Moscow region) KI
3rd place - Privalov Vsevolod (Krasnodar region) KI
Men 65 kg
1st place - Stanislav Nikulin (Kirov region) IFK
2nd place - Eduard Tyabov (Republic of Chuvashia) IFK
3rd place - Vyacheslav Lesnikov (Kemerovo Region) WKO
Men 70 kg
1st place - Sergey Chmunevich (Kemerovo region) IFK
2nd place - Konstantin Volynko (Krasnodar region) KI
3rd place - Mkrtchyan Smbat (Amur region) WKO
Men 75 kg
1st place - Artyom Nazaretyan (Moscow) IFK
2nd place - Danil Zezyulya (Tomsk region) IFK
3rd place - Askar Artemyev (Sverdlovsk region) IKO
Men 80 kg
1st place - Daniil Fomin (Moscow) KI
2nd place - Konstantin Varnavsky (Moscow region) IKO
3rd place - Dmitry Blinov (Krasnodar region) KI
Men 85 kg
1st place - Sergey Kuryagin (Krasnoyarsk region) WKO
2nd place - Ivan Pimenov (Moscow) IFK
3rd place - Stanislav Stepankov (Krasnodar region) KI
Men 90 kg
1st place - Stanislav Mezhevtsov (Moscow) IFK
2nd place - Ilya Averkin (Moscow) IKO
3rd place - Gnel Aramyan (Sverdlovsk region) IFK
Men 95 kg
1st place - Vitaly Ishakhneli (YNAO) IFK
2nd place - Nikolay Maslennikov (Moscow) IFK
3rd place - Maxim Ekimov (EAD) IKO
Men 95+
1st place - Igor Zagainov (Sverdlovsk region) IKO
2nd place - Yury Stroganov (St. Petersburg) IFK
3rd place - Ruslan Sukhov (Krasnodar region) KI
The IFK have piloted a scheme to try to support countries in lower economic regions by donating dogi’s.
Members of the Crawley dojo collected some suits from children that had either stopped training or grown out of them. They prepared a first delivery and shipped it to Freetown for IFK Sierra Leone. The clubs students Ilori and Itanife Wachuku King met with the country representative Sensei John Sieh Bangura to deliver the parcel and membership cards.
Sensei John commented ‘ A very big thanks to the President of the International Federation of Karate (IFK) for the support to promote Kyokushin Karate in Sierra Leone. On behalf of the IFK Sierra Leone branch we would like to thank Shihan David Pickthall, the entire IFK Board and Crawley dojo for this donation.
We hope this initiative will help our members and that you can continue to support us, as we grow the branch here in Sierra Leone. Osu!’
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
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
Like the whole world, I am devastated and shocked by the sudden passing of Hanshi Steve Arneil on 2nd July 2021 after a short illness. There is nothing I can add to the many tributes and memories that have been shared on social media from around the world. This short note goes some way to express my thoughts and feelings and I know it is inadequate.
Read MoreDear IFK family,
At this challenging time, where we are all faced with differing levels of adversity, it seems an appropriate
opportunity to pause and reflect – a moment to evaluate many areas of our lives and how we live them.
During these unprecedented times, like all families, we shall be at some point, close to, or directly
impacted, by the tragic nature that surrounds the COVID pandemic. It is during these times that we can
draw on the spirit of our Kyokushin upbringing and apply Mas Oyma’s principles – not least of all, that
‘introspection begets wisdom’. We may also draw on the Kyokushin principles of ‘patience, endurance
and perseverance’.
Many IFK countries, have in their lifetime, experienced natural disasters and war – their spirit and resolve
has ensured their survival and enabled them to gather and rebuild. This epidemic is a very serious crisis
for us all, a ‘new’ normal will eventually ensue and we shall move forward. It is without doubt that our
life, including karate, will be shaped and influenced by these current times - we will need to adapt in order
to progress.
The IFK Board are standing firm with you all in this time of difficulty and we are trying to offer support,
wherever possible, to our Country Representatives, their instructors and students. Obviously national
and international events have been suspended but we are confident that eventually we will continue our
work in promoting Kyokushin Karate under the IFK banner.
We thank you all for your continued support and hard work at many levels – take care and be safe.
Liam Keaveney (7th Dan)
For and on behalf of the IFK Board
28th April 2020
5 fighters from IFK Reunion Island were participating in French Open last week-end, with 4 podiums; 3 golds and 1 bronze.
Congratulations to all.
OSU.
NANGUET Nicolas 3rd place in (KIM DAO DOJO) 8-9 years old under 30 kg
SEVA Radjann 1st place 8-9 years old under 40 kg (TIGER DOJO)
PIERRE Samuel 1st place 10-11 years old over 45 kg (TIGER DOJO)
GRUCHET Emmanuelle 1st place 10-11 years old under 35 kg (TIGER DOJO)
How can we summarize a great year for a small Martial Arts organization?
We accomplished the main goal of enhancing the training of all our instructors in every IFK technical area as well as with our referees to continue improving the work in the different competition modalities.
We had a competitor training at the highest level in San Paulo in a seminar led by the Russian Kumite National team Coach, Sensei Dimitry Savalyev, organized by IFK Brazil. Two months later, four of our instructors trained at the IFK World Seminar led by the highest ranks of our organization in the Papendal Olympic Complex in The Netherlands.
We held several national intensive weekend training sessions in Dolores and Mercedes as well as special sessions in Montevideo. We enjoyed yet another Summer Camp, the eight held in Uruguay, which by now has already become a classic. Trainings included sessions in the sand dunes, beach, forest and at night surrounding a fire; ending with the promotion of a new kuro obi.
Our National Team competed in five tournaments at national, regional and international level:
- April: IFK Kata World Tournament in Arnhem, organized by IFK Netherlands.
- May: Kanku Cap in Montevideo, organized by Kyokukaikan.
- August: 5th IFK Uruguay National Tournament in Montevideo, organized by IFK Uruguay.
- October: 4th South American Tournament in Valparaíso, organized by IFK Chile
- November: 1st Kenbukai Uruguay Tourament in Pinar, organized by Kenbukai Uruguay.
Lastly, we must highlight the achievement of many student that succeeded in their Kyu gradings during the six exam instances held in Soriano and Montevideo.
With the work and dedication of many, the essential support of our families and the collective spirit which is becoming stronger by the day, we are ready to start 2020 aiming for more.
For all of this, thank you very much to each one of you.
OSU!
IFK Kuwait completed their 17th training camp with Shihan Nick Da Costa , held between the 5th to 7th of Dec 2019.
The experience and depth of knowledge which was presented contributed to having another successful camp for IFK Kuwait.
One of the IFK Kuwait members who went for grading during the 2019 black belt grading in the BKK Summer camp and was not successful did a second attempt during the seminar here in Kuwait, and as explained by Shihan in previous e-mail, we are glad he managed to pass this time.
Competitors from Israel, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Bulgaria participated.
358 athletes of all ages participated in the Kumite. 72 competitors of all ages participated in Kata, and Tameshivari a total of 9 competitors participated.
Kumite
men up to 70 kg
1.Nikolay Zhotev - Kyokushin Khan Bulgaria
2.Cetin Mohammed - IFK Turkey
3.Sabo Florin IFK Romania
3.Kaloyan Georgiev - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
Kumite
men up to 80 kg
1.Atanas Lichev - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
2.Rusko Valchev - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
3.Veselin Buzin - IFK Bulgaria
3.Mahdi Esfandiarpour - IFK Iran
Kumite
men up to 90 kg
1.Jalayan Mahdi - IFK Iran
2.Genadi Stoev - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
3.Muharrem Furkan - IFK Turkey
3.Ivailo Ivanov - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
Kumite
men +90 kg
1.Aleksandar Komanov - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
2.Vasil Dimitrov - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
3.Krisrtiyan Kostadinov - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
Kumite
women up to 60 kg
1.Bekicheva Anastasia - IFK Russia
2.Evalina Derevenska - Kyokushin kan Bulgaria
3.Merav Ziv - IFK Israel
Kumite
women + 60 kg
1.Filatova Maria- IFK Russia
2.Gyach Anastasia- IFK Russia
3. Iva Toshkova - IFK Bulgaria
3.Mariya- Eliza Mineva - IFK Bulgaria
KATA
veterans men
1. Georgi Geshev - IFK Bulgaria
2.Frants Slavinskii - IFK Russia
3.Soia peter Alexandru - IFK Romania
KATA
men
1.Konstantin Siranchiev- IFK Russia
2.Yakir Levi -IFK Israel
3.Nikita Tsiplakov - IFK Russia
KATA
women
1.Merav Ziv - IFK Israel
2.Stefania Gklara - WKB Greece
3.Frasie Andrea- IFK Romania
TAMESHIWARI
men - 80 kg
1.Veselin Buzin - IFK Bulgaria - 12
2.Nikita Tsiplakov - IFK Russia - 8
TAMESHIWARI
men + 80 kg
1.Frants Slavinskii - IFK Russia - 15
1.Mahsud Darvish - IFK Iran - 15
2.Dinko Farazov - IFK Bulgaria - 11
3.Bogdan Bonev - IFK Bulgaria - 10
3. Georgi Stankov - IFK Bulgaria - 10
The 8th Uruguay Summer Camp was held in the Military Vacation facilities in Salinas on March 15, 16 & 17.
The Summer Camp was organized by the Uruguayan Kyokushin Kai Association A.K.K.U., and technically led by Sensei Germán Carballo 4th Dan (Uruguay IFK Country Representative).
With over 30 participants, all the dojos from Uruguay were present, including students and instructors from Montevideo, Canelones, Soriano and Salto.
Nine trainings took place focusing on technique as well as physical conditioning and strengthening in several different locations including the beach (both in the water and sand), the woods, as well as indoor. A special technical training for advanced grades (as from 3rd kyu) was held covering advanced katas.
As usual, the Camp included KYU and KURO OBI (1st dan) gradings, the 20-kumite challenge for Kuro Obis who successfully obtained their 1st dan during 2018, and the addition of the 25-kumite challenge for Ni Dans.
As an organization, A.K.K.U. is proud to present the new grades:
- Clara Monteiro (Red 10th Kyu)
- Victoria Villano (Blue 8th Kyu)
- Agustina Latorre (Blue 8th Kyu)
- Juliana Latorre (Blue 8th Kyu)
- Mauricio Nesteruk (Blue 7th Kyu)
- Fátima Parra (Yellow 6th Kyu)
- Oscar Pricoli (Yellow 6th Kyu)
- Gabriel Fernandez (Yellow 6th Kyu)
- Juan Pablo Bianchi (Green 4th Kyu)
- Guzman Centurión (Green 3rd Kyu)
- César Acosta (Black 1st Dan)
The kuro obis (1st Dan) who succeeded in the 20 Kumite challenge during the camp were as follows:
- Senpai Alvaro Nuñez
- Senpai Gonzalo Bentancur
- Senpai César Acosta
Kuro Obis (2nd Dan) who succeeded in the 25 Kumite challenge were:
- Senpai Noelia Fabre
- Senpai Santiago Mosco
A.K.K.U. would like to thank the everyone's effort to be a part of this event.
On December 16th, 2018, IFK Uruguay held its final annual meeting to review the 2018 program and define the agenda and priorities for 2019. The meeting was chaired by Sensei Germán Carballo, President of A.K.K.U. (Uruguayan Kyokushin Kai Organization) and IFK Country Representative in Uruguay.
Attendees included:
- Senpai María Rocío Gonzalez – A.K.K.U. Secretary
- Senpai Santiago Mosco – A.K.K.U. Vice-president
- Senpai Noelia Fabre - A.K.K.U. Treasurer
- Claudia López - A.K.K.U. International Contact
- Senpai Mario Hornos – Coordinator for Soriano
- Senpai Maite De León – Coordinator for Canelones
- Senpai Gozalo Díaz – Coordinator for Salto
First item in the agenda was the report on the 2018 plan, which was successfully completed; followed by administrative matters, including goals for 2019.
The meeting continued with key highlights of the agenda, including:
- 8th IFK Uruguay Summer Camp, to be held in March 2019
- IFK World Seminar and Kata Championship in April 2019, with IFK Uruguay attendance and participation already confirmed.
Additional activities with dates to be scheduled included:
- National Tournament
- Kuro Obi and Kiu exams
- Kuro Obi special training sessions
- Regional seminars
- Referee training sessions
2019 Agenda will be communicated soon! www.ifk-uruguay.com
On the 23rd February 2019, Sensei Zahari Damyanov, the current absolute World Champion was in London to lead an open seminar hosted by the BKK’s Sensei Hristo Lyubenov at his Ichi Geki dojo in Bounds Green, alongside BKK Chairman and IFK Secretary General, Shihan Liam Keaveney.
The seminar was attended by a number of Kyokushin groups (BKK, IFK, Kyokushin-kan, Shinkyokushin,IKO1, KWU, EMAR) all with a common goal of knowledge sharing, developing Kyokushinkai, and building strong friendships old and new.
(L-R) Shihan Liam Keaveney, Sensei Zahari Damyanov, Sensei Hristo Lyubenov
Sensei Zarahi Damyanov with BKK National Coaches Sensei Kenny Jarvis, and Sensei Wai Cheung
The KWU held training seminars across South America for the last few weeks with IFK Argentina, IFK Chile and IFK Brazil assisting with organising venues across the region. General Secretary Sensei Alexander Pichkunov and IFK Russia St Petersburg Instructor Sensei Dmitry Savelyev were invited to hold training sessions and meeting with representatives of KWU and other organisational heads in these countries.
From January 19 to January 21, 2019, for the first time, an open Kyokushin training seminar in Argentina was organised by Shihan Romero with the support of the KWU and National Federation ‘KWU Argentina’. This seminar was attended by the heads and athletes from Kyokushin organizations of Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Peru in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Then Sensei Dmitry travelled to Chile to Senpai Caru and held sessions with both Chilean and Bolivian students from the 21st -24th January in Valparaiso.
His final leg of the journey was to Sao Paulo, Brazil to IFK Rep Sensei Jeovaldo Barreto from 25th -27th January. This had a large turnout with many organisations and also students from IFK Uruguay willing to come together and work for a common goal.
#timetobeunited
On Saturday January 26th 2019 kuro obis of Uruguay, including State representatives coming from Salto, Soriano and Canelones joined black belts from Montevideo to participate in the first special training session of 2019.
For over 3 hours, under the watchful eye of Sensei German Carballo, Country Representative of IFK Uruguay, kuro obis worked on stances, strikes and bunkai among other formal aspects of the IFK Syllabus.
On an international level, IFK Uruguay is being represented by Nicolas Dagys in the Kumite Seminar led by the Russian coach and world champion Sensei Dmitry Savelyev held in São Paulo, Brazil - part of the KWU South America trip.
2019 agenda continues with the referees training session, which will focus on IFK kumite rules - activity scheduled for Februay 23rd; along with special ongoing sessions focused on kata for the national team who will compete in the IFK World Kata Tournment next April.
The official website of the International Federation of Karate (Kyokushin). Established in 1992 by Hanshi Steve Arneil.
forever in our hearts Hanshi Steve Arneil
