Over 1000 karateka flying the colours of more than 24 will fight for the titles on six tatamis in the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna between the 7th and the 9th of December.
Some of the greatest names in karate kyokushin will come in Bulgaria especially for the two great tournaments, which as we mentioned, will electrify the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna for 3 straight days (7th to 9th of December). All spectators are welcome as one does not need a ticket to get in and see the great display of 1000 people from 24 countries fighting relentlessly on 6 tatamis. Kancho Hatsuo Royama – Director of Kyokushin-kan International Honbu (9th dan), also known as the absolute master of karate kyokushin, will be one of the special guests.
Royama is one of the few disciples of the very creator of kyokushin Mas Oyama. Royama is born in Saitama, northern Tokyo, in 1948. Inspired by the ever growing popularity of famous fighters and wrestlers in the country, he decided, at the age of 15, to depart for Ikebukuro and to join the renowned school of the creator of kyokushin Mas Oyama – the “Oyama Dojo”. Royama is one of the few people who had tight relation to the Oyama organisation from the very start all the way to the death of the great master in 1994.
“Sensei Oyama kept on repeating that kyokushin is here to unite us without regard of religion, race, political or religious beliefs. He who is part of the teachings of Karate Kyokushin belongs to a large family, we are all brothers and sisters”, said Kancho Hatsuo Royama, while welcoming the announcement of the second World Championship of Karate Kyokushin for men, women and veterans and the sixth Open World Championship of the martial art for juniors.
Some of the other officials, attending the forums, will be: Shihan Andrzej Drewniak (9th dan), Shihan Antonio Pinero (9th dan) – President of the Kyokushin World Federation (KWF), Shihan Davit Pickthall (7th dan) – Vice-president of the International Federation of Karate (IFK), Shihan Ramil Gabassov (5th dan), Sensei Alexandr Pitchkounov – Secretary General of the KWU (4th dan).
In the meantime, the Bulgarian Karate Kyokushin team started the final phase of its training for the second World Championship of Karate Kyokushin for men, women and veterans.
The senior coach of our team for the championship is Sensei Zahari Damyanov, who will be assisted by Petar Martinov. Zahari Damyanov is the first Bulgarian and the only European to have held the champion’s cup in the heaviest and most prestigious karate competition – The No Category World Championship. Zahari Damyanov is four-time European Champion in category over 90 kg, four-time champion from the American Open Championship without categories in New York (2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013), from where he also has the highest fighting spirit prize. He has also won the American Open Championship with categories (2007).
The coach of women and girls, which will appear at the European and World Championships, is Stanislava Boycheva. She has trained karate kyokushin for 15 years now and n this time managed to hold multiple championship titles and golden medals from international and national championships. In 2017 she became the absolute champion of Japan at the ALL JAPAN tournament, and in 2015 won the World Championship. The assistant coach is Aleksandra Marinova. The preparation of the boys is the task of senior coach Zhivko Andreev and his assistant Hristo Hristov.
