What’s happening in the British Karate Kyokushinkai?
The BKK Executive Committee would like to thank all BKK dojos for supporting our flagship championships the 44th British Open Knockdown Tournament 2022 incorporating the 12th Cup of Europe at K2 Crawley on the 1st of October.
The event was the largest knockdown championship the BKK has hosted with 270 participants. We hope that the introduction of the youth categories will inspire future karateka. The Cup of Europe demonstrated that this pathway is how we will build athletes of the future with our Champions: Emma Markwell and Callum Champion and runner-up Hayley Beth Rowlands leading the way.
The following International Organisations were represented: Chikara International, IKK, IKKU, IFK, IKO Matsushima, KJK, Kyokushin-kan, KWF, SBKR, Seido, Sononda Group, Tsu Shin Gen, US Oyama Karate, WKB, and WKO.
Twenty-two countries participated: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Lithuania, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland, Wales, and England, and they all demonstrated that Full Contact Karate is still at the core of our ethos.
Our thanks to our Sponsors: Ride Leisure @ Wyboston Lakes and No1 Cleaning Services Limited.
Thanks also to the many who made the event such a huge success – it takes a tremendous effort to host such an event and our thanks to everyone that contributed including:
Table officials: Kath Turner, Sue Kerrigan, Helen Rowlands, Alyse Madeley, Lysha Jones, Angela Bruce, Peter, and William Laurence.
Chief Referee Shihan Andrew Turner (6th Dan) and the many national and international referees and judges.
Nick Venes and Crawley Dojo members for setting up the venue and trophies. Shihan David Pickthall (7th Dan) Organizer of the event (and the Tournament Committee) along with Gareth Jones (Tournament Manager), assisted by Chris Davies.
The Medical Team: Dr. Franz and Abi and Andy Rotherham. Kokoro, Nintai, and Milton Keynes Dojos for security. Nadia Petrova and her excellent Social Media input. Linda and Michael Keaveney on the door.
Pictures HERE
Hayley Rowlands takes silver at the 1st EFKO European tournament
Continuing her rich vain of form, Hayley Beth Rowlands took silver at the 1st EFKO European Tournament, in Antwerp, Belgium narrowly missing out on a place to Japan, but nevertheless continuing to shine and develop on the big tournament stage.
Congratulations Hayley.
OSU!
Hayley Beth Rowlands to compete at the 1st EFKO European Championships
Hayley Beth Rowlands will be competing this weekend at the 1st EFKO European Championships, in Antwerp, Belgium.
Fresh from her good form of current KWU European Champion, 2nd place 2019 British Open, and silver place at the recent KWU World Championships, Hayley will be hoping for success, and secure a place to fight in the WFKO’s World Championships in Japan, later this year.
Live streaming of the tournament can be found here
We wish her the very best of luck.
OSU!
Wish our BKK fighters good luck at the 4th KWU World Championships
Emma Markwell, Blake Collins, and Hayley-Beth Rowlands are representing Team GBR at the 4th KWU World Championships, in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan this weekend.
We wish them the best of fighting luck. Osu!
You can watch them live here, from 10am local time. Kazakhstan is GMT+6.
Emma makes her mark at the WKO World Karate Open in Japan
Sensei Emma Markwell was part of a select KWU team competing at the WKO’s 12th World Open Karate Championships in Tokyo Japan, held over two days on 8-9th November 2019.
This is an open weight tournament, and Emma had prepared herself well by making a very successful shift to the upper weight categories taking a European title in the process, culminating with an unprecedented British Open win against much heavier opponents in October this year.
Emma was the second fight of the day against a South African opponent with an awkward looping double right-hand punch. She executed her fight plan well, breaking her opponent’s balance and rhythm by attacking the inside back leg coupled with hard body shots, then drifting away from her opponent’s power-side all the while keeping pressure on her opponent. As the round progressed, Emma brought in knees and front-kicks, dictating the pace. One round, and 3 flags was enough to progress.
Her second opponent from Russia, was taller and more mobile than her first, intent on attacking Emma from the outside with an array of high kicks. Early in the fight, whilst giving her opponent a little too much space and time, Emma took a well-placed spinning back kick to the head. This did little to upset Emma’s rhythm who’s own tactic was to use head kicks then close the distance at high-tempo, attacking with body punches and solid low-kicks. Each time her opponent looked for space, Emma high-kicked nullifying the Russian’s ability to attack effectively – round one was a draw.
First extension, and Emma tactics started to wear her opponent down by beginning the round at an aggressive pace. Running out of space and energy, the Russian engaged Emma at close range, and was being systematically broken down to the body and legs. Sensing her opponent getting weaker, Emma came close with a Do-Mawashi Kaiten geri (rolling kick), then immediately returned to the full arsenal of head kicks, knees to the body, and relentless body shots and low kicks to earn her a place in the final 16.
Her third opponent was the Japanese and tournament favourite, Juri Minamihara. Emma’s tactic was to hold ground, firing hard punches and low kick to the calf against Minamihara’s aggressive forward style of high chest punches and low-kicks.
Two immovable forces resulted in Emma’s opponent leaning against her, grabbing and pushing at times to gain space or advantage. No decision after the first, leading to the same in the second round, now with Minamihara creating more lateral movement in attempts to off-balance Emma. To no avail, as Emma continued to pile on pressure, adding knees into each lateral movement from her opponent.
Round two, a draw. The final round saw an increase in pace and aggression from both fighters. The pressure was beginning to show, as Emma started to find success in creating space with low-kicks set up through her punches, with Minamihara reduced to small backward movements to gain space, grabbing at times to stem the flow. The two stood toe to toe throwing punches, and Emma hitting low kicks to off-balance her opponent, both finishing the fight aggressively with an incredibly vocal crowd. Three flags to Minamihara, who went on to win the tournament, and an incredibly impressive final 16 finish for Emma.
A huge congratulations to Sensei Emma for becoming part of select team to represent the KWU – a huge achievement, and for her tournament progress in a very partisan environment.
BKK success at the IKK English Open
A number of BKK dojos sent fighters the IKK English Open, in Canterbury on 3rd November 2019, and came away with good results, and experience for our youth.
Katerina Nikolajeva BKK Gravesend 1st Place
Ashley Black BKK Crawley 1st Place
Elvin Vaskys BKK Crawley 1st Place
Antek Sobecki BKK Westcroft 1st Place
Brandon Wise BKK Westcroft 1st Place
Jessica Charsley BKK Verwood 1st Place
Phil Burchill BKK Verwood 1st Place
Dan Williams BKK Verwood 1st Place
Kartar Singh Cheema BKK Gravesend 2nd Place
Grace Emmett BKK Crawley 2nd Place
Louie Warnfeldt Rush BKK Crawley 3rd place
U18 Team England and Wales results at Sutani Cup 2019, Belgium.
U18 Team England and Wales attended this year’s Sutani Cup, Antwerp, Belgium in numbers, and came away with invaluable experience.
Results and congratulations to:
Ashley Black (ENG - Crawley dojo) - 1st place
Antek Sobecki (ENG - Westcroft dojo) - 1st place
Holly Harvery (WALES - Mountain Ash dojo) - 2nd place
Katie Martin (WALES - Mountain Ash dojo) - 2nd place
James Baker (ENG - Saffron Walden dojo) - 2nd place
Brandon Wise (ENG - Westcroft dojo) - 2nd place
Cai Williams (WALES - Mountain Ash dojo) - 3rd place
Rhys Meredith (WALES - Mountain Ash dojo) - 3rd place
Seren Harries (WALES - Mountain Ash dojo) - 3rd place
Nathan Hyde (ENG - Eastbourne dojo) - 3rd place
Nikhil Patel (ENG - Loughborough dojo) - 3rd place
Mia Hawkins (ENG - Crawley dojo) - 3rd place
Under 18s success at the 2nd KWU Youth European Tournament, Berlin Germany
On the 18-19th May, Ashley Black and Rhys Meredith from Crawley and Mountain Ash dojos respectively, represented the BKK as part of a unified Team GB alongside two members invited from the IKK (Callum Chapman and Harry Clemo), both regular England and GB squad training attendees.
[L-R] Back Row - Wai Cheung, Meidi Divash, Norman King, Andrew Turner, Alex Kerrigan, David Pickthall, Lia Howlett, Chris Davis
Front Row - Callum Chapman (IKK), Ashley Black, Rhys Meredith, Harry Clemo (IKK)
Both Ashley Black and Harry Clemo scored waza aris in their quarter final bouts to advance to the semi finals. Both lost out in the semi-finals to Russian national champions. There was more top level experience for Rhys Meredith and Callum Chapman who had tough bouts, and can feel pleased with their performances. Twenty seven countries took part and it was also great to have such a strong judging team from the UK.
Zahari Damyanov UK seminar #timetobeunited
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
#timetobeunited #kyokushinkai #karate #osu
English Open 2018 results
The BKK held a successful English Open 2018 on the 13th May for UK and Ireland based organisations, which included categories for Open Adult, Novice, Cadet and, for the first time in BKK history, Junior IFK Kyokushin rules fighting.
Jim Barton (BKK Verwood) dropping a well timed jodan mawashi geri
Luke Baldwin (BKK Mountain Ash, and Team GB) on his way to the 2018 English Open Middleweight Title
RESULTS: Sutani Belgium Youth and Beginners Tournament 2017
Teams England and Wales
BACK ROW (L to R)
Sensei Chris Davies (Wales coach), Maise Blackford (Eng), Luke Sabey (Eng), Luke Jones (Wales), Sophie Hobbs (Wales), Ame Sorge (Eng), Sensei Wai Cheung (Eng coach), Rob Salvi (Eng), Aaron Sheehan (Wales), Luke Davies (Wales), Max Williams (Wales), Sensei Tony White (Eng coach)
FRONT ROW (L to R)
Beth Salvi (Eng), Bart Proctor (Eng), Dennis Sorokins (Eng), Jessica Charsley (Eng), Rhys Meredith (Wales), Holly Harvey (Wales), Lili Bryan (Wales), Mia Morgan (Wales)
Results from the Sutani Belgium Youth and Beginners Tournament 2017:
Team England
Bart Procter 1st
Denis Sorokins 1st
Beth Salvi 2nd
Maesi Blackford 2nd
Ame Sorge 3rd
Team Wales
Max Williams 1st
Luke Jones 2nd
Rhys Meredith 2nd
Luke Davies 2nd
Mia Morgan 3rd
They did us proud!
British Open 2017 ALL THE action replayed
The 41st British Open was streamed live on Saturday 23rd September with fighting across 2 areas. Watch all the action below, and check out the results here
AREA A
Cadets U18 Boys -68kg, +78kg (Rounds 1-4)
Cadet U18 Girls -58kg, +58kg (Round 1-4)
Open Mens-70kg (bottom draw), -80kg (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
Open Womens -60kg (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
AREA B
Novice Mens -70kg, -80kg (Qtr, Semi, Final)
Novice Womens +60kg (Semi, Final)
Novice Men +80kg (Final)
Open Womens +60kg, (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
Open Mens -70kg (top drawer), +80kg (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
British Open 2017 Results
British Karate Kyokushinkai Magazine - September 2017 Edition
The popular BKK Magazine which showcases Kyokushinkai news and events from the past 12 months is now available as a free of charge download.
This year’s magazine is presented in a modern, downloadable format so you can read it on-the-go using your mobile phone or tablet device.
British Open 2017 - Spirited Fighter Award
This beautiful Australian leather belt has been kindly donated by long time Kyokushin student Robert Macgregor. The belt is custom hand-made for our 2017 tournament and is embossed with “Spirited Fighter” in Japanese.
It will be awarded to a fighter at our tournament on 23rd September 2017 for determination and perseverance (not necessarily a winner).
See who can win the award at the list of British Open 2017 registered fighters at
http://www.bkk-britishopen.com/registered-fighters.html .
You can see Robert’s other hand-made leather belts by clicking here
41st British Open incorporating 9th Cup of Europe entries are open...
This iconic event is one of the most long standing knockdown tournaments in the world.
In 2016 we had over 160 participating fighters from 23 countries.
The British Karate Kyokushinkai (BKK) invite you, and fighters from across the world to enter our tournament.
More details can be found on our tournament website
Spectator tickets can be purchased in our ticket shop
Home fighters representing the KWU at WKO World Weight Tournament, 1st-2nd July
Emma Markwell and Hayley-Beth Rowlands, and Aneta Meskauskiene from Ireland Karate Kyokushinkai will be competing and representing the IFK/ KWU at this weekend's World Weight Tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan (1st-2nd July).
The 5th Youth KWU championship – RESULTS
Here are the results of the 5th KWU World Youth Open tournament 2016, Varna Bulgaria, December 3-4th 2016.
Boys 12-13 -35kg
1. Sena Ebihara (Japan)
2. Vladislav Li (Russia)
3. Ruslan Ponomarenko (Kazakhstan)
3. Lasha Kobelashvili (Georgia)
Boys 12-13 -40kg
1. Kai Takeuchi (Japan)
2. Mikhail Melnichuk (Russia)
3. Sho Kawakami (Japan)
3. Abdul Bigishiev (Russia)
Boys 12-13 -45kg
1. Ryodai Kimura (Japan)
2. Neo Ohara (Japan)
3. Hayato Tajitsu (USA)
3. Karibu Toida (Japan)
Boys 12-13 -50kg
1. Aleksandr Kudriashov (Russia)
2. Evgenii Vaseckii (Kazakhstan)
3. Pavel Akseniuk (Russia)
3. Ryota Watanabe (Japan)
Boys 12-13 -55kg
1. Andrey Kratko (Russia)
2. Vadim Gunin (Russia)
3. Stanyslav Nechipurenko (Ukraine)
3. Jinto Kuroki (Japan)
Boys 12-13 +55kg
1. Kazuma Higuchi (Japan)
2. Taisei Hasumi (Japan)
3. Sergey Ivannikov (Russia)
3. Steven Demanov (Germany)
Girls 12-13 -40kg
1. Moeka Minami (Japan)
2. Anastasiya Surgutskaya (Russia)
3. Suzuka Hirai (Japan)
3. Sona Agahayeva (Azerbaijan)
Girls 12-13 -45kg
1. Riru Goto (Japan)
2. Hifumi Saito (Japan)
3. Yuna Asai (Japan)
3. Anastasiya Horan (Ukraine)
Girls 12-13 -50kg
1. Sena Wada (Japan)
2. Marina Yamazaki (Japan)
3. Anie Suzuki (Japan)
3. Zhasmina Yancheva (Bulgaria)
Girls 12-13 +50kg
1. Anastasiia Martynova (Russia)
2. Hiyori Horie (Japan)
3. Shina Kuwahara (Japan)
3. Rumissa Magilissova (Kazakhstan)
Boys 14-15 -45kg
1. Hiroki Masuno (Japan)
2. Isse Hirota (Japan)
3. Demid Danilov (Russia)
3. Artem Goriutkin (Russia)
Boys 14-15 -50kg
1. Nikita Paraskiva (Russia)
2. Kenta Watanabe (Japan)
3. Viacheslav Filimonov (Russia)
3. Sviatoslav Chornenkuy (Ukraine)
Boys 14-15 -55kg
1. Telman Mamedov (Russia)
2. Dmitriy Zhumygin (Russia)
3. Kanato Kato (Japan)
3. Danila Nazarov (Russia)
Boys 14-15 -60kg
1. Gennadiy Popov (Russia)
2. Ramin Akberov (Russia)
3. Jaden Marcus (South Africa)
3. Gadji Kharchiev (Russia)
Boys 14-15 -65kg
1. Vladislav Shubin (Kazakhstan)
2. Dmitriy Blinov (Russia)
3. Anton Serkov (Russia)
3. Sergei Ushakov (Russa)
Boys 14-15 +65kg
1. Aleksandr Shvets (Russia)
2. Ivan Popov (Bulgaria)
3. Nikola Kyuchukov (Bulgaria)
3. Vasil Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Girls 14-15 -45kg
1. Anastasiia Kalistratova (Russia)
2. Risa Kaneko (Japan)
3. Anastasiia Kiseleva (Russia)
3. Azumi Ogawa (Japan)
Girls 14-15 -50kg
1. Lyubov Bakina (Russia)
2. Hanna Dziatko (Belarus)
3. Maria Nishibetto (Japan)
3. Asuka Fujimaki (Japan)
Girls 14-15 -55kg
1. Anastasiia Gumennykh (Russia)
2. Mina Ishii (Japan)
3. Anastassiya Matyukhova (Kazakhstan)
3. Diana Turpova (Russia)
Girls 14-15 -60kg
1. Valeriya Tsvetova (Russia)
2. Ekaterina Yushkevich (Belarus)
3. Romi Haim (Israel)
3. Elizaveta Gromova (Russia)
Girls 14-15 +60kg
1. Elvira Ballay (Sweden)
2. Angelina Kalashnikova (Russia)
3. Dilan Kaya (Turkey)
3. Mariya Chepilova (Bulgaria)
Boys 16-17 -55kg
1. Maksim Eskov (Russia)
2. Alexey Fedorov (Russia)
3. Yelaman Mukashev (Kazakhstan)
3. Magomed Makhamaev (Russia )
Boys 16-17 -60kg
1. Vladislav Polubinskiy (Russia)
2. Egor Pimenov (Russia)
3. Yurii Rusyn (Ukraine)
3. Stanislav Nikulin (Russia)
Boys 16-17 -65kg
1. Anatolii Ten (Russia)
2. Aleksey Simonov (Russia)
3. Stoyan Ilchev (Bulgaria)
3. Khatip Ayupov (Kazakhstan)
Boys 16-17 -70kg
1. Vladimir Olekhov (Russia)
2. Lev Domashenko (Russia)
3. Ivan Dippel (Russia)
3. Vladimir Gorelov (Russia)
Boys 16-17 -75kg
1. Vyacheslav Solovyov (Russia)
2. Artur Kovalenko (Kazakhstan)
3. Severyn Paliy (Ukraine)
3. Kristiyan Stankov (Bulgaria)
Boys 16-17 +75kg
1. Pavel Shvets (Russia)
3. Aleksandr Grachev (Russia)
3. Georgi Krastev (South Africa)
Girls 16-17 -50kg
1. Monika Dimitrova (Bulgaria)
2. Fumi Nakahara (Japan)
3. Chihiro Ishii (Japan )
3. Julia Kedzierska (Poland)
Girls 16-17 -55kg
1. Valeriya Lozanova (Bulgaria)
2. Mikoto Fujimaki (Japan)
3. Anastasiia Spiridonova (Russia)
3. Anastasiia Bekicheva (Russia)
Girls 16-17 -60kg
1. Lyubomira Nikolova (Bulgaria)
2. Valeriya Ivanova (Kazakhstan)
3. Frida Agnes Westrin (Sweden)
3. Aleksandra Klus (Poland)
Girls 16-17 -65kg
1. Nataliia Pozdeeva (Russia)
2. Sara Ivanova (Bulgaria)
3. Anastasia Davidova (Russia)
3. Margarita Mikhailova (Russia)
Girls 16-17 +65kg
1. Roberta Vegerbauer (Hungary)
2. Nadezhda Kolotilo (Russia)
3. Anastasiya Kaplyukova (Russia)
3. Valeriya Krestina (Kazakhstan)
40th British Open (8th Cup of Europe) official results
A tough days fighting across all categories with worthy champions from a strong WKO contingent, and Great Britain's very own Emma Markwell, who makes it 5 British Open titles in the bag. Congratulations to all!
click on photos to see tournament picture gallery
