Less than one week left to the Open-weight European Championship Shinkyokushin in Bulgaria. As the most of you know, U-22 Youth and U-16 Cadets will also fight in their categories as well. But the big question is: who will be this years Open-weight champion in a line up that has never been harder!
Arena Armeec Sports Hall Sofia.
The Tournament will be streamed LIVE!
After ten years break. the Open-weight EC was picked up and organized in Poland, Kielce, 2012. In the men category, 14 fighters was in the line up, Maybe not the highest number, but the level was sky high! Fighters as Margarint Dorin , Zsolt Balogh, Jimmie Collin , Vytautas Cepla, Maciej Mazur , Marius Ilas and of course the champion Valeri Dimitrov.
In the women division eleven fighters, and.similar level: Agata Winiarska (Kaliciak) , Viviana, Chirila, Csenge Szepesi, Inga Mikstaite, and the winner Margarita.Ciuplyte The tournament was a success, and the Open-weight EC was back!
In 2013, Oradea, Romania. With 17 fighters in the men`s category and 13 fighters in the women`s category, top European Fighters once again faced each other across the weight divisions. This time home-fighter Marius Ilas wins the men`s division, and doing that being middleweight makes the win very notable. Women`s division won by Csenge Szepesi, Hungary – making it her second EC title that year, as she also won the European Championship in Switzerland earlier that year in the heavyweight division.
Lithuania, Kaunas, 2014 and the number of fighters was 19. The Lithuanian team raised a extremely strong line up with six fighters. Beating four of them, and maybe all odds, Bulgarian Valeri Dimitrov made it to the top – once again!
Women category was filled up with 17 fighters, and like the men`s category, the Lithuanian team was six top European fighters, three of them European Champions – but also here, the win went outside Lithuania. Viviana Chirila, Romania captured her European title, beating heavy favorite and multiple European Champion Inga Mikstaite, Lithuania.
In 2015 the World Championship took its place, so the adult category was mot held. U22 and U16 was held in regular basis, this time in Poland.
Now, this year 2016, Bulgaria will be the host of the tournament. And as far as we can see, this will be the strongest line up up to now! In the men`s division 31 fighters, from several weight divisions and of course countries. The leading nations in Europe has really strong teams, and not to mention variable teams with fighters from different weight categories.
No doubt about it, this open 
Weight EC will be great in many ways. Taking a closer look at the participant we can see that it will be a very interesting match up, especially considering to the the weight different. This time we have some really good fighters from the lightest categories, and we can assume that the tactical game will be played for sure. On the other hand, the best heavyweight fighters are also in, and they will try to hunt down the lighter opponents before full time and weight decision.
If we split the division in two, and focus on the heaviest fighters, we know that this is top-level. Lately many Shinkyokushin fighters has been fighting in different organizations as IFK, KWU etc, and proven to not only match, but even win against the best.
Bringing these experience back will lift the level higher. We list up ten fighters in the “upper half” weight, they have all taken medals in the EC Open or/and in the EC Weight category senior in the two heaviest divisions.(also adding Jean-Paul Jacquot, KWU EC 2016) – All are top top fighters, although we’ve seen many of them go up against each other several times before.- we want it again! At this level, the fights will bring us something far more than win/loose.
Lithuanian team will as before attract attention, being the largest team and solid merited.
- Maciej Mazur – Poland
- Marek Wolny Poland
- Dorin Margarint – Romania
- Antanas Klibaviičus – Lithuania
- Eventas Gužauskas – Lithuania
- Edgard Sečinski – Lithuania
- Vytautas Cėpla – Lithuania
- Jean-Paul Jacquot – France
- Vasil Vangelov – Bulgaria
- Valeri Dimitrov, – Bulgaria
Taken from the other half of fighters and the lighter categories, five fighters – also with European Championships records. We are not used to see so many and so merited fighter from the lighter divisions in the open-weight as this time.
- Salahat Hasanov – Azerbaijan
- Levan Tsintsadze – Georgia
- Tengiz Bastoiani – Georgia
- Georgi Lotarov – Bulgaria
- Jonas Eimontas – Lithuania
As always, the draw will give us further room for speculations how the tournament will go, or in which way it can possible turn. And up to this point we have only listed up fighters that has been on the EC podium for senior. In the line up we can also mention several fighters that has been winning open tournaments, and taking U-22 EC medals.
We are with other words looking at a very high level tournament, and a high number of fighters. However, there are some questions around the number of fighters each nation can sign up. Normally a given number for all nations, and a higher number for the nation that organize the tournament. In the official documents the number of fighters pr nations are set to two fighters…
So who will win? This time it is impossible to say, but from the “upper half” described above we think Maciej Mazur – Poland has the capabilities to reach the top three. Edgard Sečinski – Lithuania, will be a force to recon. Also from Lithuania Antanas Klibaviičus, very strong and has been one of the most active fighter from Lithuania lately. Vasil Vangelov – Bulgaria, very good all round fighter, top European fighter the last years. We did list up ten fighters above regarding to the heaviest part of the division…
“One man has beaten two generations of top fighters”
One man has beaten them all, Valeri Dimitrov. -well to be precise not Eventas Gužauskas, they have never meet , as he lost to Mazur during the EC 2015 in his first adult EC. Dimitrov has beaten two generations of top fighters. So what can we expect? We can expect that he will do his very best in front of his home crowd, and as we have said before His presence means more than the actually the result at this point. Of course he can be beaten, but we also know that he represent so much more than trophies and numbers. And you never know what will hit you with his great technical register,his best effort will be your biggest challenge. And what a great setting it will be, Valeri Dimitrov fighting in his homeland, Bulgaria.
We believe that the last 8 will be extremely tight and hard to advance from. As always we fall back to the draw, and ho will meet who in the earlier round. Many will be “marked” from previous fight, and that can affect the outcome in the next. Top of that this is open-weight, and some fights will get a outcome in that relation. The lighter half of the line up are also at a so high level, and can fight with a vicious pace – a pace that can be very hard for a heavyweight fighter to follow.
Russia, when it now are clear that 
they will fight in the European Championhip, what about Nazar Nasirov, Artem Semenov, Denis Ershov, Khasay Magomedov or Gennady Nechaev?
Well maybe a another time, because it is a fact that all fighters do not fight at the same tournament every time.
Besides Lithuania, also Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and the host Bulgaria has very strong teams and that in total. These four nations bring in over 200 contenders to the tournament. And the each nation almost cover all categories in the tournament. -impressive! But we would like to see fighters in the women open weigh category also. At this point Lithuania and Poland do have so. Bulgaria, Hungary and Ukraine not.
At this point we also are looking for some fighters that not are to find in the line up. Taking Hungary for an example, no fighters in the Open-weight category at this time. No doubt that many would like to see fighters as Gábor Rózsa and Zsolt Balogh and more. And not to forget in the women division Csenge Szepesi, Lidia Kormondi and Zsofia Szabo. We believe that the impact of these fighters can make a notable factor in the total results for the European Championship. Maybe most in the women division, that it is clear reign Wold Champion Csenge Szepesi woud be the heavy favorite.
But lets see who fighters in the open women division we got. And let there be no doubt, we will get a worthy winner – don`t let the focus above fool you with some good fighters missing – because we think this will be the strongest EC Open-weigh til now!
Lithuania will be favorites, as the team are four top fighters. And we know how their have been dominating the EC podium for some time. But as we also have seen, the last years more fighters from other nations has been challenging – and also beaten the Lithuanian dominance. Hungary and Poland has been capable of this, an in this case it will be Poland, since Hungary don`t brig in their top fighters. Agata Winiarska, Marta Lubos and Anna Bojda all three from Poland. Winiarska and Lubos with EC merits, not only from Shinkyokushin, but also from KWU, where Winiarska beat Lithuanian top fighter Diana Balsyte in the finale.
As for Lubos, she made it to the final, but lost to experienced Inga Mikštaitė, the best Lithuanian fighter in the women division. And Inga Mikštaitė, is not alone.. Diana Balsytė, Nora Vaznelytė and Gabija Gudeliauskaitė – last to, both of them runner up in this years EC weight categories. At the time we got 16 fighters, 4 fights to win. compared to the men`s division, we think that the last eight her will be very hard. Russia with Anna Vishniakova and Antonina Ismailova, are also so experienced that at regular basis they will advance in the tournament. Swedish Sara Hägge, being closer and closer to the top spots – proven by 3rd place in this years EC.
One thing for sure, the teams have been preparing strongly for this tournament, and the big winner this day…that will be Full Contact Shinkyokushin Karate!