About three months to The 7th World Karate Championship in Weight Categories in Poland, and we have some interesting factors due to the line up. Japan and Europe expand their team, KWU fighters coming in, and a return of champion is a fact..

Closing in to the championship, we got some changes, new entries – most of them as expected but as always not everything can be predicted.

The biggest news must be that Maciej Mazur are ready in the +85 kg category. After a break, and a while since last Fullcontact Karate fight/tournament, the Multiply EC champion are back. Of course – making it to the final in the 12th World Championship must clearly be the highest achievement. Big question as always: what can we expect? The category, as well as the rest of the tournament have some really stiff competition.

Adding fighters in the European region and the Japanese region raises the total number and the level as well. We must remember that one can not just walk into this championship whiteout a qualifying process. And taking on Japan, with fighters as Iriki, Watanabe and Ochiai i the lead of the team of seven fighters. The European region does also hold a sky-high level, Lithuania the leading nation with Abazorius, Gužauskas, Žimantas, and Sečinski – every one of them a very hard obstacle to force.

Outside entries, from KWU does as usual bring in the champions – and as we know, several of them took recently titles in the 6th IFK World Championship start of June. that means, they are tuned in at the top level – as they should be, because this time it probably will even harder to enter the podium. Our pick would be the female fighters from UK, Hayley Beth Rowlands and Emma Markwell – but will for sure be challenged hard by the high pace fighters from Japan.

Which category stands out – it is impossible to say. All categories are strong, and although there are some countries that clearly dominate in number and expected level, there is a tendency for very good matches throughout the tournament. That Russia (Belarus as well) is out due to the war in Ukraine, does not have the same effect as we saw in the IFK 6th World Championship. Here, the level is maintained through the strong breadth of the organizations.

If you want a full overview of the categories and all the fighters, visit website KumiteTechnology.com there you will find useful information as well.