On Saturday and Sunday, Europe’s best kata athletes will meet in Croatia for the European Championships. A total of 16 nations are represented with a total of 178 participants.
In addition to our Brandenburg couple, the DJB has nominated four other couples and they will compete in the Nage-no-Kata, Ju-no-Kata and Kime-no-Kata competitions.
Just like Michael and Mathias Zapf, all of our couples have a good chance of reaching the final round. “The European Championships are now a location determination after the Corona period, now again under regular conditions. We have to see how our couples can assert themselves and position themselves,” says DJB kata consultant Sebastian Frey, who has lacked international comparisons in recent years.
High hopes are again placed on the Ju-no-Kata couple Wolfgang Dax-Romswinkel and Ulla Loosen. Both have been European champions since 2012, but did not take part last year. “We hope that the two will defend their title from 2020 again,” Sebastian Frey sets the bar high. “Both are very ambitious and approach their training in a very performance-oriented manner,” he sees the recipe for success for both of them.
He regrets that there are no German youth couples. “It is a task for the near future that we have to focus on promoting youth couples to the point where they are competitive and can be represented in championships like this.”
Our participants prove that kata is an ageless sport. Immo and Hendrik Schmidt in the Nage-no-Kata are just 25 years old, Wolfgang Dax-Romswinkel and Ulla Loosen are the oldest of the team at 62.
Martin Reißmann, the Zapf brothers’ trainer, will be following the competitions from home this year. After a joint consultation, the trio decided that they wanted to minimize the risks of Corona. If one of the three had a positive entrance test, everyone would have had to go into the ten-day quarantine on site. “I’m now following the competitions from home and keeping my fingers crossed for both of them from afar,” says Martin Reißmann.
The following athletes are nominated:
Nage-no-Kata:
- Michael and Mathias Zapf
- Immo and Hendrik Schmidt
Ju-no-Kata:
- Wolfgang Dax-Romswinkel and Ulla Loosen
Kime-no-Kata:
- Jörn Stermann-Sinsilewski and Volker Degenhart
Soenke Schillig and Johannes Christoph Kröger
