By Jonas Stock
This years German Championship was a first in a few regards:
First of all it was the first time the Dojo of the KuS Dellfeld was organizing a big event like this or any event outside of our group for that matter.
It was also the first time for many to travel to the remote region around Dellfeld, which is on the southwestern border of Germany close to the French border.
For the weekend we were fortunate enough to be joined by David D’hose (Renshi), Loïc Delalande (5th Dan) and Yolanda Vanneste (3rd Dan) who led the Seminar on Saturday, April 22nd, joined by Naginataka from Berlin, Mainz (JGU as well as PSV), Leverkusen and from Dellfeld.
Thank you very much for making the journey and teaching and refereeing for us!
On Sunday, April 23rd it was time for some more action: The German Championship, refereed by our esteemed guests.
The morning began with the Engi competition, where Team Da Silva (both Post SV Opladen) managed to claim 3rd Place, Team Parrino (JGU Mainz and PSV Mainz) got 2nd place and Team Kuzminski (both Post SV Opladen) claimed the gold medal, emerging out of a total of six teams.
After a short break in order to get ready for the Shiai competition as well as a bit of warming up the eight contestants were in high spirits and ready to battle!
The entire competition seemed to be over in a flash, as there were almost no extensions, albeit there was no lack of excitement.
In a very intense bout Julian Parrino (JGU Mainz) managed to claim the gold medal for the first time, winning the final match against Andreas Nicol (Post SV Opladen). 3rd place went to Jonas Stock (KuS Dellfeld) and Joana Moreira Da Silva (Post SV Opladen) won a highly deserved Fighting Spirit prize!
Congratulations to everyone!
Of course the helpers should not go unmentioned:
A mix of helpers from the PSV Mainz, KuS Dellfeld as well as my own mother gathered to ensure the competition would go as smoothly as possible, despite mostly doing the assignments for a competition for the first time! Thank you all very much!
I would like to thank everyone for coming. Special thanks once more go to the Shinpan and Sensei for making the journey to Dellfeld and for spending a very fun and interesting weekend with the German Naginata community! We hope to see you soon, at the latest in Italy in September!
