by Emmanuel Dayre
On March 3rd, the French Naginata Federation hold its first regional championship in Ile- de-France (parisien region) in Maisons Alfort. This first edition has been the fruit of a lot of work and determination from the local federation CRKDR IDF and especially its coordinator,
Loïc Vargoz also member of the French National team. Lots of practitioners have responded to this invitation to celebrate their passion for naginata and competition. Many occasions to participate have been proposed involving men, women, teams and even young kyus in technical engis.
The French national team members confirmed their expertises with Guillaume DUFEIL and Monica DASILVA winning gold medals in the Men and Women categories. Mixed competition and team fights revealed new promising talents working their ways to clean and successful strikes.
This first championship has also been a first challenging experience for new referees apprentices trying their best to validate the numerous ippons and strikes that have been exchanged between the fighters. There is no doubt that this first regional competition will be back next week with more fighters and more new ideas to organize an even greater event !
