Yesterday was the German championships in Erfurt, U21 kumite under 75 kilos. Seventh place. In six days I get my Abitur certificate. Not the calmest week I could have planned, but you don’t skip nationals in your own city.
I started as a kid at Chikara-Club Erfurt. Shotokan, kata and kumite, later almost only kumite. The club is the state performance centre for kumite in Thuringia, and it trains like one: several sessions a week, training camps, at some point the state squad.
The biggest title came early. At around fourteen I became German vice-champion in the U14 kumite. After that it got harder, older opponents, tighter weight classes. 2022: fifth among juniors under 68 kilos. 2023 in Kaiserslautern: seventh in the U21 under 67 kilos and bronze with the team. Now seventh again, one weight class up. I got my first dan, the black belt, last year.
To be honest, I haven’t made it to the very top in the last few years, and I was back in the gym every week anyway. A fight lasts a few minutes. Training goes on afterwards, whatever the result was. That’s the part I’m keeping. Persistence pays off. I learned that in karate before I needed it anywhere else.
The club also showed me what older members can do for younger ones, because I had that myself. So now and then I ran a kids’ session, without a coaching licence, and helped out at competitions and training camps.
University starts in autumn. We’ll see how much training still fits in. The club stays in Erfurt either way.