The German masters in karate have been determined. In “Kumite” and “Kata” – ie with or without real opponents – the athletes in Düsseldorf showed exciting competitions.
In the men’s “Kumite” final there was a real duel of the underdogs: With Tim Steiner and Muhammed Özdemir, a light middleweight (up to 67 kg) and a middleweight (up to 60 kg) had prevailed against all the larger and heavier opponents. In the final, Özdemir scored the first sole goal and ultimately the victory. Although Steiner was able to equalize with a hit (Yuko), the title went to Özdmir because of the first scoring.
In the women’s final, Johanna Kneer was able to hold her own against Madeleine Schröder. In the clash between the national team colleagues, who together won gold in the team competition at the European Championships in Guadalajara, Spain, Kneer scored twice and was able to block all of her opponent’s attempts.
Smorguner and Jütter show the best exercises
In “Kata”, Ilja Smorguner (3:2 against Lukas Grimm) secured the men’s title and Jasmin Jütter (5:0 against Rita Siebert) the women’s title. They were able to convince the jury with their presentations and are now German champions.
Two disciplines in karate
The difference between the disciplines is quite simple: while in “Kumite” two karateka face each other on the mat and try to use a wide variety of kicking, punching and kicking techniques, in “Kata” the opponents are imaginary. A sequence of well-defined attack and defense techniques is then shown, which is evaluated by judges.