Full stands on Nordic Open Kyokushin

There was big interest and a great atmosphere in Stenungsund Arena when Stora Höga Kyokushin opened the doors to this year’s edition of Nordic Open Kyokushin.

Martial Art News contacted the organizer Niklas Ballay. He happily told us about the origins of the competition and how it went when the event got underway again.

– The competition started in 2012 under the name Julcupen. We later changed our name to Stora Höga Open and last year we changed our name again to Nordic Open. The reason was that we thought too few competitions were organized in Sweden in kyokushin. Our club wanted to make a difference. We wanted to offer our members, primarily children and young people, the opportunity to develop through competition. The alternative was to go abroad and that is associated with high costs. It has primarily been a competition in kumite. It has steadily grown in number of participants. The first year we had about 100 and this year we had about 340 registered to start, he says and continues:

– The name change has reflected the importance of the competition. In the beginning it was a local competition. It grew into a national one and in recent years there have been participants from several countries. This year we had participants from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium and Switzerland. In previous years, we have had participants from Spain, Denmark and Germany as well. It is Sweden’s largest kyokushin competition in terms of the number of practitioners and has been for several years. New for this year was that we also offered to compete in kata. We use a system called Smoothcomp which helps us with everything from registration, payment and implementation. Had we not used it, it would have been difficult to carry out a competition of that size.

Interest in kyokushin seems to be great in Sweden. The audience flocked to Stenungsund Arena to witness it in place.

– The atmosphere was great. I think an audience at a budo competition is the best audience. There is a lot of positivity and a high noise level when cheering on your participants. There are no negative exclamations, that would be disrespectful. Our club as an organizer also receives a lot of positive feedback. The crowd was actually one of the concerns before the competition. I think we have about 600 seats for the audience and that was not enough last year. We had to make sure that the audience didn’t push chairs so that there was rotation. I think we managed it well this year. So it was more than full. Fantastic response. We are told every year that it is one of the competitions that is top class in terms of arrangements and organization. I’m extremely proud of our club Stora Höga Kyokushin and everyone who pitches in completely idealistically to contribute to making the competition as good as we can.

The execution of this year’s event went according to plan. Likewise the collaboration with Budo-Nord, which often participates and sponsors competitions around the country.

– It went as planned. Things always come up that you have to solve on the spot. Since we have done this before, it could be remedied without major negative impact. There were 344 entries, 319 who came to the start from 39 different clubs. There are many who are talented and everyone competes based on their own conditions. I don’t want to mention anyone in particular as there is a risk of forgetting someone. It’s insanely fun to see seven-year-olds who may be going to their first match and show fighting spirit. At the same time, it’s fun to see the veteran class challenging themselves and getting on the mat. I am impressed by all the participants who dare to stand up. The entry threshold to compete in kyokushin is quite high. The collaboration with Budo-Nord worked excellently. The dialogue with Budo-Nord has been simple and they have been flexible, so that it suited both us and them with regard to arrangements and cooperation.

Organizing the competition is an energy-demanding task and many people are required to help. The date for next year’s edition has been set and Niklas and the rest of the gang will soon start the preparatory work again.

– A great deal of commitment is required. Me and my wife, Cathrine Ballay, who is the competition director, start planning for next year’s edition about nine months before the competition. Six months before the start of the competition, we involve several people in the club who have chosen to take on a little more responsibility. This year we divided the officials into twelve different work groups that reported to Cathrine. It was necessary as the competition has become so big. I would guess that my wife and I have put in about 10-20 hours a week for the last four months before the start of the competition. In addition to that, several officials have put in many hours, especially around two months before the start of the competition. It takes place completely voluntarily. In total, approximately 70 officials and 40 judges were required. The feeling immediately after the competition is ”never again!” but that usually changes after a while. We will probably continue next year. The date is already set, it will be between January 24-25.

The Swedish investment in kyokushin is perhaps not as great in comparison with some other countries. Niklas is nevertheless impressed by the high level of our kyokushin practitioners.

– Sweden is a small country and in other countries there are people who are paid full-time by the state to bet at the elite level. Despite that, Sweden has positioned itself well at championships in kyokushin and has high positions on ranking lists. It is even more impressive when you have to have a livelihood on the side. So taking into account the size and conditions of our country, I would say that we are relatively high up and have really good practitioners.

Read about Stora Höga Kyokushin

Also read about The Kyokushin European Championships in Gothenburg