31st EKC Frankfurt (Germany)

After a long time of not doing kendo because of Covid 19, we finally had
again a European Kendo Championship in Frankfurt.
As the new coach of the Belgium team, together with our new manager
Ismail Bozok, we can say that this year was more then a great success.

Our first goal was to get a team back to the dojo. A team that would be
ready for this EKC, but also for the future. I wanted to get a team that
could work together as one team. This goal was reached by the help of
many people coming to the team training. I’m really happy with the
effort they did for that.

From then on we could really prepare for the EKC in Frankfurt. With a
mixed team of experienced members and new members, we went to the event
with a really nice vibe and full of energy. For us, manager and coach,
it was a big challenge since it was our first time doing this. But i can
say we managed well. Because the team did really great!

The juniors fought strong as a team and individual. They where really
nervous but fought really hard. As a reward we got a fighting spirit
for Takeshi Boffa.
For the ladies team, they had very strong opponents and couldn’t get out
of the pool.
But they took there revenge on the individuals! Not only do we have a
third place for Lisa Van Laecken, but Freija D’hont is the EUROPEAN
CHAMPION!!!!

For the men, they fought really hard and got in to the quarter finals,
where they lost against the strong team of Poland. But again they also
got there revenge the next day at the individuals and fought very
strong. For that we got the third place for Kensaku Maemoto!

Again as a coach i am really proud of the team for there effort and
results. It was not an easy job, but a job i really liked. I started to
train with the team when i was twelve years old, became a fighter for
the team and now to be coach is a great experience. But this adventure
doesn’t stop here. I’ve learned many things during this EKC, where we
need to improve to become even stronger and better kendoka. We can only
do this with the support of others.

Looking forward to the next one!

Peter D’hont