Vitebsk will host the CIS Open Championship in Sport Chanbara in 2016
Vitebsk will host the CIS Open Championship in Sport Chanbara (Spochan) in 2016, the head of the Belarusian branch of the International Spochan Federation, Director of the Vitebsk Wushu School, Andrei Kalistov, told a BELTA correspondent.
It was from this regional center that the spread of Sport Chanbara began in Belarus. Therefore, Vitebsk was immediately included in the list of candidates for the championship venue. The city was repeatedly visited by the Vice-President of the International Spochan Association Anatoly Ashkhotov, the head coach of the Russian national team Alexander Kim, and the world grand champion Maximillian Manshin. They were interested in the possibility of holding international-scale tournaments in Vitebsk, and they assessed the city's infrastructure level and the organization of competitions held.
"On May 17, when the Belarus Open Championship in Sport Chanbara was held at the Vitebsk Sports Palace "Komsomolets", Anatoly Ashkhotov came specifically to make the final decision. As a result, the organizers were given an "excellent" rating on all points, and the decision was made: in August 2016, the CIS Open Championship in Spochan will be held in Vitebsk with the participation of the strongest athletes from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, as well as Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and other countries," explained Andrei Kalistov.
This decision was also supported by the guests of the championship - the head of the Spochan Association of Ukraine Vladimir Grigorashchenko and the head of the Spochan Federation of Moscow Mikhail Khabirov. They were impressed by the scale and level of organization of the competitions in Vitebsk, which were attended by 170 athletes aged 5 to 45. By the way, in the team standings at these competitions, the first place was taken by the hosts' team, and young Vitebsk athletes Yaroslav Kolotovsky, Vlad Lebedev, and Maria Tatarinova became absolute champions in their age categories.
Andrey Kalistov has been appointed the responsible organizer of the upcoming CIS Open Championship. Over the course of the year, sports gatherings and training camps for the competition participants are planned to be held on the territory of Belarus.
Chanbara is a sport that uses pneumatic swords, allowing for full-force strikes while avoiding injuries. Weight and physical fitness level are not important for starting the practice. The martial art of Spochan helps in learning quick decision-making, gaining self-confidence, developing observation skills, and the ability to predict situations. In addition, chanbara contributes to the development of muscle strength and body endurance, posture correction and gait improvement, and weight normalization.
Ekaterina Knyazeva