On 16 May 2015, the 5th year of the international tournament in traditional karate, the Valachia Cup 2015, took place. In total, 247 contestants from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine gathered in the Lapač sporting hall in Vsetín. The annual tournament was organized by the Sportovní klub policie Vsetín (a police sports club for children and youngsters), Alcedo- středisko volného času Vsetín (a leisure center for children) and with the help of several contributions from various sponsors. INDET SAFETY SYSTEM a.s. (ISS) has worked in cooperation with these clubs over a long term and supported this event as well.
The tournament has gained a good reputation in a relatively short period of time and the participants include European and world champions. The martial artists competed according to age groups, the youngest being only five years old. 800 parents, friends and people from the general public came to this event to cheer on the competitors. Our home team managed to win 24 medals despite the heavy competition.
The contest was officially opened with the introduction of the referees and individual teams, and with speeches by those participating in the organization of the event. Mr. Hiroyuki Taniguchi (SP Division Senior Manager, ISS) gave a short speech for ISS in which he wished all the contestants good luck, and later he handed out the prizes.
Not only were the winners rewarded, every participant was also given a prize in the form of a cup and gingerbread medal with the logo of the 5th annual Valachia Cup. The three most successful teams were given a beautiful cake and the best from the individual groups took with them the joy of winning as well as a diploma and a medal. On top of that, martial artists, who fought their way to first-place finishes received ceramic plates with the logos of the tournament and ISS.
ISS supports Japanese culture and arts. Karate is a form of traditional Asian martial arts. The contestants learn instructions and terms in the Japanese language and their connection to this culture is, therefore, very strong. This is what inspired ISS employees to prepare a symbolical courtesy gift- paper crane (origami), which symbolizes good luck, peace and longevity for each of the competitors. They folded the cranes themselves and they were later handed out together with the other prizes. The highlight was then the fact that fifty of the same cups that had been given to the contestants ended up in the Vsetín Organization Naděje – Denní stacionáři Sychrov (a day care center for the disabled), whose clients had prepared beautiful ceramic medals for the competitors.
You can find the report here:
http://www.tvbeskyd.cz/na-vsetinskem-turnaji-karate-valachia-cup-2015-se-darilo-domacim-zavodnikum/
(KK, CP Dept.)
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