12/07/2026
The annual jodo competition "Varna Open Taikai" was held as part of the 17th Budo Camp "Art of Japanese Sword." Participants demonstrated excellent technique and spirit, which was noted by the competition's head judge, Rene van Amersfoort (kyoshi jodo, 8th dan).
The competition was held in several categories. The winners were:
category "0-1 dan":
🥇 Lina Meyer (Lucerne, Switzerland)
🥈 Hristo Bibashki (Varna)
🥉Iulian Cret (Galați, Romania)
🥉Jacqueline Senn (Lucerne, Switzerland)
🏅"Fighting spirit" - Malcolm Cameron (Feusisberg, Switzerland)
category "2-3 dan":
🥇 Simion Cotu (Sofia)
🥈Kostadin Vodenicharov (Plovdiv)
🥉Marius Popescu (Bucharest, Romania)
🥉 Андрей Солодянкин (Varna)
🏅"Fighting spirit" - Warren Ho (Johannesburg, South Africa)
category "5 dan":
🥇 Алексей Альчин (Varna)
🥈Marian Bartko (Kosice, Slovakia)
🥉Emanuele Meyer (Lucerne, Switzerland)
🥉Melike Bayram (Essen, Germany)
🏅"Fighting spirit" - Emanuele Meyer (Lucerne, Switzerland)
Friendly team competitions were also held, in which participants were divided into groups.
Photos are made by competition secretary Florian Pujol (Norway).
The main organizer of the competition was Alexey Alchin (5th dan jodo). 👏👏👏